November 12, 2021

The Huntington News November 12, 2021

The independent student newspaper of the Northeastern community

@HuntNewsNU

HUSKY AMBASSADORS VOICE CONCERNS OVER VACCINATION POLICY FOR TOURS

Photo by Marta Hill A Husky Ambassador leads a campus tour Nov. 11. Prospective students and their families are asked to attest that they don’t have symptoms of COVID-19 and haven’t been exposed, but no proof of negative COVID-19 test or vaccination is required.

By Annie Probert Deputy Campus Editor Prospective students and their families visiting Northeastern University campus for tours are not required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test or vaccination, a policy some Husky Ambassadors say makes them concerned for their safety.

When guests walk into the Visitor Center for an information session and tour of Northeastern, they are asked a series of questions ranging from if they have any COVID-19 symptoms to if they’ve come into contact with anyone who tested positive for the virus. But some Husky Ambassadors, the undergraduate students who lead campus tours, say

this isn’t enough.

“I generally feel pretty comfortable knowing that people are masked and trust that a lot of the people are vaccinated, but also knowing that we are just going by the honor system, you can never be fully sure,” said Alex Jarecki, a Husky Ambassador and fourth-year biology and political science combined major. “It just sort of makes me feel like I’m putting myself more at risk than I really need to be.”

While both Boston and Northeastern require masks indoors, many visitors come from different parts of the country — or even countries outside of the United States — that may have looser restrictions. Husky Ambassador Alison Booth, a fourth-year journalism

and interaction design combined major, checks in guests and said visitors often come up to her with their masks on improperly.

“There’s just this extra level of anxiety among us when we’re working that these people are coming up to me who aren’t wearing masks and I have to remind them to put their masks on,” Booth said. “What if they’re not vaccinated?”

Many Husky Ambassadors say they noticed the disparity in Northeastern’s COVID-19 requirements for visitors when the school announced that guests at Family & Friends Weekend in late October were required to show proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result to attend campus events.

“They wanted everyone who was coming for Family & Friends Weekend to be vaccinated or at least be able to produce a negative COVID test, but they made a point, it felt like, to exclude campus tours from that,” Booth said. “I don’t think it’s that huge of a logistical issue to check a vaccination card or a negative COVID test. I would be willing to put in the work to do that.”

Ruthie Olowoyeye, a fourth-year health science major and the chair of Husky Ambassadors, said they met with Chancellor and Senior Vice President for Learning Ken Henderson in May 2021 to address concerns about the testing and vaccination requirements for visitors going on Husky Ambassador tours. Accord-

ing to Olowoyeye, Henderson said requiring proof of vaccination would be an inconvenience for prospective students and families going on tours.

After the requirements for Family & Friends Weekend were announced, Olowoyeye said they emailed Henderson to bring up their concerns again but did not receive an answer from him directly, instead receiving an email from Elizabeth Cheron, Northeastern’s dean of admissions.

The email summarized the difference between larger-scale indoor events and campus tours, pointing out that visitors are typically indoors for less than an hour and noting that the policy could be revisited as the pandemic develops. “... It was determined that since VISITORS, on Page 3

Kim Janey visits NU, discusses her time in office before her farewell address

By Jennifer Suryadjaja News Correspondent On Tuesday evening, acting Mayor Kim Janey sat down with Régine Michelle Jean-Charles, director of Africana Studies and dean’s professor of culture and social justice at Northeastern, to reflect on her time in City Hall over the last eight months as the first woman and first person of color ever to fill her role.

Prior to Janey’s entrance, JeanCharles and Richard L. O’Bryant, director of the John D. O’Bryant African American Institute, sparked a community discussion between Northeastern students and faculty on how the institution can further engage with the Roxbury community through mentorship programs and volunteer opportunities.

Janey arrived from Boston

Medical Center after visiting three police officers who were shot in an hours-long standoff Tuesday afternoon in Dorchester. In her welcome remarks, she reflected on leading the city through unprecedented challenges during the pandemic.

“We know that COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted so many folks in our community, particularly poor communities of color,” Janey said. “We also know that COVID exposed and exacerbated what was there underneath the surface, which are systemic inequities that have been in the making for years, decades and centuries.”

