The Buzz: Spring 2021

The Buzz

SPRING 2021 Editorial

Food

Culture

04 Letter from the Editor

26 Molecular Gastronomy

64 Ancient Indian Wellness Tips

City 14 The Best Four Years...

During a Pandemic 17 How to Unwind in the City 18 Turning Point in Beantown

Campus 20 One Year Living in a Pandemic

28 Boston Food Communities 30 Chill-n Ice Cream

68 If Anything Happens, I Love You

Wellness 32 Did I Fall for Greenwashing?

Opinion

34 Plant Parenthood

70 Selfishness, Universal Empathy, and Your 20s

Fashion

72 Class In Your Pajamas or In-Person

36 Fashion Photoshoot: New Beginnings

Music

23 Vaccine Scaries

55 The Future of Fashion is Gender-Fluid

74 Hard to Sing, Harder to Say

24 Table Talk

58 Is Y2K Here to Stay?

76 The Allure of Escapist Music in 2021

Travel

78 A Break-Up Playlist Through the 5 Stages of Grief

59 The Covid-19 Vaccine and the Future of Travel 62 Embracing the Great Outdoors 63 The Future of Study Abroad

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Staff Amanda Willis Editor-in-Chief Creative Director Solana Chatfield Art Director Emily Snisarenko Managing Editor Alejandra Aristeguieta Head Copy Editor Isabelle Durlo Publisher Shai Mahajan Photography Director Chika Okoye Section Editors Campus Anna Cavallino City Geneve Lau Culture Ananya Pancha Fashion Melony Forcier Food Sebastian Jaramillo Travel Amille Bottom Wellness Aninita Rayesh Opinion Jessica Stevens Publishing Team Social Media Manager Anjali Mahbubani

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Creative Team Tamar Ponte, Izzy Critchfield-Jain, Thalia Lauzon, Kylie Tamashiro, Amy Takahashi, Macy Wilbur, Lauren Had Photography Team Chika Okoye, Julia Pellar, Sophia Kysela, Andrea Chen Illustrations Team Emily Snisarenko, Shelby Mitchell Editorial Team Campus Veronica Lasater, Tiahna Creo Amanda Schneider City Kaylee Chin, Lily O’Brien, Lillian Parrotta Culture Grace Knoop, Viktoria Popovska, Anoushka Shah, Kiara Tynan Fashion Melony Breese Forcier Food Anna Cavallino Music Aileen Tran, Noor Mchallah, Kiara Tynan Travel Amille Bottom Wellness Sabrina Lu, Ryan Noel

Contributors Our Spring 2021 issue would not have been possible without the help of many outside students and partners who shared their talents, insights and time. We would like to thank each and every new and existing relationship, and we look forward to our continued parnership in the future.

Supporters Dean Thomas Fiedler Elisabeth Symczak Dean John Battaglino Student Activities Office, Boston University Allocations Board, Boston University

On the Cover Amanda wears a light yellow sweater from Zara paired with white denim pants from Primark.

Sebastian wears a light pink polo shirt from Banana Republic paired with Denim & Co. jeans.

Models Amanda Willis (CAS ‘21) Hannah Tracy (COM ‘23) Sebastian Arango (COM ‘22) Matthew Kappas (QST ‘21)

3 | Staff Credits

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A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR written by Amanda Willis | photographed by Chika Okoye | designed by Solana Chatfield

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My last semester of college. It feels different. Myself and fellow graduates are going into the world now with the tools, or lack thereof, we got at Boston University.

Knowing and working with everyone at the Buzz has shown me what I love to do. I’ve learned my passions as I rose through the ranks here at The Buzz.

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This edition of The Buzz should inspire joy.

The joy that comes with spring and all the happy days that accompany it.

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Every shutter that has gone off has painted a picture of the stories we tell. Every character written is a new narrative.

Our staff has worked so hard to convey our image into this spring edition.

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I can only hope that I leave this passion project to someone with a true vigor for what we do here at the buzz.

We challenge ourselves and norms everyday to stay ahead of the game in many senses of the phrase.

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I am excited for the future of this magazine. I can’t wait to watch it grow and become what is representative of that time. We are evolving and so is our lifestyle. The buzz will capture this evolution at each stage to come.

Sincerely, Amanda Willis, Editor-in-Chief

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“The best four years... during a pandemic Boston: The College Town During Covid-19 written by Kaylee Chin | photographed by Chika Okoye | designed by Macy Wilbur

Around 35 universities and colleges span and surround the city of Boston. Each institution uniquely contributes to the economy, culture, history and overall appeal of this special city. However, the influence of college students during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused tension, especially with Boston locals. The Boston Globe highlights these opinions in a July 2020 article: “Boston-area residents fear there will be an influx of college students—eating at local restaurants, shopping at grocery stores, drinking at off-campus parties, and taking public transportation—that could lead to new outbreaks of coronavirus.”

The typical college lifestyle comes with many factors that would lead to further spreading of the virus and thus, at first glance, is worthy of instilling fear. In many cases, this fear has been twisted into criticism, contempt and blame on college students for the pandemic’s continuation. Are locals correct about college students’ influence on the pandemic? Or have their frustrations been pushed to scapegoating students?

Through interviews with students attending Boston University, Harvard University, Northeastern University, Emerson College, The Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Boston College, I aim to see their perspective and compare the action plans each institution has created to protect the city of Boston.

A typical college classroom would bring a significant amount of interaction; however, these institutions have worked to re-program their courses into systems of hybrid or full remote classes. Harvard University allows students to live on campus but is conducting their classes through a fully remote system using Zoom. Boston University and Northeastern University function in a similar way, in which students choose their preferences to either attend courses inperson or remotely through Zoom. There is a maximum number of students allowed into

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each room, and larger classes often have a randomized cycle that alternates attendance.

Emerson College allows students to attend courses in-person every other day. The Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Boston College have their students attend most courses online but allow some in person.

Every institution gives students the option to take all courses fully remote and records lectures to be viewed by students—often in other states—at a later date.

Boston’s universities and colleges have each come up with systems for tracking COVID-19. Each institution has a thorough plan for mandatory testing, locations for students that test positive, and contract tracing of those around the infected.

Harvard University and Boston University students are required to complete a daily symptom assessment survey. This survey sends information to the university detailing if students were experiencing any symptoms that could indicate COVID-19.

Boston University, Harvard University and Northeastern University each ensure that their students get tested three times per week. Emerson College and The Boston Conservatory at Berklee ensure that their students get tested twice a week. Boston College students are mandated to get tested twice, once upon first arriving to campus and then switching to asymptomatic surveillance testing, which tests students varying between once a week or once every two weeks. Each university provides free testing at testing sites close to or on campus. Any failure to comply with these procedures leaves students locked out of their dorms and all university facilities.

Students’ living situations have changed drastically due to the pandemic. Students had to say goodbye to spending time in the library, dining halls, classrooms, laboratories and other facilities. Masks and remaining socially distant is required throughout all residents and facilities across each institution.

Boston University and Northeastern University students are allowed only in their designated dorm buildings. This system is instilled through ID cards that give access to only your building and prevent students from entering any other dorm on campus. Guests and visitors are prohibited from entering all dorm buildings. Having no guests or visitors is a rule that applies to Emerson College as well, although many of their students are living in a 5-star hotel. Emerson’s largest dorm building was converted into quarantine housing, so the college bought many floors in the nearby W Hotel as residential units for their students.

Each institution’s location in Boston plays a critical role in their college experience during the pandemic. The ongoing pandemic has sparked many critical movements— specifically in politics due to the election and inauguration, as well as social movements like the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests.

Gregory Gager, a sophomore at Emerson College studying visual media arts production, stated, “Being in the city when the election results were announced was genuinely one of my favorite days. Living so close to Boston Common, I celebrated in the street with everyone. My city location has allowed me to participate in protests far more than if I was back in my suburban home.”

Students at Boston College reported feeling far more removed from these events due to their location closer to the suburbs of Boston. Harvard University students are not allowed to leave campus at a far radius so thus were unable to attend many events, but the university entertains students through socially distant events in Harvard Square.

Northeastern University has utilized the space available on campus in order to help students. Sydney Tan, a sophomore at Northeastern University studying mechanical engineering, stated, “They’ve actively set up outdoor areas where it’s a little easier to hang out with people in a safe setting. They’ve

put up heated tents around campus that students can study and eat together in (since the dining halls are all take-out only). There are also gas-powered fire pits that make the colder weather more bearable.”

Besides altered living conditions, most school-run activities such as sports and clubs were cancelled or severely altered.

Many students have been waiting their entire college experience or chose to attend these specific institutions due to these now canceled activities.

Juliette Barry, a senior at Boston University studying film and television and advertising, stated, “I had planned on studying abroad in London for the summer of 2020 but that got canceled. So, I reapplied for Fall 2020 and that got canceled too. Since the beginning of my freshman year at BU, I had been planning on studying in LA, but that got canceled too.

Study abroad was canceled on me three times!

I’m so bummed.” Besides study abroad, Juliette’s three on-campus internships were canceled. She is also part of a sorority on campus, Sigma Kappa, which altered all their activities to virtual or few socially distant events.

Chris Lee, a sophomore at Harvard University studying economics, stated, “Everything in my life has been changed. I’m an athlete whose sport was cancelled for the year, both my internships were cancelled, and all clubs I was a part of have become virtual.”

Sydney Tan (Northeastern ‘23) stated, “Northeastern has a co-op program, and it’s actually one of the main reasons I ended up at this school. A co-op is basically an opportunity for students to find positions at real companies related to their major. I know a lot of people who are currently on co-op, and many go into the office physically, or work completely remote (depending on the company). However, this is only the case for the people who were lucky enough to find a co-op last semester. Most people struggled to or were unable to find a co-op due to

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individual companies not wanting to take on new employees due to the pandemic.”

Gabriel Seplow, a freshman at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee studying contemporary theatre, stated, “The biggest change is with performances. Mainstage plays, musicals or student run theatre company productions are now done completely virtually. It is very difficult to find any theatre internships. Most have been postponed or canceled due to the pandemic.”

Emily Parra, a junior at Boston College studying applied psychology and women and gender studies, stated, “I was supposed to go abroad this spring and that was cancelled. I also had to drop my fifth-year program for

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social work. I am President of Students for Sexual Health club, which is now fully online.

The club had to be fully restricted, which changed how we distribute information to the BC community.”

The world has been severely altered due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. College students were forced into a new mode of life that altered their system of learning. Every student I interviewed expressed a severe toll on their social and academic life. There was a severe increase in loneliness, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and depression. There was a severe decrease in attention span, amount of sleep, self-care and hygiene, exercise, relationships and overall morale. Many students have

recently sought help through family or medical professionals.

The movie depiction of college life is even further from reality than it was before.

Students are struggling, just like so many others in the world. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe emotional and physical turmoil that is far from one group burden and blame.

There is strength in unity and love that the world has never needed more than now.

Rivalries and contempt should be put aside to keep fighting through this pandemic. All residents alike are working to protect Boston and allow it to be the special city we all are fighting for.