As mayor, Janey said her efforts in leading the people of Boston through the COVID-19 crisis were done with a racial justice and equity lens. She spoke about investing $50 million in the Rental Relief

Fund and the Vaccine Equity Grant Initiative her first week as mayor, among other initiatives throughout her tenure such as The Joy Agenda, ensuring students stay in school and supporting small businesses.

With her experience in advocacy, as well as being a parent, Janey said she was inspired to pave a better path for the younger generation of the city.

“We wanted to make sure that we were opening up the halls of power and bringing people in who didn’t always have that access,” Janey said.

Jean-Charles’ first question to Janey was a simple: “How are you?”

Janey proceeded to describe some incidents that occured in Boston that underscored the importance of finding a safe space within a community and addressing unresolved trauma that led to violence.

Photo by Avery Bleichfeld Acting Mayor Kim Janey discussed her background and her time as the city’s top executive in a question and answer session with Africana studies program director Régine Michelle Jean-Charles Nov. 9.

“We want to make sure that we’re doing that work to address trauma, as well as create that space for joy,” Janey said. “I am doing okay. And

I’m going to do exactly what [JeanCharles had] suggested, which is take some time for rest, reflection, SPEAKER, on Page 3

CAMPUS

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November 12, 2021

Photo by Marta Hill The proposal looks to increase the number of beds in East Village from 723 to approximately 930, and the number of beds in International Village from 1,200 to approximately 1,900.

NU to add beds to East Village, International Village to address overcrowding concerns

By Jessica Silverman and Bela Omoeva News Correspondents

a art l Hil

International Village dorms are made up of enhanced single or double semiprivate bedrooms, which share a bathroom with a connecting room.

M by oto Ph

In a new proposal to address the growing student population, next fall Northeastern University will look to convert student bed spaces in the International Village, or IV, and East Village, or EV, residence halls from single occupancy rooms into double occupancy rooms and double occupancy rooms into triple occupancy rooms.

The Northeastern Department of Campus Planning and Real Estate, or NUCPR, submitted its Institutional Master Plan, or IMP, to city developers Oct. 4, detailing amendments to its plan from 2013. This amendment included the addition of approximately 900 beds in EV and IV, increasing the number of beds in EV from 723 to approximately 930, and the number of beds in IV from 1,200 to approximately 1,900.

After the IMP was posted on Reddit, many students raised concerns about how this change would be implemented and how it would impact students currently living in those buildings.

The average double in EV is 90-95 square feet per person, and the average single in IV is 130-150 square feet per person.

The proposed changes would shrink the size of rooms to

only about 60-70 square feet per person, which is less than half the size of the average parking spot in the United States.

In an email to students and parents Nov. 4, Senior Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Madeleine Estabrook wrote that the amendment is being proposed to address the increased need for student housing, as Northeastern received 75,000 applications for this year’s entering class.

“We are continuously reimagining our campus environment to create the best experience for our students,” she wrote. “This includes optimizing the use of residence hall rooms that allow for a greater capacity than they currently hold.”

The IMP came as a shock to many, including those students who work closely with the administration. Northeastern’s Student Government Association, or SGA, has engaged with the university over issues such as student housing, but first heard about the proposal through a Reddit post.

Vice President of Student Ser-

vices Sebastian Chávez acknowledged that he understands NUCPR must account for stakeholders other than students in their plans but wished his voice was heard as a student leader before the committee submitted its proposal to the Boston Planning and Development Agency, or BPDA. “We can’t work on what we’re passionate about if we don’t have an open line of communication with administrators,” the thirdyear industrial engineering and political science double major said. “Students need to have a foot in the door for these kinds of things earlier. We’re a major stakeholder. We’re the ones impacted by these changes.”

Second-year political science and economics major Harrison Voigt echoed these thoughts.

Voigt is an SGA senator for the Student Services committee and has been working with NUCPR on other initiatives for almost six months now, including addressing other recent proposed developments such as mixed-use housing development planning to be put near Ruggles station.

“I saw this, and I was immediately quite concerned, just as somebody who knows a lot about how these programs work,” he said. “The IMP amendment was submitted on Oct. 4 and its comment period ends on Nov. 4.

Usually what that means is after that time period ends, the BPDA goes into review and rules on it.”

Estabrook said no new beds will be added until the fall 2022 semester.

Chávez and Voigt sought to answer initial questions in a student town hall Oct. 29. The meeting consisted of mostly first-year students concerned about the amendment and how it will impact those living in IV and EV this year.