How to Unwind in Boston When You’re Short on Time written by Lily O’Brien | graphic & design by Emily Snisarenko

Living in Boston has many perks: it’s an educational hub, it has amazing food, and it’s rich in culture. However, living here can also cause stress that often comes along with living in a big city. In a city as big and bustling as Boston, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed— especially in an era where being stressed is considered synonymous with success.

If you’re trying to unwind between classes or just need a quick break, here are some relaxing activities in Boston that can be done in an hour:

Take a Walk by the Charles River The Charles is a huge tourist destination, but many locals often overlook it. With its proximity to BU’s campus, it’s the perfect way to relax and get some exercise during a study break. You can access the esplanade by crossing the footbridge near 140 Bay State Road, or by crossing the BU Bridge to get a view back across the river at BU’s campus!

Livestream a Class with Boston Yoga Union:

Boston’s Waterfront

Voted Boston’s indie Best of Boston yoga studio, Boston Yoga Union offers livestream classes that you can do right from your apartment or dorm as a quick way to unwind.

This local studio provides hour-long Zoom classes for all levels. Two weeks of unlimited virtual classes are only $35!

If you need to take a little bit more time to counteract the stress of being a college student in Boston, there are plenty of activities that can still help you unwind without taking up your whole day. Try taking three hours to relax with some of these activities:

If you want to get away from campus for a little bit, take a few hours to stroll along Boston’s piers on the harbor. The view and the sea breeze are the perfect combination to combat a stressful day.

If that’s not enough, there are plenty of shops, restaurants and cafes in Boston’s Waterfront neighborhood.

While it’s always nice to take a few hours in the day to unwind, taking an entire day to focus on mental health every once in a while is crucial.

G2O Spa & Salon This local spa is the perfect place if you’re looking to de-stress and treat yourself. Located on Newbury Street, this spa offers cutting edge treatments and has even been redesigned to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

Day Trip to Cape Cod Even in the winter, a change of scenery and ocean view is a solid option if you need to take the day to focus on you and get away from the city. Taking the train is always an option, but BU students can also rent a car through Zipcar at discounted rates.

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TURNING POINT IN

BEANTOWN

Democratic Boston Finally Has Diverse Leadership On The Horizon

written by Lillian Parrotta | photographed by Amanda Schneider | designed by Thalia Lauzon President Joe Biden has tapped the current mayor of Boston, Marty Walsh, as labor secretary for his administration, leaving the leadership spot open for Beantown. Walsh will likely be confirmed by the Senate, and Kim Janey, City Council President, will step in as interim mayor. This will be historic for Boston, as every mayor since the establishment of the city has been a white male. Not only will Janey be making history as the first woman in power, but she will also be making history as the first person of color in power. Before continuing with Janey, below is some background information for you about what it means to be labor secretary and the basics about Marty Walsh, so you don’t have to worry about becoming a

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political expert overnight to understand this important moment in Boston history.

The labor secretary appointed for each presidential administration essentially oversees anything and everything having to do with the workforce as the leader of the Department of Labor. He enforces labor laws, such as minimum wage and ensuring workers are being treated properly. He also heads efforts to fight discrimination and tries to make every work environment healthy for every worker. How well the labor secretary does his job is reflected in how economically stable families are in the U.S. The stronger the labor secretary, the stronger the match between the policies implemented and the reality of today’s workers. With the pandemic

steadily continuing and only picking up speed, Walsh—like the entire Biden administration—will have an unprecedented reality to face. Luckily, Walsh is equipped with experience.

Because of his background as a union member, Mayor Marty Walsh is expected to do well as labor secretary. His parents both immigrated in the 1950s from Ireland and later met while at a popular dance hall in Dudley Square. They raised Walsh in Dorchester. At just 21-years-old, Walsh was heavily involved with Boston’s local union and actually became the president, pinpointing the beginning of his lifelong journey with the labor sector. In 1997, less than a decade later at 30-years-old, Walsh was

elected state representative. He found various activists and officials during his position to support his vision of equal opportunity as the main pillar of Boston’s political identity.

Walsh has carried the importance of equal opportunity in the workplace to his days in office as Mayor of Beantown and now will be in a better position to ensure every American experiences the same possibilities of success as they build their career.

Walsh reflects and compliments the Biden administration (and is friendly with Joe Biden himself ), and it has been rumored that he would have been Hillary Clinton’s pick for labor secretary. With the democratic majority—although thin—in the branches of Washington, Walsh is poised to make an

impact on the present workforce and the future economy of America, despite the shambled picture he will be entering.

The question is, assuming Walsh is confirmed by the Senate, how will the leadership of Boston look? There is a possibility that the election will be moved up, inducing a special election. But that is not what is favored by the city council. About two days ago, they moved forward in the pursuit to cancel a potential special election by voting to bypass the rule in the city’s charter that would otherwise require one to take place. City council realizes the consequences of holding an election at the height of the pandemic. The thought is that hopefully by November, vaccine rollout would ensure

a safer America. Janey would step in as acting mayor until the elections in the fall.

As stated before, Janey will make history as the first person of color and woman leader, but she unfortunately has the pandemic pushing against her potential success. If she decides to run officially in November, how she handles trying to minimize the effects of the pandemic will be under a microscope.

There is hope that her efforts could be on the positive side of the spectrum with support from President Biden, but a few months to tackle such deep issues is a huge challenge, never mind trying to help the usual problems mayors face. Well wishes, strength, and faith have been sent to you, Ms. Janey. She’s got this.

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ONE YEAR LIVING IN A PANDEMIC How Covid-19 Has Changed the College Experience written by Nica Lasater| photographed by Chika Okoye | designed by Solana Chatfield The one-year anniversary of quarantine has arrived with more frustration than fanfare to commemorate the date. The pandemic still continues to draw on, long past what anyone would have predicted.

“It feels surreal that we are a year into the pandemic,” Emily Barnard (CAS ‘23) commented. “It’s crazy to think that a year ago we had no idea how much our lives would change.”

During mid-March 2020, students were away on break speculating about the outcome of their spring semester as colleges across the country reacted with varying approaches to protect their communities from the rapidly spreading Covid-19 virus. Though no cases had been reported on Boston University’s campus, there were already about 28 known cases of the virus in Massachusetts.

BU’s course of action remained a mystery until March 11, when students received an email declaring an emergency campus-wide shutdown.

They were encouraged to go home or stay away from campus if they had already departed. The administration also announced that classes would shift to being conducted completely online until April 13, a very tentative estimate.

Students did not return April 13.

Instead, courses continued virtually for

the remainder of the semester and over the summer as well. The 2020 seniors graduated BU quietly with little celebration, no graduation ceremony or senior week to acknowledge their accomplishments.

Though cases in the U.S. were spiking in September, BU was eager to have students return to campus for Fall 2020. To adapt to the continuing Covid-19 conditions, BU implemented Learn from Anywhere, a hybrid education model that allows students to take classes in-person, virtually, or a mix of both depending on their personal circumstances and preferences.

One student, Sophie Woan (COM ‘22), was skeptical about the LfA model at first but has grown to appreciate it. An unexpected benefit of taking some of her classes virtually—she does two classes in-person, two online—is it allows her time to also complete an internship.

“I love the LfA model a lot more than I thought I would,” she said. “I’m able to balance having a full course load and an internship and not have to worry about a commute period.”

Other students are far less enthusiastic about receiving a virtual education, including Nick Mason (COM ‘22), who is taking four courses this semester that are only offered online.

Staring at the screen for Zoom classes, he said,

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is driving him crazy. “Right now there is nothing I want more than to sit in a classroom full of peers and listen to a lecture,” Mason explained.

Emily Barnard (CAS ‘23) also misses taking in-person classes as she believes professors are more effective teachers, which makes it much easier to stay engaged and learn material.

“I think my learning has declined. I don’t care as much about school because it’s really hard to stay motivated, and my classes just aren’t as interesting or interactive over Zoom,” she explained.

As Polina Lissin (CAS ‘21) feels her learning has been “insanely stunted by the pandemic,” she believes it’s unfair that students pay the same tuition for an inferior education.

“I cannot believe how much it still costs me to go here despite the educational experience not being remotely close to what it was pre-Covid,” she commented. “That said, I’m really lucky to be able to still be in school finishing out my degree during a pandemic that has devastated families financially and emotionally.”

Other public health protocols put in place for this school year to ensure the safety of students and staff include regular Covid-19 testing and symptoms surveying, as well as reconfigured residence and dining halls.

Students are required to get tested every three days and fill out a survey every day indicating any symptoms. If they follow these regulations and continue to test negative, they will have a green badge that grants them access into campus buildings and in-person classes.

Reflecting on the past year, Caroline Creed (COM ‘21) said she was very happy to be able

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to come back to campus feeling secure of her safety due to the way BU has handled the novel Covid-19 conditions.

“Of course there are things they could have done better, but I’m not one to complain too much, especially when they have managed to keep us on campus, safe and healthy,” she said. “I also could not imagine not getting tested, so that has helped my mental health and anxiety a lot.”

Lissin said she was impressed by how quickly BU was able to build a facility with the capacity to test everyone in the BU community so often and agreed that the frequency of testing is what encouraged her to return to campus.

“The regular testing makes me feel much safer given that we’re on a college campus with people inevitably interacting,” she said.

This year, the residence halls look and feel very different due to the safety regulations put in place to limit occupancy and the potential for contagion. The most drastic change seems to be the fact that students only have access to the buildings they are assigned to live in, a rule that administration is strictly enforcing.

Due to this lack of freedom, Creed, who lives on-campus in StuVi, said that though she lives in upperclassmen housing, her experience is very similar to living in the freshmen dorms.

“It feels like we’re always being patrolled and monitored,” she explained. “I understand it’s needed to contain the virus, but it feels like I’m back to being a freshman where I was scared to do all these minor things. Being so close to adulthood, it feels odd to not have the freedom that other 22-year-olds have.”

Barnard said because of these new

regulations, she typically only spends time with her roommates, which is unfortunate because as an extrovert, she loves to meet new people, something she can no longer do very easily.

“Last year I would go to different dorms to see other friends, but this year I can’t do that because I don’t want to expand my circle too much, and because BU has taken away swipe access to dorms other than our own,” she explained. “Luckily I’m super close with my roommates and we all live really well together, so the pandemic has just brought us closer.”

The greatest impact the pandemic has had on Creed is the loss of a real senior year, and her last chance to spend time with her college friends.

“I really miss out on the small things that brought me joy before the pandemic, like spontaneous trips, going out, large friend gatherings,” Creed said. “So it’s hard to feel like I’m missing out on what should have been my best and final year of college.”

These changes and disappointments that affect all aspects of life, including education and relationships, have taken a serious toll on students’ mental health.

“I feel unmotivated, weary, and ready to move on,” Mason commented. “I’ve started therapy for the first time in my life, thanks to Covid.”

To cope with these emotions, Woan uses several strategies. “I try to get outside and see my close friends as often as I can, which really helps keep me sane,” she said.

Lissin didn’t know how to respond to this particular question. “I feel like I’ve been so out of touch with my mental health,” she said.

Vaccines are now being distributed rapidly across the country with approximately 2 million doses administered every day. The national goal is to have enough vaccine supply for every adult in the U.S. by the end of May, according to an announcement delivered by President Joe Biden.

While there’s still a ways to go until herd immunity is reached and we can halt wearing masks, getting tested regularly and staying six feet apart from friends makes President Robert Brown hopeful that Fall 2021 will bring more normalcy.

On March 12, Brown sent an email describing how he envisions “life and learning” on campus starting in September. His vision includes all in-person classes, more freedom to move about residence halls, and all buildings operating at full capacity once again.

“I expect the vibrant campus life that we cherish will fully return,” Brown said.

When things return to normal, Mason has plans for a “big, big dinner with all of my friends, as many as can fit into one room,” he said.

“Everyone will definitely be uncomfortable but at least we’ll be able to hangout without the possibility of killing someone.”

For this reason, Lissin said she’s very excited to be vaccinated. “It’s coming one day,” she said. “Hopefully very soon.”

VACCINE SCARIES BU’s Relationship with the Covid-19 Vaccine written by Tiahna Creo photographed by Julia Pellar designed by Solana Chatfield

With spring slowly creeping in, many students are thawing themselves out and enjoying the beautiful weather and sharing excitement for warmer days. We are halfway through the semester, and the start of spring (and hopefully the Covid-19 vaccine) brings new beginnings.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts announced in January that Boston University was designated as a vaccination distribution center, a message that gave the community some hope and tangible measurement for how to get the vaccine. Though time hasn’t felt real for a while, that good news only lasted so long. On February 26, the state of Massachusetts prioritized mass vaccinations centers, and as a result, halted all first-dose vaccine distribution to higher education institutions, including BU. “I’m from New Jersey and I was hoping to get the vaccine here before I went back home for the summer. I know they paused giving it [the vaccine] but I have hope that it’ll come

back,” said undergraduate student Sarah Coleman (CFA ‘24).

However, it’s not all bad news. Those who were lucky enough to have already received the first dose will still be eligible to receive the second one from a BU distribution center.

But for everyone else that has not gotten the chance to receive either vaccine, which is most of the student body based on the state’s priority guidelines, the program is suspended until further notice. The university’s initial goal was to give every member of the BU community who wants to get the vaccine the chance to do so. Considering that the BU community is made up of roughly 45,000 people, it was estimated to be a lengthy process that would have stretched into the summer. Since everything regarding Covid-19 is susceptible to change as we get new information, there is still a chance BU could be designated as a distribution center at a later point in time. As of now, it’s just a waiting game.

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TABLE TALK

The Presidential Inauguration and Its Effect on Campus Relationships and Discourse written by Amanda Schneider | photographed by Andrea Chen| designed by Thalia Lauzon

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The inauguration of President Joe Biden occurred when many college students were still away on their winter vacations, limiting political conversation to either before students went on break or when they came back. Boston University’s official website boasts that it has over 40 cultural groups on campus and admits students from over 131 different countries, making it certain that there are groups representing ideologies from all across the world.

There has, however, been instances of clashing ideals between student groups in the time leading up to the election. In September 2020, the Boston University College Republicans (BUCR) posted a photo to their Instagram account regarding recent Tweets from Professor Ibram X. Kendi, director of BU’s Center for Antiracist Research.

On September 26, Kendi had posted on Twitter about now Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and her two adopted children from Haiti. In response to his Tweets, the BUCR asked for “the immediate removal of Professor Kendi from any association with Boston University,” citing his language as “outrageous” and “hateful” in their Instagram post.

The post gathered a lot of attention within the BU community, receiving over 700 comments from students. Nearly all of these comments were negative, with many calling

for the group to delete both its post and account.

“This statement is a joke,” one student wrote.

“Please use your position as a BU student to educate yourself,” commented another.

For some students, this reaction makes perfect sense. Sophomore Sophia Palumbo said that she hasn’t had any negative personal experiences at BU with someone who held a drastically different point of view. “[Boston University’s] campus and the people who go here are generally quite liberal, so it doesn’t create a whole lot of dialogue,” she said, adding that most of her friends share very similar political opinions. The comments on the BUCR’s post reflects these sentiments, displaying the school’s large leftleaning population.

Although the university does not have any official statistics on the student body’s political leanings, BU ranks 11 on Niche’s 2021 list of the Most Liberal Colleges in America.

However, after incidents such as that with the BUCR, some students feel that there has been a growing divide among the BU community, and that this divide was heightened by the 2020 election.

“At a left-leaning school like Boston University, publicly speaking up about supporting Donald Trump or any of his policies completely isolates you,” said Jodee

Frias, a junior who had engaged with the College Republicans’ Instagram post.

These sentiments are reflected at different schools across the country as well. For Beatrice Phillips, a student at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., political debates between student groups and on campus are similar to that between the BUCR and BU students.

“There has been an ‘othering,’ or maybe even ‘silencing,’ of students who openly support Trump at George Washington University,” she said. Phillips is a sophomore studying Political Science, and she said that this behavior is especially prevalent within that department.

Phillips said that this othering has led to a “problematic” silencing of Republican students in general, no matter what university they attend. This isolation peaked during the 2020 election season, as tensions between Democrats and Republicans heightened after the events at the United States Capitol on January 6.

Despite this student-led isolation, some believe that is still important to have conversations with those who hold different political opinions.

“The only way to foster change or help spread a message is to have respectable conversations with those you disagree with,” Phillips said.

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MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY Discover a Whole New World of Food written by Margarette Emin Lee | photographed by Chika Okoye | designed by Solana Chatfield A glossy yellow-green droplet sits elegantly on a silver spoon which curves to reflect an intriguing sphere. Its color vibrant, but not overpowering; its fragrance subtle, with nuttiness and tang. It slides off the spoon and onto your tongue where the slightest pressure against the roof of your mouth causes it to burst and release a velvety familiar flavor: salty, savory, briny, accentuated with the oil from the olive, which creates depth to its delicate flavor profile. This is Chef Ferran Adrià’s famous olive—one creation in his exploration in experimental cuisine, a subdiscipline of the science of molecular gastronomy.

A regular customer experiencing experimental cuisine may perceive it as a form of art or an inexplicable phenomenon they find pleasure in. However, behind the sphere on their silver spoon rests a whole world of researched techniques in the world of molecular gastronomy. Valerie Ryan, a Boston University Professor in Molecular Gastronomy, explained the intricate details to this world of research.

“Molecular gastronomy has a scientific approach to understanding the physics and chemistry of cooking. It can be thought of as the science of culinary phenomena. However, it is not a method of cooking or a type of haute cuisine as some mistakenly believe,” said Professor Ryan.

Originally known as “molecular and physical gastronomy,” molecular gastronomy was first coined at a conference in Erice, Sicily in 1992 and was created by physical chemist Hervé This and physicist Nicholas Kurti. Unlike food

science, which focuses on the composition of food itself, molecular gastronomy focuses on the science of the transformation of different foods, which commonly occurs in the culinary process. Hervé This’s successful efforts to popularize the discipline extrapolated molecular gastronomy into a form of experimental cuisine that helps develop new culinary techniques popular today.

Professor Ryan further described why she thinks the discipline has become so popular.

“I think that many of us have a passion for understanding the molecular properties of our everyday food, especially how those properties are altered by our cooking, and how they give rise to the sensory characteristics in the food we love,” she said.

Putting these scientists’ thought process into perspective, Chef Adrià explains the science behind the famous previously described olive.

This process is a product of the commonly practiced technique of spherification, which creates the previously described cherished olive purée. This purée is made to isolate the intense flavor of the best olives and is dolloped into a solution of sodium alginate, which chemically reacts with the calcium mineral found naturally in olives to form a translucent case, preserving the liquid purée and forming the olive sphere.

According to Professor Ryan, this technique has inspired not only new culinary creations, but also new food and beverage commercial products, some of which involve edible packaging. For example, notable chefs including the previously mentioned

Adria, as well as Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller, Pierre Gagnaire, and others, have incorporated aspects of molecular gastronomy into their approach to discover new dishes and techniques in their personal practices.

This new world of cuisine, which incorporates arts, science and even the humanities, continues to evolve every day, creating an exciting environment to explore the developing influence that molecular gastronomy has on the food we eat in our daily lives. Not only does this discipline inspire the discoveries made in haute cuisine, but it may also be a large influence on food product development and may even contribute a new perspective on dietary health and nutrition as society continues to strive for a healthier lifestyle.

I encourage you to explore molecular gastronomy further, and to have a taste of it yourself in Boston! Boston Magazine recommends Restaurant L, where the 2005 Best Chef Pino Maffeo showcases his practice in molecular and experimental cuisine.

Additionally, if molecular gastronomy interests you, BU offers its very own Master’s program in Gastronomy, founded by the famous Chefs Jacques Pepin and Julia Child.

Courses include Valerie Ryan’s own class in Science of Food and Cooking, which discusses different perspectives of food, with hands-on culinary exploration. For more information, follow the BU Metropolitan College website to discover your own journey in the exploration of molecular gastronomy.

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BOSTON FOOD COMMUNITIES Support Boston’s Food Communities written by Margarette Emin Lee | photographed by Chika Okoye designed by Emily Snisarenko When walking through the streets of East Boston, one gets a whiff of the sweet scent from the pandeyucas being prepared in El Peñol Restaurant. Similarly, when walking through the quaint streets of the North End, or waiting in line at Mike’s Pastries, it is impossible not to feel your knees buckling over the delicious aromas coming your way. Boston food communities do not get as much coverage as they need and deserve.

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Areas like the North End and East Boston thrive because of clusters of restaurants which specialize in certain ethnic foods.

These restaurants usually serve food from the owner’s home country and support the stability of the community it is in. These food communities were starved of in-person visits for more than a year and they need all of our help. The key aspect of these communities is the experience that each individual gets when

they’re there. There is no substitute for feeling the soft madera table at Tertulias or smelling the Parmesano Reggiano in Giacomo’s.

These places need their customers to be there in person because that is how they survive and ultimately thrive. Now that the vaccine is becoming widely available, I implore you to safely support these food communities.

Without them, Boston will lose all of its savor.

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CHILL-N ICE CREAM How a Local Store Defied the Covid-19 Pandemic written & photographed by Sebastian Jaramillo | designed by Solana Chatfield While most restaurants and restaurant areas are still recovering from the deadly hit they took during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, there are some areas that are beginning to blossom. Miami’s neighborhood of Coconut Grove has such an area in the famous Coco Walk zone. Multiple restaurants in this zone closed over the period of the lockdowns and the worst of the pandemic.

However, now that the vaccine is rolling out, more people feel confident to take a stroll outside and enjoy an evening of fine dining.

Therefore, many restaurants are back in business.

Chill-N Nitrogen ice cream is one of those restaurants as it just opened a new branch of their stores in Coconut Grove. The store opened in November of 2020, just as the pandemic was starting to wane down in Miami. Chill-N ice cream is a locally owned specialty store. Their specialty comes in the way they prepare their product. They combine the extra ingredients

that customers usually put on top of their ice cream and put them inside. This is because all of their ice cream is made in the shop as soon as customers order it. They have patented machines that use Nitrogen at insanely low temperatures, combined with a secret equation which allows them to make their ice cream on the spot.