Students across the university have started initiatives to push back against the changes, including starting petitions express-

ing their disagreement with the proposal.

First-year international affairs major Daniel Pasciuto attended the meeting with SGA to voice his concerns not only for himself but also to understand how the proposed changes would impact students who require accommodations through the Disability Resource Center, or DRC.

Students need to have a foot in the door for these kinds of things earlier.

We’re a major stakeholder.

We’re the ones impacted by these changes.

— Sebastian Chávez SGA Vice President of Student Services “Primarily, I’m concerned because I’ve had a lot of dealings with housing through the DRC and getting accommodations, and I know how frustrating that is for those who need it,” he said. “Generally I’m concerned about the precedent it sets because they [are telling] us that ‘we’re just going to reduce your standard of living and you can’t do anything about it.’”

The meeting also brought up questions on how the proposed amendment would impact resident assistant rooms and how

the university would address increased strains on dining and ResMail, among other issues.

Estabrook reassured students and parents in her email that the university will continue to prioritize safety in the execution of this plan.

“Safety continues to be our number one priority,” she said.

“All safety and sanitation codes are being followed with the utmost strictness. Every floor of a building has a maximum number of occupants that can be safely evacuated (called an ‘Egress Limit’). In both International and East Village, the new total number of beds we’re proposing is less than this limit by at least half, and by much more in most cases.”

SGA plans to continue meeting with NUCPR to discuss the proposed amendment. They want to get students involved in this conversation by instituting a Development Advisory Board, which would act as a direct liaison between students and the NUCPR. While Voigt and other members of SGA will be working on solutions with the university to address this issue, he believes there isn’t one easy way to fix the problem.

“It’s hard for us to form housing policy as students, and we should not be expected to,” he said. “This will continue to be an issue because [the university] over-enrolled the freshman class, there’s a surplus of students and they have not built on-campus housing to accommodate those students. Unfortunately, this is not a problem that can be solved quickly.”

Voigt and Chávez encourage students to submit a comment to the BPDA with any concerns they have about the amendment.

The comment period on the proposal ended Nov. 4, before the BPDA voted. SGA said the BPDA will most likely not have time to address this proposal at their November meeting, so it will most likely be addressed at their Dec. 16 meeting.

CAMPUS

November 12, 2021

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COVID-19 test, vaccination proof not required for campus visit VISITORS, from front admissions visitors are indoors typically for a cumulative time under an hour, this policy does not apply to the current prospective student visit,” the email from Cheron read. “Should the nature of prospective student campus visits change in the future or should the circumstances around the pandemic change in the future, we certainly will revisit this, just as we have adapted to other changes over the past 18 months.”

In an email statement to The News, Marirose Sartoretto, a spokesperson for Northeastern, said the university does not require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for indi-

administration’s policy varied for different campus events.

“I feel like the policy shouldn’t be more difficult to implement than it is for implementing it at Matthews [Arena] for the hockey games,” he said. “The logistics shouldn’t be any more complicated, and it would be a very simple fix to start requiring campus visitors to either be vaccinated or have negative tests.”

After prospective students and their families check in at the Visitor Center, they sit down for an information session that typically lasts 30 minutes, followed by a campus tour. The indoor information sessions have a maximum of 50 attendees Monday through Thurs-

Photo by Marta Hill Fridays and Saturdays attract up to 200 people on campus, according to a Husky Ambassador. viduals taking a Husky Ambassador tour because a tour is considered “a brief campus visit.” Visitors who have a one-time meeting on campus, Sartoretto noted, are not required to show vaccination status or a negative test.

“Individuals who attended parents weekend were considered short-term visitors, which is why they were required to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of being on campus,” Sartoretto said in the email statement.

Husky Ambassadors, including Jarecki, said they wondered why the

day and 200 on Fridays and Saturdays, Jarecki said. Afterwards, the attendees are broken down into smaller groups of 15 to 25 to embark on campus tours.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Northeastern’s campus in the spring of 2020, Husky Ambassador tours also came to a halt. Virtual tours were conducted in fall 2020, and in-person tours were brought back this past spring, with information sessions returning this fall.

However, Husky Ambassadors began getting paid for their work in July 2021, Olowoyeye said.

Jarecki said visitor attendance at Husky Ambassador tours has “pretty much gotten back up to what it was pre-pandemic,” with higher volume days like Fridays and Saturdays attracting 150 to 200 people per session.