Danny Golik, founder and owner of the store, thinks their success comes from catering to the communities that they serve. “In times of need, people always want ice cream and we’re happy to provide that for them,” he said. According to their website, Danny and a few of his closest friends, who are now coowners, locked themselves in a room and “after 3,456,789 brain freezes later… the almighty ‘nitrogen ice cream equation’ was perfected and Chill-N was born.” Golik also said that what inspired him to start this store was that most stores shipped their pre-made ice—cream which was made weeks and even

months in advance. He wanted to show his customers how cool ice cream creation really was by giving them the “behind the scenes” experience. Thus, he devised the special equation that allowed him to make ice cream right in front of customers.

Maria Ruiz, a regular customer and a Miami native, thinks that the way they make the ice cream makes all the difference. “The reason I come to Chill-N rather than any other ice-cream store is that I can see the ice cream process right in front of my eyes. That’s something you don’t get anywhere else. Plus, the ingredients you choose actually blend into the ice cream. My favorite thing to do there is to mix a brownie with my vanilla ice cream. It’s awesome,” she said.

Gorik sees a bright future ahead of the brand and Coconut Grove in general because he thinks that customers around the area will always want a tasty treat, especially in a time of need.

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DID I FALL FOR GREENWASHING? Learn How to Save the Planet AND Your Wallet written by Anindita Rajesh | photographed by Chika Okoye| designed by Tamar Ponte

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With the dangers of the current climate crisis becoming more apparent, the number of people who are taking steps to mitigate the issue is also rising. However, some companies trick consumers into believing they are making a difference by advertising their products as something they are not.

First things first, what is greenwashing?

Essentially, it is a form of marketing in which a corporation advertises themselves as being sustainable or environmentally friendly, when in reality they are doing nothing, or sometimes even harming the environment.

Many times, a brand will do this in order to appeal to consumers they may be losing to more sustainable competitors.

There are numerous ways in which a company can greenwash their image. For example, changing packaging from bright colors to more neutral, earth tones can trick buyers’ minds into believing that the product is more ethical. Many times, companies also create campaigns to portray themselves as philanthropic, when in reality, the campaign may not even be real—it instead is just used as

a marketing technique to persuade consumers (because who wouldn’t want to buy new jeans if they thought it was helping save the rainforest?).

However, sometimes companies even go as far as tampering with their carbon emission records in order to make it seem as though they were socially responsible.

We’ve all probably fallen into the trap of greenwashing at least once in our lives. For many people, shopping sustainably (maybe for clothes) can get expensive very quickly, especially for a college student on a budget.

So, when stores we usually shop at market themselves as “green” or release a line of sustainable clothing for a low price, it can be easy to be tricked into believing that we are actually doing something good.

So, how can we stop being tricked by companies? While it’s important to hold brands accountable, this can be hard coming from just a few people. That’s why it may be better to avoid these companies altogether and find other alternatives to shopping sustainably.

One way to figure out which of your favorite stores are sustainable—or at least on the path

to becoming more environmentally-friendly— is using a website called Good On You. This website, which can also be downloaded as an app, is a great resource for checking how ethical your favorite brands are, and it also provides some similar, yet preferable alternatives.

Other ways to become more sustainable include avoiding fast fashion. While it may be convenient to order a cheap going-out top off of Shein, the reason these types of stores produce clothing at such a minimal cost is because the clothing is often made with cheap materials.

Cheaper materials include cheap dyes that can leach into water sources or pollute the air and soil. On top of that, they are often produced in developing countries, utilizing the labor of underpaid factory workers.

It can therefore be useful to get the most value out of your clothes by restyling them or buying longer-lasting basic pieces that can help make your closet a lot more sustainable. Another option may be to thrift clothes. Understandably, fully cutting out these types of brands can be expensive and unreasonable, but doing little things can save the planet and your wallet.

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Plant Parenthood Help Your Plants Thrive

written by Anindita Rajesh photographed by Chika Okoye designed by Izzy Critchfield-Jain While the pandemic may be slowly coming to an end, many people will still be stuck indoors this summer, as many internships are remaining remote. While staying home can get monotonous, there are many ways to make your living space a more calming, uplifting environment. The setup of your room and house definitely has an impact on your mood and level of productivity, and keeping plants around has been shown to improve concentration and decrease stress. Below are some tips to help your plants thrive.

Sunshine or Shade One of the easiest, yet most important, steps to caring for a plant is figuring out whether it requires full sunlight, partial

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sunlight, or partial shade to grow. Placing your plant in the correct amount of sunlight will ensure that it does not get dried out. As a general rule, most indoor houseplants only require partial sunlight.

Where’s the Water?

Another intuitive, but easily forgotten, step is watering your plants. With the busyness of college life, it can be easy to miss the plant on your windowsill. Setting a reminder on your phone, adding it to your planner, or putting a sticky note on your refrigerator can be a helpful way to remember to water your plants. Also remember to research your specific plant, and identify how often it needs to be watered—succulents are ideal if you

tend to be forgetful with watering.

All About the Aesthetic Keeping your plant in the pot you got it in will be fine for a few weeks, but repotting is key to keeping your plants healthy, especially if the plant will eventually flower or produce fruits or vegetables. Luckily, this step can actually be fun! While filling a pot with soil doesn’t sound the most appealing, shopping for planters that match your room or kitchen can make the process a lot more enjoyable.

Whether you’re looking for something neutral, clay or hanging, there is something for everyone, and the addition of plants around your dorm, apartment or home can help improve oxygen circulation as well.

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written & styled by Melony Breese Forcier photographed by Chika Okoye designed by Solana Chatfield

NEW BEGINNINGS Spring 2021 Fashion Photoshoot

The feeling of rebirth that comes with the spring season has never been more significant than it has been this year.

Breaking out of our “WFH” attire into bright pastels and radiant pieces, our fashion spread represents the hope we see for this season. We can once again slip on the garments we only dreamed of wearing in the past year and go safely back to a world that was once so familiar to us. As you flip through the pages of our shoot, keep in mind the feeling of excitement and hope that clothing can bring into our lives.

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Hannah wears a silk satin tie dye buttonup blouse from Zara paired with white wide-leg jeans from Primark and all-white Nike Air Force 1s.

Sebastian wears a Huf jacket paired with Denim & Co. blue jeans and Nike Cortez sneakers.

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Sebastian wears a Huf jacket paired with Denim & Co. blue jeans.

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He wears Nike Cortez sneakers.

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Sebastian wears a light pink polo shirt from Banana Republic paired with blue washed jeans from Denim & Co and Nike Cortez sneakers.

Amanda wears a light yellow sweater from Zara paired with white wide-leg jeans from Primark.

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Matt wears a vintage Robert Barker longsleeve button-down paired with AG pants Hannah wears a white crochet maxi dress from Free People.

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Sebastian wears a light pink polo shirt from Banana Republic paired with blue washed jeans from Denim & Co. He walks in X sneakers.

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Amanda wears a light yellow sweater from Zara paired with white wideleg jeans from Primark.

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Hannah wears a silk satin tie dye buttonup blouse from Zara paired with white wide-leg jeans from Primark.

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Sebastian wears Huf jacket paired with Denim & Co. blue jeans.

Matt wears a navy courderoy long sleeve button-up from Maison Labiche paired with AG khaki pants.

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Hannah wears a silk satin tie dye buttonup blouse from Zara paired with white wide-leg jeans from Primark.

Amanda wears a BCBG long sleeve yellow dress.

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Sebastian wears a Huf jacket paired with Denim & Co. blue jeans.

Matt wears a courderoy long sleeve button-up from Maison Labiche paired with AG khaki pants.

Amanda wears a BCBG long sleeve yellow dress.

Hannah wears a silk satin tie dye buttonup blouse from Zara paired with white wide-leg jeans from Primark.

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Sebastian wears a light pink polo shirt from Banana Republic paired with blue washed jeans from Denim & Co.

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Hannah wears a white crochet maxi dress from Free People.

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THE FUTURE OF FASHION IS GENDER-FLUID

Breaking Gender Norms written by Melony Forcier | photographed by Chika Okoye| designed by Izzy Critchfield-Jain

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History was made when Harry Styles graced the cover of Vogue’s December issue in a Gucci ball gown. The photo sparked controversy across the internet, and it seemed like everybody had an opinion. While most praised Styles for his gender-fluid fashion statement, others believed it was outrageous for Styles to wear a dress. However, whatever view you had on the topic, the reality is that Styles just set a precedent for where the world of fashion is headed. More and more brands are shedding gender normative fashion and running in the direction of genderless clothing. Male models are shown wearing “female” clothing and vice-versa. With this change, it is looking more probable that this will become the new norm in a few years.

The idea that clothing should be made for a specific gender is laughable in itself.

Who has the authority to assign fabric to a

particular person? Consider the early Greeks and Romans. Traditional attire for men was skirts and dresses. According to the Victoria & Albert Museum, trousers were introduced during the 14th and 15th centuries. Although, even then, men still wore tunics. As time went on, trousers became more associated with men and dresses and skirts with women... but really for no good reason at all. European and American cultures told men and women what was socially acceptable for clothing, but in some cultures, even today, dresses are still worn by men. It is all very taboo.

Styles isn’t the first man to prescribe to the gender-fluid fashion movement either. Jaden Smith was one of the first men in the past couple of years to make a fashion statement in traditionally feminine clothing. In 2016, Smith became one of the faces of Louis Vuitton’s womenswear collection. Since then,

he has been spotted several times on the red carpet in skirts and dresses. Another standout moment was at the 2019 Academy Awards when Billy Porter arrived in a stunning Christian Siriano dress. The ensemble combined both traditionally masculine and feminine qualities by acting as a tuxedo on the top with a large ball gown-esque skirt on the bottom. Despite this being something that wasn’t traditionally seen on red carpets before, Porter topped almost every bestdressed list that year.

This movement isn’t just for men. Women are also influencing the push towards gender-neutral fashion, notably superstar Billie Eilish. She has propelled the question “what does it mean to dress like a woman?” to the forefront of conversations. Eilish has never been spotted in a dress or heels; both pieces that gender norms have told us are

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unique to the feminine wardrobe. Instead, Eilish opts for oversized hoodies, baggy “basketball shorts,” and all of the hottest sneakers (all things previously assigned to the masculine image). The New York Times even dubbed Eilish as “Gen Z’s Fashion Role

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Model,” proving that this new generation is throwing gender norms out the window.

Eilish’s genderless fashion also rejects the sexualization of women. Society has told women for ages that to look “attractive,” they must wear tight-fitting clothing. Eilish’s fashion choices allow more room for women to resist the “traditional” feminine ideals of men strictly and instead wear clothes that they genuinely feel comfortable in. At the same time, she is changing the conversation of what is fashionable for women now. Blazers, trousers, sneakers and graphic hoodies are all staples you will most likely find in a closet of a Gen Z fashion lover’s wardrobe. But that doesn’t mean they can’t also love getting dressed in skirts and dresses. These trends all meld into each other and take away anything labeled “tomboy” or “masculine” previously.

Prominent designers have also contributed to blurring lines between what is masculine and what is feminine in recent collections.

Karl Lagerfeld recently launched their “Duo Collection,” which features looks that are designed for both men and women. The description of the collection on the Karl Lagerfeld website reads, “A range of genderneutral styles that exude a masculine-meetsfeminine feel.” Pieces like white buttondowns and suit pants are included in the lineup of options available to purchase. Gucci constantly is featuring men in “women’s” campaigns under the creative direction of Alessandro Michele, who has worked to change the previously tired image of Gucci to the gender-barrier-breaking brand it is now seen as.

It cannot be discounted that there have been icons way before those like Billie Eilish, Harry Styles and Billy Porter. David Bowie was no stranger to what was defined as “feminine fashion,” and he often wore dresses. This was one of the first times that the world was exposed to men being creative in their clothing. Bowie introduced this unheard-of idea to everyday people, not just those involved in the fashion community.

However, Bowie and those like him were not able to fully help integrate gender-fluid fashion into societal norms since many were far less receptive to it than they are now.

Today, only a handful of fashion lines are wholly dedicated to genderless fashion, but that is sure to change in the coming years.

Rob Smith, Phulid Project founder, was quoted by WWD saying that “56 percent of Generation Z consumers shop ‘outside their assigned gendered area.’” Charles Jeffrey, a genderqueer designer, started the brand

Loverboy, which features androgynous clothing for any person no matter what you identify as. Right now, though, these brands are “runway brands” that aren’t as tangible to the average person because of their hefty price tag. More affordable brands like Zara tried genderless clothing capsule collections, but nothing has stuck yet.

So will websites break from having “Shop Women’s” or “Shop Men’s” tabs anytime soon? It’s hard to say. Completely eliminating gender from clothing is sure to take a bit of time and adjustment, but it gives a positive look into where the world of fashion is headed.

But this doesn’t mean waiting around until society tells us what is acceptable. Fashion’s true meaning is rooted in self-expression, so wearing whatever is comfortable and expressive of one’s personality is the best fashion “trend” of all.

IS Y2K FASHION HERE TO STAY? Resurging 2000s Trends Y2K nostalgia started brewing last year, but 2021 has already brought the 2000s here in full force. Perhaps it was sparked by reboots of our favorite early 2000s TV shows (Gossip Girl, anybody?), but now the fashion world has been fully infiltrated by the Y2K trend. While it may seem like yesterday we were throwing out our low-rise jeans and Juicy tracksuits, Gen Z wants it all back. Scroll through the feeds of any influencer on Instagram or TikTok, and you are sure to see them in one of the forgotten trends.

Read on for some of the hottest Y2K trends dominating right now.

written by Melony Forcier | graphic by Emily Snisarenko | designed by Solana Chatfield

PLAYFUL ACCESSORIES

BABY TEE’S

Minimalist gold jewelry took over in 2019, but now the early 2000s costume-esque jewelry is all the rage. Chunky acrylic rings are current favorites for some of the biggest fashion icons, from Bella Hadid to Emma Chamberlain.

The best part is that these rings are pretty inexpensive. Hop onto Etsy, and you will find hundreds of options—all around $10-15.

The crop top has been no stranger to the fashion community in recent years, but more specifically, the baby tee is the current cropped must-have. Scour Depop, and you are sure to find old Juicy Couture or BEBE bedazzled teenie tee’s. Pair it with some low-rise jeans and butterfly clips, and suddenly you’ll find yourself bursting out every line to “Oops!… I Did It Again.”

THE SHOULDER BAG The crossbody dominated the handbag world in recent years, but everybody is pulling their shoulder bags out from the depths of their closets. The Dior saddle bag’s resurgence has fueled the shoulder bag craze, but now it seems like every brand is ditching the crossbody for shoulder bag designs.

MINISKIRTS Perfect for the upcoming warmer months, miniskirts are a must-have. Popularized by every Y2K Icon (thank you, Paris Hilton), miniskirts are a foolproof way to spice up your look. For the ultimate nostalgic outfit, sift through thrift stores for pleated miniskirts.

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THE COVID-19 VACCINE AND THE FUTURE OF TRAVEL Learning How to Live in the Aftermath

written by Amille Bottom | photographed by Chika Okoye | designed by Emily Snisarenko From the dissipation of smog over cities in China to the crystal clear waters of Venice’s canals, the global halt of travel in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic has revived much of Earth’s environments.

While the environmental benefits of travel stalls are a gift, the economic detriments of travel’s cessation are astronomical. From hundreds of thousands of lost jobs, a soaring unemployment rate, and millions of people confined to their homes, it’s safe to say that both travelers and those employed by the travel industry have been bitten by the travel bug.

As the Covid-19 vaccine rolls out across the world, experts and travelers have begun to speculate about the future of travel. The travel industry, forced to adapt, has made decisions in the light of the pandemic that will hopefully open doors for summer vacations.

“People are tired of being at home,” said Kendra Thornton, owner of Royal Travel and Tours, in an interview with NPR. “We hear that over and over when we speak to clients.

They want something to look forward to.”

With the presence of the vaccine, the future

of travel is looking more optimistic. “Most of the experts who watch the travel markets anticipate that business travel may commence as early as the summer, and leisure travel in the fall,” stated Karl Minges, chair of health administration and policy at the University of New Haven, in an interview with Conde Nast Traveler.

This sentiment is echoed by travelers across the nation; a report by the American Society of Travel Advisors showed that about 87% of Americans plan to travel in the summer months. If 100% of travelers are able to get vaccinated come summer, the return of the travel industry will be achieved quicker than expected.

The higher levels of vaccinations will make the rush of travel return more quickly, as herd immunity can be reached. Herd immunity, according to the Mayo Clinic, “occurs when a large portion of a community (the herd) becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. As a result, the whole community becomes protected—not just those who are immune.”

This global immunity can be achieved in one of two ways: either from the overwhelming spread of the virus, leading to a greater amount of deaths and a decreased likelihood of re-infection, or through the widespread distribution of the vaccine.

“Based on past experiences with vaccines, once we reach higher levels of vaccinations—70 to 80%—the virus can no longer find enough hosts to create an outbreak,” said Dr. Thomas Kennyon, employee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in an interview with Travel + Leisure.

While the worldwide distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine is the key towards the reinvigoration of the travel industry, there are still strict measures that must take place to ensure the safety of global communities, as the vaccines currently available are not 100% effective—especially in regards to the new strains of the virus.

“Both the vaccines suggest they have 95% efficacy against severe disease, but that doesn’t mean they have 95% efficacy against infection,” Kenyon said to Travel + Leisure.

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The future of travel remains up in the air as countries sort out exactly how immigration and travel procedures will work in the age of the Covid-19 vaccine. As of February 2021, many countries require proof of a negative Covid-19 test result up to 72 hours before traveling in order to travel internationally.

According to the CDC, as of January 12, 2021, “all air passengers arriving to the US from a foreign country” are required to “get tested no more than 3 days before their flight departs and to present a negative result or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 to the airline before boarding the flight.”

This proof of documentation will only strengthen in nature as the vaccine becomes available to the general public, which is expected to occur as early as the summer of 2021. Due to the fact that, according to the Mayo Clinic, “it takes about two weeks for your body to build up protection” after receiving both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, major corporations and healthcare organizations around the globe are working together to discern how proof of vaccination and incubation period will be presented in order to travel safely.

Travel + Leisure emphasized the Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI), a coalition of major companies, such as Microsoft and the Mayo Clinic, that is working to create “a digital COVID-19 vaccination passport.”

This “vaccination passport” would allow airlines and countries to determine whether or not a traveler should be allowed to enter flights and destinations, based on vaccination status.

According to the official VCI website, “VCI coalition members are working to enable digital access to vaccination records using the open, interoperable SMART Health Cards specification,” and hope to “empower individuals to obtain an encrypted digital copy of their immunization credentials to store in a digital wallet of their choice.” For those who don’t have access to smartphones or similar devices, VCI states that people “could receive paper printed with QR codes containing W3C verifiable credentials.”

While the digital service is still in development, the travel industry hopes that the increased administration of the vaccine, coupled with the proof of vaccination by vaccinators, will help increase travel rates by summer.

“As the world begins to recover from the pandemic, having electronic access to vaccination, testing, and other medical records will be vital to resuming travel and more,” said Mike Sicilia, executive vice president of Oracle’s Global Business Units, a company involved in the VCI development,

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on the official VCI website.

“This process needs to be as easy as online banking,” stated Sicilia. “We are committed to working collectively with the technology and medical communities, as well as global governments, to ensure people will have secure access to this information where and when they need it.”

Essentially, the travel-savvy person should become tech-savvy as well, as the future of Covid-19 vaccination proof is in the smartphone details. Despite the fact that it is not yet known if the vaccine prevents one from being contagious if infected with Covid-19, the “vaccination passport” appears to be the future of travel in the 21st century, as it will enable people around the world to travel with a 95% effectiveness in slowing the spread.

While the future of travel is beginning to look brighter, there is still a wide array of questions that have yet to be answered, namely: how will the dispersal of the Covid-19 vaccine affect the experience of students in the fall of 2021?

Speculation over plans for the fall semester surged as a hot topic amongst college communities nationally as universities prompted students to reserve housing and classes for the upcoming semester. In February 2021, one of the most popular posts on the “official unofficial Boston University subreddit,” r/BostonU, regarded whether or not students should reserve on-campus

housing for the fall semester.

BU had yet to release information regarding the status of learning in the fall, despite rolling out the “Learn from Anywhere” program in the fall of 2020. With copious amounts of testing available for students, faculty and staff daily, students are prepared for another semester of twice-weekly Covid-19 testing and daily symptom surveys.

Yet for international students, the return to campus poses much more of a risk, even with the presence of the vaccine. Vaccination is not guaranteed for the general public, much of which is composed of college-aged students, by the fall of 2021. In light of this, the travel industry and other businesses strongly affected by the travel industry, such as that of real estate in college towns and universities that depend on housing payments, need to remain flexible with refunds and payment deadlines.

In order to stay ahead of the Covid-19 curve, hotels, airlines, boarding schools, universities and large-scale rental accommodations need to provide free Covid-19 testing and vaccination when the time comes.

Despite the accruing of extra costs through Covid-19 accommodations, including the implementation of flexible cancellation and rescheduling policies, the only way for the travel industry (and every business linked to it) to rise from the ashes of the global pandemic is to remain flexible, remain calm and require the all-important proof of vaccination.

EMBRACING THE GREAT OUTDOORS SOCIALLYDISTANCED SUMMER VACAYS written by Anoushka Shah photographed by Sophia Kysela designed by Kylie Tamashiro

As the chilly Boston atmosphere melts into a shower of spring flowers, the itch for a summer full of sunshine sets into hearts around the city.

With hybrid classes and working from home behind them, the people of Boston University can finally breathe a sigh of relief and embrace summer break. But how does one make the most of a summer vacation in the midst of a global pandemic?

The answer is simple: go outside. “Zoom University,” while saving the day in terms of schoolwork, has served as a major block to embracing the outdoors. After months of staring at screens, it’s time for the Terriers to brave nature. This summer, it’s important to make the most of planet Earth and revel in her beauty; that includes a bounty of outdoor, Covid-safe activities. As long as one wears a mask, embraces the sunshine and socially distances, the summer fun can begin!

Our Top 10 socially distanced summer

vacays will make the summer heat sizzle just a little bit less. Slather on some sunscreen, grab a pair of sunglasses and beat the heat with these activities around the city: hike through Vermont’s Green Mountain National Forest, mountain bike at Great Brook Farm State Park in Chelmsford, MA, or set up camp at Mount Blue State Park in Maine.