But with a rise in visitors comes an increased risk of encountering the virus, and Husky Ambassadors that spoke with The News expressed concern about the risks this presents to the Northeastern and greater Boston community.

“I’ve had people [on tours] who have come from London and Brazil.

The fact that people are traveling so far, and we don’t really know what their vaccination status is… it feels that’s more risky,” Jarecki said. “Obviously Massachusetts has a really good vaccination rate, but not every state does.”

Visitors to Northeastern’s campus often travel to Boston to also see other institutions that make the city a bustling college town, noted Olowoyeye.

“People who are coming from far away are not only coming to Northeastern’s campus, they’re going to [Boston University], they’re going to Harvard, they’re going to MIT, they’re going to Wentworth,” they said. “It’s not like this is an isolated event and these people are going home.”

Some Husky Ambassadors who lead the information sessions say they feel increased risk in information sessions compared to tours, which are largely outdoors and are conducted in smaller groups.

“The information sessions worry me more than the tours themselves,” Jarecki said. “The info sessions could be up to 200 people all in a room together for half an hour at a time, which definitely feels way more risky.”

The Delta variant, which is thought to be twice as contagious as past variants of COVID-19, worries Ambassadors like Olowoyeye, especially when interacting indoors with visitors that have an unknown testing and vaccination status.

“You can’t tell me that it’s not a big deal when the Delta variant is predominantly most of the cases that show up in the United States, and when we already know that it’s much more contagious, and it’s much easier to get,” they said. “If you’re not fully vaccinated for some reason, at least show proof of a negative COVID test.

That’s just public health policy.”

At a recent organization-wide meeting, Olowoyeye polled Husky Ambassadors to see how they were feeling about visitors not being required to show proof of a negative test or vaccination. Roughly 75% of Ambassadors felt uncomfortable with the policy, Olowoyeye said.

“The overwhelming majority of people are not okay with it and would like for the administration to essentially just be more responsible,” they said. “It’s a weird teetering balance of like: How do I give a good tour, but also know that I’m putting myself at risk when I do this?”

Booth said the policy has forced her to look at how interacting with visitors could impact those around her. When checking guests into the Visitor Center, she said she can interact with hundreds of people on high-volume days.

“I should feel safe when I’m at work — that should be the standard of safety across the scope of the whole university,” she said. “At the same time, I’m going to all my classes and living with my roommates, and I’m like, ‘Oh, do I have to think about this in relation to them?’ I’m trying to be as safe as possible, while at the same time the university isn’t doing the same for me.”

Husky Ambassadors that spoke with The News also said they felt their role in attracting prospective students to Northeastern was being ignored.

“We put in a lot of work to make our tours good and make our presentations really good. And that’s us — the students — doing that, that’s not coming from the administration,” Booth said.

“So for [the administration] to not put

in the work to make sure that we’re safe, I think is just really unfair.”

Olowoyeye said Husky Ambassadors regularly receive praise from students who say the tours make them want to apply to Northeastern.

“We’re the people who bring people to this university,” they said. “I want the administration to know that we are the reason why people choose to come here, because we do great work.

We’re important and our lives matter, and our health matters. We just want you to know that we can only do so much if you don’t keep us safe.”

If they decide to attend Northeastern, prospective students will need to comply with Northeastern’s vaccination requirement anyway, Booth said.

“I don’t know if [Northeastern] is trying to not alienate these prospective families, but at the same time we have that overarching mandate regardless if they want to send their kids here,” she said.

Olowoyeye said she questions whether Northeastern’s priorities are focused on prospective students over current students.

“Our health should be a priority, and the health of the Northeastern community and the greater Boston community should be your priority, not just the number of people that choose to come to tour, not your yield, and not the number of applications,” they said. “It should be the safety and the health of not only your students, the Husky Ambassadors, but also the greater Boston area.”

Jarecki has been a Husky Ambassador for two years and said he finds it frustrating that Northeastern is not listening to student concerns.

“It feels like I’ve put in so much time and energy and dedication to Husky Ambassadors,” he said. “Just the fact that we’re putting in so much work for the school and then feeling like they don’t really care about how we feel or our safety, I think is the worst part of this.”

Acting mayor speaks about historic role in Boston SPEAKER, from front writing, restoration and all of that.”