Looking for a getaway farther from home?

Hit the beach for a weekend on Martha’s Vineyard, MA, or road trip to Florida for a week at the Keys. For a true vacation experience, journey across the United States by car, stopping at campsites overnight (be sure to visit the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Big Bend National Park in Texas). Riverraft through the west, visit vineyards in California, and soak up the sun in quaint mountain villages.

The possibilities for a socially-distanced, outdoor summer vacation are endless!

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The Future Resuming Study Abroad in the Post-Covid-19 Future written by Abby Balter |graphic by Emily Snisarenko | designed by Amy Takahashi As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to ravage the United States and the vaccine rollout begins to enter Phase 2 of the plan, the question of when, and in what capacity, life will get back to normal circles people’s minds.

For college students, when the nationwide shutdown struck last March, they were forced off of campuses, out of housing, and were left with their entire worlds turned upside down, uncertain of what the future would hold. Students studying abroad were to return home immediately, and those who had abroad programs and internships planned for the summer had their programs cancelled, with little-to-no financial compensation. Now, as the end of the pandemic is in sight, the question arises as to what will remain of the study abroad system.

On January 14, Boston University announced that they will make a decision regarding whether or not study abroad programs will continue this summer on March 1. This information comes after months of hopeful speculation from students on the possibility of returning to some form of normalcy, but they are not out of the woods yet.

After the United Kingdom and other European countries went into lockdown due to the presence of a new, more contagious strain of Covid-19, it is unclear when borders around the world will reopen safely.

Although there are currently four different Covid-19 vaccines approved for distribution in the United States, the rollout

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of

process has already been long and complex, as many people eligible to receive the vaccine have declined to take it. The public skepticism towards the vaccine, coupled with the ever-rising new cases of Covid-19, puts universities in a difficult position as to how they will handle resuming abroad programs this year.

Due to most study abroad programs being categorized as non-essential to students’ ability to graduate, as well as the programs often bearing a separate cost, it is possible that if students are approved to study abroad this summer, they will be required to receive the vaccine prior to departure.

Throughout the pandemic, many new strategies and programs have been formed to try and enhance the remote education experience, such as virtual abroad education.

According to Inside Higher-Ed, even in a post-pandemic world, we may start to see more alternatives to study abroad rise in popularity, such as virtual study abroad programs or domestic study-away programs, throughout which students stay within the U.S. Despite the stagnant nature of life in the pandemic, the importance of global education is clearer than ever. Global connection and cooperation have been vital in the fight against Covid-19; moreover, as is apparent by the social and political unrest in the United States, the value of studying and immersing oneself in other cultures is apparent.

Traveling and the abroad education system help to expose people to worlds outside of their own, as well as to people and cultures that may be unfamiliar to them, which are vital experiences in dismantling prejudices and xenophobic mindsets. Furthermore, encouraging international education helps to foster a stronger appreciation for global interconnection, which will be pivotal in expanding industry and solving global issues such as climate change.

Historically speaking, study abroad programs have recovered after health disasters, so it is hopeful that once the threat of Covid-19 has dwindled, study abroad programs will be able to resume. Although virtual study abroad programs may be a part of a post-Covid-19 future, there is something to be said for an in-person, tangible experience that cannot be replaced by virtual programming.

study study abroad

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Ancient Indian Ayurvedic Wellness Tips & Tricks Promoting Clear Skin & A Healthy Gut written by Anoushka Shah | graphic by Emily Snisarenko | designed by Kylie Tamashiro

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Growing up in India—the land of spices, color and Ayurveda—I was fascinated with how different regions of the world came up with different wellness secrets.

After my first semester at college in America, the massive change in weather, diet and lifestyle threw my body completely offbalance. My hair weakened to the point where it was falling out in clumps not only in the shower, but even on my clothes, my pillow case and bedding. Don’t get me wrong, some amount of hair fall is totally normal, but my hair had become noticeably thinner, weaker and greasier, and I didn’t know what to do about it. To make matters worse, my face was also exploding with painful cystic acne–– something that I’d never experienced before.

My self-confidence suffered a massive decline as I began caking my face with makeup and strictly wearing beanies. It seemed like every day was a bad hair and skin day.

I tried almost every cream, took every supplement and got every treatment available to stop the hair fall and clear my acne. Little did I know that my body was just trying to communicate to me that something wasn’t right. During winter break, while I was home in Mumbai, India, I knew I needed to consult my grandma, dadi, as I call her––who would have an abundance of natural remedies for me to try. She introduced me to the world of Ayurveda––which I have since explored and become fascinated with because it really does work. From how to treat a sore throat to promoting hair growth, Ayurvedic medicine seems to have a solution to almost everything.

Here are some of my favorites.

Coconut Oil The best all-in-one moisturizer there is My grandmother would often tell me to oil my scalp and give it a good massage, or “champi,” as we call it. I used to cringe at the idea of having a head full of oil, but now I have nothing but appreciation for it––along with strong, soft and silky locks. Although it may feel sticky and uncomfortable, massaging your scalp and ends with coldpressed coconut oil or leaving it in for 30 minutes (or even overnight) can help restore the moisture. It also helps reverse damage from styling products and hot tools––which I know we all love and can’t stay away from.

Coconut oil is free of chemicals, pocketfriendly and has potent vitamin E properties,

making it a great make-up remover as well. It melts the make-up off in seconds and leaves your skin feeling like a baby’s bottom. This miracle oil can even be integrated as a staple in your kitchen––its healthy fats help with boosting heart health and improving levels of ‘good’ cholesterol in your body.

Turmeric Ain’t Golden For No Reason This golden spice is truly a kitchen treasure. It’s potent in anti-inf lammatory and anti-septic elements that ideally should be consumed first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Turmeric promotes gut health and healthy digestion as well. I like to add a teaspoon of dried turmeric powder to a cup of warm water along with some ghee, which is basically Indian purified butter, and black pepper. You can even use it as a face mask with some yogurt or milk to help shrink stubborn zits without drying your skin out.

A Spoon of Yogurt a Day Keeps the Doctor Away While dairy is often a no-go for most, including myself, upon consulting with Dr. Manisha Mishra, an Ayurvedic doctor practicing in Mumbai, India, I learned that yogurt can be an exception. Its bacterial composition is different from that found in other dairy products such as milk or cheese.

“Everyone—especially those who suffer from acidity or digestive issues—should consume a spoon of yogurt every day,” Mishra said. She explains that the “good” bacteria in yogurt helps promote a healthy gut flora, allowing more efficient digestion and processing of your food. It also has a cooling effect on the body, which is why it is commonly consumed after a spicy homecooked meal in Indian households.

Eat Yo’ Pickles Another staple of Indian meals is the pickle. Tangy, sweet, sour and spicy, much like kimchi, this fermented food helps keep the gut healthy, allowing smooth digestion of your food. The more fermented, the better.

However, Mishra warns that just like anything else in the world, this too must be consumed in moderation. “About half a teaspoon or a teaspoon of pickle along with your meal is beneficial for your digestive system. Any

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more than that can cause your gut to get extra hot, causing more harm than good.”

Take Your Shot of Indian Gooseberry Juice Although this is popular and easily available in India, it is lesser known in other parts of the world. But I’m here to tell you that you need to get your hands on gooseberry juice. Easily available on Amazon, much like everything these days, it’s high in vitamin C content, so you can ditch the immunity boosting supplements. If you love sour and savory drinks, this is a real treat.

Additionally, when consumed religiously, it helps prevent premature graying of hair too. You can consume gooseberry as a shot, cut up like a fruit with some cumin and salt sprinkled on top, or even eat it dried, like candy. According to Ayurvedic practices, Gooseberry is the only fruit or vegetable that retains its medicinal properties in any form. Mishra recommends having a shot of this juice—often referred to as “amla juice” in India—first thing in the morning, after your cup of warm turmeric tea. “Especially now, during the pandemic, drinking a shot of amla juice every morning is a great way to keep your immunity strong without taking

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multiple supplements,” she said.

Onions May Make You Cry, But They’ll Make Your Scalp Smile According to Mishra, “Ayurveda is all about using natural household items to help your body be the best it can,” and these pungent bulbs of flavor can help you do just that. If you’re suffering from severe hair fall or premature balding, simply massage your scalp or the affected areas with some onion juice or onion seed paste. Onions are rich in Sulphur, which helps in promoting blood flow on the scalp, therefore, stimulating hair growth.

Conclusion I began adopting these practices at the beginning of 2019. Fast forward to today, two years later, my gut is healthier, I don’t look as bloated and my stomach feels much lighter after my meals. Although I have the occasional bad hair day, my strands certainly don’t fall as much as they used to. As for my skin, it’s been a slow process and patience has really been key. The cystic breakouts don’t hurt anymore and I am starting to see some scars fade.

BU ZZ

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IF ANYTHING HAPPENS, I LOVE YOU

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Short Film, Big Impact written by Viktoria Popovska graphic by Emily Snisarenko designed by Emily Snisarenko

Tears streamed down my face as my eyes stayed glued to my computer screen with its brightness on full blast. I usually pride myself on being able to keep it together after watching a movie, but this was just way too hard.

I first learned about If Anything Happens I Love You while lying on my couch during winter break doom-scrolling on TikTok, and I saw a video of a girl reacting to the animated short film. I wasn’t aware at the time that this TikTok would become a catalyst for my descent into the world of animated short films.

The girl in the video challenged her viewers to watch the short film without crying—she said it was virtually impossible. That’s when I pulled out my laptop, clicked onto Netflix, typed in the movie title and hit play.

For 12 minutes, my eyes stayed glued to the screen and my heart was overwhelmed with so many different emotions in such a short span of time. And clearly, I definitely lost the TikToker’s no-crying challenge.

The film, written and directed by Michael Govier and Will McCormack, was originally shown at a private screening at the United Talent Agency in Beverly Hills in March before being released to the public last November.

The film follows two grieving parents who are having a difficult time coping with the death of their daughter who was killed in a school shooting. The 12-minute film documents the process of dealing with grief and pain that can take a lifetime.

The short’s plot works in reverse. The beginning shows the couple struggle with grief, and in the last few minutes of the film, the source of their pain is revealed. In this way, the audience is forced to share the mother and father’s depression and distress until the

final revelation of their daughter’s death due to gun violence.

One of the most unique aspects of the short film is that it truly embodies the idea that “less is more” through the simplicity of its drawings, which seem scribbled and roughly sketched with their minimal use of colors— mostly black, gray or earthy hues. This choice in animation style adds to the dark hollowness that the parents are feeling in their journey with grief.

In regards to the animation’s message about school shootings and gun violence, the simplicity of the animation heavily contrasts the complex topic it represents. It seems that the short is made not to teach explicitly, but to make viewers feel a range of emotions and then use those emotions as a call to action.

Now, unsurprisingly, If Anything Happens I Love You jumped to #2 on Netflix worldwide only a week after its release on the streaming platform. Part of this skyrocketed success is due to that same TikTok challenge that introduced me to the short.

Videos tagged #Ifanythinghappensiloveyou range from people sobbing in front of their phone screens to “manly” men wiping away tears pretending to be unmoved by the story.