Jean-Charles mentioned a New York Times article about eight Black women mayors in major cities in the United States, which Janey described as a “sisterhood” she has connected with through challenging times. Janey also said she is proud that she’s blazing a trail as the first Black mayor of Boston.

“It was just completely surreal. I had pinch-me moments for the first couple of months,” Janey said. “I grew up here in Boston and I grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s… But I remember what my city was like, and I did not think in a million years that I would live to see a Black mayor, even though we already had a Black governor and a Black president. It just seemed so out of reach for Boston and that we’d have a Black mayor and that it’d be me.”

Shifting gears to community engagement, Jean-Charles asked about Janey’s experience as a student activist with an intersectional approach to social justice.

Janey shed light on her organizing experience, such as the training she received in direct action organizing, child

advocacy and civil rights movement history at Shaw University’s Ella Baker Leadership Circle in 1992.

“The advice I have is to do it.

Young people have always been at the forefront of every single movement. Black women have always been at the forefront of every single movement,” Janey said.

Janey said she is looking forward to seeing Boston move towards a better future as she steps down from her role as mayor.

“I see a place where we have dealt with, and are not afraid to confront, our own history around racism,” Janey said. “We’re willing to have tough conversations and create more opportunities for those who have been left out of power, of opportunity.”

This second event in the Africana Studies Program series titled “Reimagining Together” came the day before Janey’s farewell address as mayor of Boston. Jean-Charles said in an interview with The News that she had been wanting to bring Janey to campus for an event.

“I knew as soon as I started at

Northeastern that I wanted to bring her to be in conversation with her,” Jean-Charles said.

Jean-Charles said there’s more work that needs to be done to reimagine what society might look like moving forward.

“The imagination is where we begin to do our justice, political, organizing work. [Janey] is someone who has done all of those things,” Jean-Charles said. “She is also someone that has shown you can bring that idea of reimagining politics as business as usual to your work in that particular field.”

Jean-Charles emphasized the importance of understanding that Black women have always been doing the necessary work to organize, but that there’s still work to be done.

“Look for the narratives that are already there, as opposed to looking for the exceptional thing [or] seeing people or Black women in leadership as exceptions,” Jean-Charles said.

Brianna Johnson, a first-year criminal justice major, heard about the event through the Africana Studies programs

and events newsletter. She said the event demonstrates how much Janey has contributed to Boston.

“It was really nice to learn about the things that she’s been doing for Boston,” Johnson said. “It really shed a light on all the hard work she’s been putting in for us and all Bostonians.”

During the community discussion, Johnson said she wished that community outreach programs would “be at the forefront here at Northeastern.” As

someone who wants to be familiar with the city’s inner workings, she said being an active part of the local community is a first step toward the right path.

“There’s a lot that Northeastern can do, pairing up with local homeless shelters, even like community service clubs and organizations on campus [can make] more of an effort to get involved with homeless shelters, food, pantries, soup kitchens, things of that nature,” Johnson said.

Photo by Avery Bleichfeld Acting Mayor Kim Janey reflected on her past eight months in City Hall.

CITY

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November 12, 2021

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, said it supported vaccine booster rollout in guidelines released Oct. 20. Over 1.3 million Massachusetts residents are eligible for booster shots, WBUR reported, and the state has outlined who can get one. “​​We will hold vaccination clinics in Mattapan, Dorchester, Hyde Park and Roslindale — neighborhoods where we’ve seen some of the lowest COVID vaccination rates,” acting Mayor Kim Janey said Friday, Nov. 5. “These family clinics will offer first and second dose vaccinations for everyone age five and up and will offer boosters for those who are eligible.”

The Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are authorized for boosters in the United States.

Eligibility from the CDC for each brand depends on age, pre-existing conditions and occupation. The Boston Public Health Commission, or BPHC, has an online eligibility checker for booster shots.

Most physicians in Boston offer COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters, in addition to pharmacies and pop-up clinics. Vaxfinder provides vaccination locations and appointment scheduling.

The CDC found most symptoms after the booster are similar to those people experienced after their second dose.

“The side effects of the booster are exactly the same as the side effects of the first and second shot,” said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, chief of the divi-

sion of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “It’s kind of feeling crummy for a day or so.”