The hashtag has more than 66 million views on TikTok. In a Q&A with RogerEbert.com, the directors said they were moved by the TikTok community’s vulnerability in posting reaction videos. They were also surprised by the success of the film, since it is a stand-alone 2-D animation.

“Normally, if a short film actually becomes successful, it precedes a blockbuster,” the director said. “Our film is a stand-alone 2-D animated story about grief. Our little film has been number one in 14 countries on Netflix’s Top Ten. In addition, the film has been in the Top Ten on Netflix in 67 countries. It has been an emphatic declaration that audiences want to feel.”

The directors’ surprise surrounding their film’s success is warranted. An Atlantic article from 2016 discussed the challenges short films face from their own industry as well as the lack of large audience draw they get in the mainstream.

Hollywood tends to view short films as a second tier medium and ignore their standalone creative potential. As for audiences, it can be difficult to actually watch shorts because according to Richard Brody of the New Yorker, “There’s almost no theatrical or home-video showcase for short films.”

The success of this short can also be credited to the fact that it was picked up by Netflix and is a part of Netflix’s new goal to produce more animated shorts. In an interview with

Variety co-CEO Ted Sarandon, Netflix plans to release six animated features a year as a way for the streaming giant to embrace the short animated storytelling form.

Among their first set of three animated shorts, which includes If Anything Happens I Love You, Netflix also released Canvas and Cops and Robbers.

Canvas was initially released on December 11, 2020 and tells the story of a grandfather grieving the death of his wife and struggling to find the inspiration to reclaim his passion for painting. The short was written and directed by Frank E. Abney III and greatly contrasts If Anything Happens I Love You because of its brighter, more Pixar-esque animation style.

Cops and Robbers takes a sharply different animation approach. Initially released on December 28, 2020, the short was directed

by Arnon Manor and Timothy Ware. Ware also starred in the short which mixes classic animation styles with live-action shots to tell a spoken-word story about police brutality and racial injustice.

All three shorts touch upon some important themes such as grief, gun violence, and racial injustice, which is reflective of society’s continuing increased consumption of media that discusses big topics.

This idea of impactful shorts is on par with what Gregg Taylor, Netflix’s director of animated features, said about the new shorts: “Animated storytelling is most compelling when it can transport, entertain, and start conversations; and all three of these short films are beautiful examples of that. While each film is deeply personal and uses very different animation styles, all of them are equally powerful.”

Before watching If Anything Happens I Love You, the only animated short films I had seen were the ones that would play in theaters before new Disney movies––all of which are available on Disney+. I now have a new appreciation for short films and the work that goes into creating them.

Here are some short films––ranging from topics like clashing cultures to disability awareness––that I have enjoyed.

• Cops and Robbers - Racial activism • Canvas - Grief • Cosmos Laundromat: First Cycle Mindbender • Sitara: Let Girls Dream –– Child Marriage • Hair Love –– Black Girl Magic • The Coin –– Chinese Traditions • Purl –– Women in Business • Loop –– Autism Awareness • Float –– Accepting Differences • Sanjay’s Super Team –– Culture Clash • Kitbull –– Unlikely Friendship

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SELFISHNESS, UNIVERSAL EMPATHY, AND YOUR 20’S Is it Actually Bad to Be Selfish? written by Melissa Boberg | photographed by Chika Okoye | designed by Emily Snisarenko

I am not a statistician, but I would bet that you’d be hard-pressed to find any college student who has not heard the cliche that “college is the best four years of your life.”

Even though this advice seems easily ignorable given the relative circumstances of individual life, it is still indicative of how people, especially of older generations, view the late-teenage-to-early-twenties phase of life.

Connected to this is another cliche common in cultural discourse: “Your twenties is your time to be selfish.” Naturally, this leads to the conclusion that being in college and/or being in your twenties is supposed to be the time of your life—because you are given the freedom with which to be selfish. My question then becomes: if being selfish yields such positive

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results on our personal well-being, why should we ever stop being selfish?

Primarily, it is worth delving into what is meant by the advice that your twenties are about selfishness. I find this to be good-natured and genuinely helpful advice, which can be applied to concepts like relationships and exploration of passions. You should explore your passions and put yourself first, without changing your plans for the maintenance of a relationship or the benefit of another person. (See: Topanga not going to Yale because of Cory.)

However, there is an expiration date on this—and there comes a point at which you are supposed to become more focused on things like financial stability, providing for others, et cetera. Also, this “expiration date” is

wildly inconsistent; some people are born into or placed into circumstances where this period of selfishness is never granted, while others are given the chance to think exclusively about themselves for the entirety of their lives. (See: Donald Trump.)

In a way which is both hypocritical and not shocking, there are a lot of factors which play into whether or not it is permissible for a person outside of their twenties (or even oftentimes in/before their twenties) to behave selfishly. For example, stories like Wolf of Wall Street are held (by some) to an iconic status, for their depictions of ruthless economic pursuit. So, being selfish is taboo for some people, whereas others are celebrated for being selfish not only in a sense of self-

prioritization, but also in a sense of exploiting others around them with no regard. While it seems too obvious to even mention, it is worth keeping in mind that stories of grand-scale selfishness like this would not be told, nor would they traditionally occur at such a level, about people who are not men.

It seems to unfold in a sort of paradox culturally: it is good to be selfish to a point, until you are supposed to be responsible for a partner/family/etc., in which case you only have to be presently responsible for them if you meet certain criteria of gender/economics/ etc. From my perspective, even if we were all socially able to be selfish without regard, there is a level of selfishness which steps beyond a threshold of moral permissibility. In my

opinion, it is beautiful and freeing for a person to follow their own intuitions, seek out their place in the world, and believe in themselves unapologetically. However, this level of selfishness is not the same as exploiting others, occupying the mindset that your experience of the world is the only one or is somehow worth more, and relinquishing yourself of personal/ social responsibility. So, attempting to break free of the boundaries of cultural definition, how can we reach a point of selfishness as a healthy method of behavior?

While it might seem strange to negotiate how we feel about ourselves by starting with the external, I believe the first step in reaching a point of healthy selfishness is to self-contextualize. Namely, the concept of

universal empathy enables us to both love ourselves unabashedly and to love the other people with whom we share the world—to balance between prioritizing ourselves and caring for others.

Broadly, universal empathy refers to the practice of recognizing ourselves, or recognizing a familiar humanity, within everyone. Its opposite would be selective empathy, where we reserve our ability to sympathize or our willingness to help people whose experiences meet certain criteria or are familiar to our own. For a particularly relevant example, universal empathy would remind us that while we individually want to move into a post-Covid-19 world, we are not there yet and should not contribute to increasing the

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likelihood of infecting other people. (See: wearing a mask is the least you could do.)

For me, the next step deeper into universal empathy is to believe that we are all extensions of the same universe, rather than impositions upon it—and thus, we all share the same root.

In this view, all of our human consciousnesses are inextricably linked, even though our experiences are different and our lives unfold in radically different ways. Even though of course we will all always believe different theories of the universe, carrying some form of this universal empathy allows us to act both selfishly and with care towards everyone else.

We should be able to pursue any paths we want to take. In doing this, we should think that everyone deserves that opportunity. We should be able to spend our time however we desire. In doing this, we should remember that we are not inherently equipped to control the choices of other people in how they spend their time. We should be able to enjoy our time on this earth to the fullest of our capacity. We should not be able to collectively destroy the earth in doing so.

As mentioned earlier, I am aware that there are a ton of societal factors which push certain people into positions of power and other people into positions of perpetual discomfort.

I am also aware that a mindset change cannot fix that at a macroscopic level, and that an

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infusion of greater empathy into society would also require systemic change.

In short, I do not think it is bad to wake up every morning and think that you are capable of everything you have ever wanted. I do not think it is bad to wake up one day and realize that you are unhappy with your circumstances and change them. If that is selfish behavior, I

would say that we should all be selfish every day of our entire lives. However, in caring for ourselves in this way, it is integral to keep in mind that we are still individual components of humanity. Making a better world for ourselves involves making a better world for humans.

(For more, I would recommend reading Audre Lorde’s theories of self-care as a radical act.)

CLASS IN YOUR PAJAMAS OR IN-PERSON?

Students choose to do class from their bedroom instead of inperson education

written by Jessica Stevens | photographed by Chika Okoye | designed by Thalia Lauzon Boston University has been working hard of my classes in person, however, for most for the past year to make campus a safe classes, approximately only two other students environment for students and faculty. From show up out of 25. Why? Professors seem to incredible testing accessibility to impressive believe that the students who are on campus quarantine housing, BU has done it’s best to have become quite sedentary. They think that provide students with a somewhat normal students have become lazy and prefer Zoom college experience. BU’s main incentive for because they don’t have to walk to class or all of the Covid-19 preventative measures has fully pay attention if they don’t want to. Many been that students can safely go to class in- students love the fact that they can simply person. Now the question remains: why are roll out of bed, turn on their cameras for 50 students choosing to not go to class in person minutes, and then roll back into bed. when they have the option?

We are in college for many different I am fortunate enough to have quite a few reasons: social, academic, connections,

growth. However, academics is why we are in college and BU has worked so hard to try to keep the somewhat academic transition during Covid-19.

So, I ask, what happens when virtual classes are not offered anymore? What happens when you actually are required to walk to class? Will our sedentary lifestyles catch up to us?

Ultimately, if you’re student, I ask that you consider taking advantage of what BU has to offer because one day, we could wake up and only remember turning our cameras on and off.

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hARDER TO SAY

HARD TO SING,

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LIFE’S PAINFUL STORIES: WHO LIVES THEM, WHO TELLS THEM, WHO LISTENS written by Erica MacDonald | graphic by Emily Snisarenko | designed by Kylie Tamashiro

Rolling Stone calls it “the most devastating ballad of the year.” Only three months into 2021, some may think it’s a bit early to cede that title, but Lucy Dacus’s long-awaited “Thumbs” might just warrant it. What, pray tell, earns such a foreboding epithet?

“Thumbs” is not for the faint of heart. It’s certainly not for casual listening. Its lyrics are imbued with a subtly frigid violence that shocks and resonates in the way like calls to like—trauma pulls a trauma response. Its storytelling is equal parts lulling and jarring.

The scene develops carefully from verse to verse, but no amount of preparation readies you for the cold slices the song deftly delivers.

Dacus sings a haunting tribute to the innocent and abused, the ones born into an unlucky legacy of neglect, to the children stuck in the most intractable of conflicts—the kind with their own father.

I don’t know how you keep smiling.

“Thumbs” is from the perspective of a friend, someone who cares deeply about the person whose story the song centers on.

The singer’s friend is painfully estranged from their father in a way that probably feels too familiar to listeners. Dacus uses the heartbreaking realities of broken families to garner recognition: “He hadn’t seen you since the fifth grade/Now you’re nineteen and you’re five-eight/He said “Honey, you sure look great/Do you get the checks I send on your birthday?” It’s a story we’ve seen a hundred times—in media, in our peripheral lives, or unfortunately, in our own. All the stereotyped hallmarks of failed parenting are there—the absence, the inability to claim witness to huge life changes, and the inadequate, annual contact in the form of impersonal gifts of money. The story makes you wince. But it’s not what lends “Thumbs” its power, the power that razes listeners.