According to the BPHC, over 65% of Boston residents are fully vaccinated as of Nov. 2. The CDC reported as of Tuesday that over 70% of Massachusetts residents are fully vaccinated. Still, Janey’s office has expressed concern surrounding COVID-19 and vaccination rates in Boston communities of color.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has unfairly affected Boston’s Black, Latinx, immigrant and other communities of color,” the BPHC said on Boston.gov. “Systemic racism, including in healthcare and vaccine development, also contributes to concerns and mistrust of the COVID-19 vaccine.”

According to Boston Indicators, the research center of the Boston Foundation, COVID-19 related deaths in 2020 were disproportionately high among Boston’s Black, Asian and Hispanic communities.

When adjusted for age, deaths among the Hispanic community increased 334.9% per 100,000 people.

Over 67% of Americans have been fully vaccinated as of Nov. 12, according to data from the CDC. Janey explained on Twitter the effort it took to vaccinate Boston residents over the national average. “Boston is one of the most vaccinated big cities in America. That did not happen by accident,” Janey tweeted. “When I became mayor, we moved quickly to ensure we were following the science and doing everything possible to get COVID-19 vaccines in the arms of people in every neighborhood.”

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By Erin Fine News Correspondent

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Data from the Boston Public Health Commission, graphic by Avery Bleichfeld

City celebrates new art in Jamaica Plain

By Sanjana Sanghani News Correspondent As local band JP Honk wove through a sea of dancing and laughing individuals from different backgrounds, a reflection of artist Matthew Hinçman’s vision came alive.

The Jamaica Plain community had the opportunity to celebrate a new public art installation in front of the Boston Center for Youth and Family, or BCYF, Curtis Hall and the Jamaica Plain Branch Library November 4.

Hinçman’s piece, “Wythe and Web,” is a series of brick walls that wind across the lawn, some of which are capped with glazed bricks. Five bronze folding chairs are also set up on the lawn, completing the piece.

“This new addition to the Jamaica Plain Branch and BCYF Curtis Hall is a great way to honor the strong community ties that are present in this neighborhood,” said acting Mayor Kim Janey at the event. “I can’t wait to see people interact with the artwork and use it as a way to engage in more conversations with each other.”

This new art installation is a part of a long-term public art project program, the Percent for Art Program.

According to Boston’s Chief of Arts and Culture, Kara Elliot-Ortega, the program allows for 1% of the borrowing budget for the City of Boston to be dedicated to integrating public art into capital projects. For Jamaica Plain specifically, Ortega said that the capital art project was tied into the

renovation of the Jamaica Plain Public Library and community members felt that this green space could be more celebrated.

“We tried to have a lot of touchpoints so that the community had some say and could guide the project’s process,” Ortega said. “We heard pretty loud and clear that this space should have some personality and that the artwork should be really flexible. One of the goals of the project was that anybody could come here and do their own program, whether that’s a cultural program, a parade or selling goods, artwork should accommodate that and encourage it.”

Additionally, the program calls for local artists that understand the community well. As a resident of Jamaica Plain for about 30 years, Hinçman had some previous experience creating public art for Jamaica Plain. Hinçman has been generating guerilla public art for awhile, famously the Jamaica Pond Bench, and was encouraged to apply a public proposal by numerous people in the community.

“The public sphere allows me to share my work with a really localized group of folks,” Hinçman said.

“And so, yes, I am giving back to the community in a way but I really appreciate the generosity of giving my work to the public.”

Hinçman also underscored the importance of the community’s narrative, “Keep JP Weird,” in his piece. For Hinçman, public art can

be both statement and education oriented. “Wythe and Web” fits this mold because of its unexpected and collaborative nature.

“Here is an opportunity for various interpretations through engagement. It’s not like you stand back and look at the thing like ‘what is it trying to tell me?’ like at a gallery, but how I can use this space, and through that use, this space can be quite individual and surprising,” Hinçman said.

Both Ortega and Hinçman relayed the hope that the site is a place that invites people of different ethinic, gender

and racial backgrounds. Ortega said the accessibility of this project may be overlooked. He said the accessibility of the greenspace for those with disabilities was “limited due to a curve and a fence.” This was quickly resolved, however, and there is now a new way to access this greenspace and “recognize diversity in all of its forms.”

Photo by Sanjana Sanghani Members of the band Jamaica Plain Honk perform at the Jamaica Plain Boston Public Library, Nov. 4.