No matter your life experience, “Thumbs” is a pain we all know. The pain of watching someone you love suffer. Since the song comes from an onlooker, it pulls on our basest instinct in relationships—a form of empathy. In one way or another, everyone can recognize that hollow feeling of being unable

to undo the things that harmed your loved ones, whether you’re too late to arrive in their lives to stop it, or it was wholly out of your control from the start. It’s helplessness, tinged with something darker, more biting. Dacus writes it as vengeance. She states, matter-offactly, that she would kill the father in the song. Vividly imagines how she might do it (hint: this is where the song gets its name).

And the scariest part is that listeners may feel sick at the notion, but not entirely disagree with it. While the narrator of the song goes to extremes, the desire to take away loved ones’ pain is universal.

Dacus calls out the part of humanity that aches for retribution for wrongs done. The part of humanity that is summoned out of love, even though it deals in pain. The lyrics fantasize about a kind of violence you would never channel for yourself—it only arises for those you love, out of a primal urge to protect.

To even avenge, if given the chance.

People don’t hate people they’ve never met.

It’s not our nature.

“Thumbs” peddles the exception.

We hate the people whose words and deeds have left living scars across our loved ones.

Unquestionably. Irrevocably. We hate them for the things it’s not our place to hate them for, but even less our place to forgive them for.

Dacus admits that writing the song left her feeling “weird, even sick.” But it’s supposed to. How could it not, when its subject matter is one of the deepest hurts in the human experience? And even more so, such an uncomfortable desire for vengeance?

Although “Thumbs” was technically released in early March of 2021, the legend of the song has been making rounds on the music circuit for years. Dacus would occasionally end live performances with the devastating ballad, under the strict request for secrecy. Essentially, Dacus asked that the song not be recorded and, surprisingly, fans listened. There doesn’t appear to be a rendition of “Thumbs” anywhere on the internet (YouTube or elsewhere), other than the now officially released track. Even without a recording in existence, “Thumbs” had mythos.

The alternative and indie communities were buzzing with reports about the haunting song.

Anyone who heard it live desperately wanted a

digital version—so much so that a Twitter page dedicated to demanding its release popped up in June of 2020 (@releasethumbs).

Luckily for fans, Dacus pulled through in March. Dacus made her solo debut in 2016 and has two full albums in her discography, along with a plethora of singles. Dacus is also one-third of the alternative rock trio known as boygenius, with fellow alt heavy-weights Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers. According to legend, it was on tour for boygenius’s eponymous album that Dacus first performed “Thumbs.”

Storytelling in songs is a long-honored tradition, and “Thumbs” is based on a true event that took place in Dacus’s freshmen year.

But fact or fiction, its impact would be the same.

Songs like these captivate the listener with shock, with visceral imagery, and sometimes, with a feeling of being known, even down to the painful bits.

Bridgers, Dacus’s bandmate, is well-known in this genre of devastating ballads. Songs like “Funeral” and “Smoke Signals” have garnered their own sort of notoriety for similarly haunting lyrics, melodies, and of course, the stories they tell. Having received four Grammy nominations this past year, Bridgers is opening the door for poignant alternative songs to get their time on the main stage. With such buzz around “Thumbs,” perhaps Dacus is not far behind.

Still, recognition or no recognition, songs like “Thumbs” will always have a place in music as they serve as a necessary, albeit gutwrenching, catharsis. They tell the stories of the listeners. They tell the stories of their friends.

They tell the stories of the people who love and are loved, always, even in the face of life’s adversity.

I wanna take your face between my hands and say, “You two are connected by a pure coincidence Bound to him by blood, but baby, it’s all relative You’ve been in his fist ever since you were a kid But you don’t owe him shit even if he said you did You don’t owe him shit even if he said you did.

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The Allure of Escapist Music THE COVID-INDUCED REBIRTH OF NOSTALGIC GENRES ON TIKTOK

written by Kiara Tynan | photographed by Amanda Schneider designed by Lauren Had Since the COVID pandemic began one year ago, the Internet saw explosive growth in various genres with the aid of viral TikTok trends. As we all found ourselves trapped inside, alone and confused, a desperation for partying and escapism hit its peak. Nostalgia came to the forefront as people had the extra time to regress into youthful indulgences and escapist fantasies.

Under the spell of nostalgia, it’s easy to remember things in an amplified, enhanced version of what it actually was. The 90’s weren’t all butterfly clips, flannels, and jelly shoes, and the early 2000’s wasn’t all Juicy Couture tracksuits, pink glitter, and rhinestones. Still, these iconic trends have implanted themself in memory in such a way that they are associated with the fun of times seemingly much simpler than these.

The hyperpop genre arose from such an exaggerated memory of the pop music of our youth, pushing it further with fast tempos and distorted, electric beats. Artists such as Charli XCX, SOPHIE, Slayyter, and 100 Gecs have taken influence from Britney Spears and club music, only to transcend to a level of self-aware extremity.

While it is impossible to truly recreate y2k pop, hyperpop succeeds in creating something completely new. The influence is heard clear, but the electronica and synth infusions make the genre completely unique and hyper in every sense. A perfect reflection of Gen Z, hyperpop takes familiar 90’s and 2000’s influences and turns them on their heads, injecting DwIY over-production and an undertone of humor and self-awareness that understands its own flagrance, only pushing it to a greater extent.

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in 2021

♪

♪♪

The hole left in the absence of open house parties and clubs has been filled by hyperpop, with its intense sound that immediately transports you into the overstimulated, blurry mindset. This is music that encapsulates the feeling of being at the pregame, in the Uber to the club, and dancing in an LED-lit, crowded basement. While people can’t actually live out this experience again just yet, we resort to listening alone in our rooms, dancing on TikTok to emulate some semblance of the fun of a night out.

No matter the depth of the lyrics beneath layers of production, hyperpop has gained traction not due to the intricacies of its melodies or its intent, but because of the frenzied beats that make them easy to attach to various trends

and dances.

With seemingly endless time before partying would return, it was inevitable that we all would wind up in random Internet holes discovering random niches that transport us to any way of life outside of our currently gloomy one. Sea shanties appear to be the most bizarre of these discoveries as TikTokers began dueting en mass to various pirate-esque tracks. This trend boomed so greatly that it even caught the attention of Saturday Night Live when they performed a skit on the music.

When we are all so spread apart, trends such as this one allow people to connect with a greater community to join in songs, no matter how silly it may sound, that transport you into a fantasy.

As easy as it is to make fun of the multitude of overdone dances flooding the platform, its arresting power and influence on the music industry is undeniable. Fleetwood Mac’s classic 1977 hit “Dreams” shot up to Number 29 on the Rolling Stone Top 100 following @420doggface208’s TikTok skateboarding to the song and drinking cranberry juice.

Classics like this experienced resurgence with a newfound young audience and contemporary stars like Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat, only further cementing their force in the scene. Indie artists were able to utilize the platform to turn their tracks viral with quick, catchy clips. While many of these artists, like Curtis Waters and mxmtoon, whom you may not recognize by name, the second you hear their snippets you will be instantly familiar with the song and corresponding video trend. Artists are able to capitalize on people’s free time at home in quarantine and their short attention spans on TikTok by quickly drawing attention in under a minute to pull listeners in to listen to the rest of their discography, treating the platform like ad space for music.

As isolating of a concept it is to sit at home alone on your phone watching other people dance on TikTok, the app has emphasized the core principles of social media: entertaining and connecting masses. In the months stuck at home and separated from friends, the dance trends booming online gave people a fun way to pass the time and forget about the craziness outside their doors and on the news. Whether listening to hyper club beats or old-timey sea shanties, music has been able to transcend people from dreary living under COVID restrictions to idyllic fantasies of glossy SoCal life and soulful singing with brethren. Through this roleplay on TikTok, people are afforded the opportunity to return to pre-pandemic life with reinvigorated hope for the future of enjoying the music live in clubs with friends.

77 | Music

A BREAK UP PLAYLIST THROUGH THE 5 STAGES OF GRIEF Guiding You Through the Break Up written by Erica MacDonald | graphic by Emily Snisarenko | designed by Solana Chatfield

Coming into 2021, I think we all believed it would magically be better than 2020. I mean, how couldn’t it? 2020 sucked. Big time. We lost a whole year of our lives, and in college, that’s a huge chunk of the experience. On top of that, we had to deal with school, family issues, friendship drama, you name it. The cherry on top? Relationship drama. (I know. Gross.)

78 | The Buzz

Maybe it’s because quarantine gave people more time to reflect on what they wanted out of their lives. Maybe they decided the person they were dating didn’t align with those goals.

Or maybe people just grew apart during the dumpster fire that was last year. Whatever the reason, it’s still over and it still hurts. And those feelings are totally valid.

Whether you’re mourning the loss of a friendship, relationship, situation-ship, or anything in between, this playlist is meant to take you through the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

All I know is that not only will you grow from this experience, but you will also find happiness again.

STAGE 1: DENIAL

STAGE 2: ANGER

• “Pain” by The War on Drugs • “Everything Goes My Way” by Metronomy • “Needy” by Ariana Grande • “Julien” by Carly Rae Jepsen • “Love On The Brain” by Rihanna • “Shampoo Bottles” by Peach Pit • “Beggin’ On Your Knees” by the Victorious cast • “Somebody Else” by The 1975 • “Lie To Me” by 5 Seconds of Summer

• “Interlude: I’m Not Angry Anymore” by Paramore • “IFHY” by Tyler the Creator • “Your Dog” by Soccer Mommy • “Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse • “Change” by Pale Waves • “Josslyn” by Olivia O’Brien • “You & Jennifer” by Bülow

STAGE 3: BARGAINING

STAGE 4: DEPRESSION

• Don’t Know How To Keep Loving You” by Julia Jacklin • “Strings” by Jacob Dye • “CHARGER” by ELIO • “Hackensack” by Fountains of Wayne • “I Don’t Miss You at All” by FINNEAS • “The Steps” by HAIM • “Between the Bars” by Elliot Smith • “Creature Fear” by Bon Iver • “Go Your Own Way” by Fleetwood Mac • “One Last Time” by Ariana Grande • “Falling Asleep At the Wheel” by Holly Humberstone • “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi

• “Francis Forever” by Mitski • “Is There Something in the Movies?” by Samia • “Cellophane” by FKA twigs • “Better off” by Jeremy Zucker • “Friday I’m In Love” by Phoebe Bridgers • “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron • “All I Want” by Kodaline • “Skinny Love” by Bon Iver • “End Like This” by Rhys Lewis

STAGE 5: ACCEPTANCE • “You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore” by Demi Lovato • “Doors” by Cardiknox • “Your Best American Girl” by Mitski • “Made It Out Alright” by Matt Simons • “I Don’t Know You” by The Marias • “Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl” by Wet • “Paul” by Big Thief • “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift • “July” by Noah Cyrus • “Over U” by Tigri and Rory Lyon • “I Wish I Missed My Ex” by Mahalia

be like ‘Babe, come over’ “You’ll I know how this goes, yeah Talk about you need closure Too many missed calls Too many texts Damn, I wish I missed my ex

”

- I Wish I Missed My Ex, Mahalia

79 | Music

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AMANDA WILLIS

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ERICA MACDONALD

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81 |77 Editorial | Staff