LIFESTYLE

November 12, 2021

Page 5

Column: ‘Sad Girl Autumn’ sends leaves and emotions spiraling down

By Karissa Korman News Correspondent The perfect soundtrack to long solo walks beneath Boston’s overcast sky, dodging leaf-strewn puddles and uneven cobblestone sidewalks, will land on Spotify this fall.

Shorter days and sub-60 degree temperatures signal the start of “Sad Girl Autumn,” the morose sister to “Hot Girl Summer.”

A black sheep in the festive moniker realm of “pumpkin spice” and “spooky” season that conjures up images of Starbucks lattes and pumpkin patches, “Sad Girl Autumn” marks the beginning of an unrelenting slew of releases from musicians like Adele, Mitski and Taylor Swift, with infamous reputations for the dreary and depressing.

In October, “Easy on Me,” Adele’s first single after six years, walks listeners through the lessons she learned during the collapse of her marriage.

In “Working for the Knife,” Mitski’s new single, the singer grieves over the lifetime she is destined to spend

beneath the weight of capitalism.

Regardless of whether Northeastern students have yet to divorce their Marriage Pact spouse or lament their co-op semester, Adele and Mitski are veterans in bringing listeners to tears and building fervor around their fast-approaching albums, entire collections of songs with the same potential to wreak emotional havoc.

Students are likely better acquainted with the memories recollected in Taylor Swift’s “Red (Taylor’s Version)” album, a re-recorded copy of her original 2012 album that dominated the radio a decade ago. Now, many college-age listeners are “22” themselves; happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time, with a handful of heartbreaks to carry them through the emotional rollercoaster of an album.

This year’s “Sad Girl Autumn” playlist is a testament to the artists’ mastery over songwriting as their music invites listeners to dwell with them in their heartbreaks and hardships.

“There’s not a seasonal strategy timed to a release of a song or album,” Nate Sloan, an assistant professor

of musicology at the University of Southern California told NBC News.

“These artists aren’t trying to capture the zeitgeist or general social and economic anxiety of the world, but they are tapping into their emotions and broadcasting it to a larger audience.”

If misery loves company, record executives have never been blessed with a hungrier audience than in this year’s “Sad Girl Autumn.”

About one in 20 people in the northern United States experience seasonal affective disorder, appropriately abbreviated as SAD, a form of depression that arrives alongside the fall and winter months.

College students in Boston who find themselves stuck indoors through a never-ending midterm season watching the sun set at 4:30 p.m. know the phenomenon all too well. Last year, student burnout, anxiety and depression rose drastically over the fall and winter seasons, but this fall, increased vaccinations and decreased isolation measures on campus still have not eliminated the onset of seasonal depression.

“Under any circumstances, experiencing a major life change like going to college is stressful, and experiencing it as the world finds its footing again is especially challenging,” Naomi Torres-Mackie, PhD, a psychologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York and head of research at The Mental Health Coalition, told Healthline.

This fall, students navigating their way through an exhausting year are eager for cartharcism from the “Sad Girl Autumn” musical lineup.

“It’s no coincidence that some of the most talented, innovative women artists — like Mitski, Adele and Taylor Swift — are tapping into these emotional and musical gray areas, and that’s why people are responding to them,” Sloan said to NBC News.

From the dread of the sun that setting earlier and earlier to the joy of wandering through Beacon Hill with a pumpkin spice latte in hand, where words fall short, the music of “Sad Girl Autumn” articulates all the highs and lows of the season.

As Taylor Swift said, it’s miserable and magical.

All-nighters carry negative effects on students, cause biological harm

By Sarah Barber News Staff Content warning: Mention of suicidal ideation and mental health struggles Experts agree: Sleep is one of the most essential facets of human health.

Humans cannot function without it, yet it is often one of the first things sacrificed in times of stress. As a result, sleep deprivation can have drastic effects on bodily circadian rhythms, the sympathetic nervous system and hormone production, as well as on the human psyche.

Despite the negative effects, college students can’t seem to help themselves from overextending, pulling all-nighters to study for exams and complete assignments.

“When you don’t get proper sleep, you’re talking about pretty much messing up every system of the body,” said Dr. Maneesh Gaddam, a sleep medicine fellow at Tufts Medical Center.

“These are all significant consequences, because sleep deprivation affects each organ of the body.”

Experts say this is what makes lack of sleep so dangerous, especially in individuals whose brains are not fully developed, which is the case for most undergraduate college students.

Although sleep deprivation infiltrates every bodily system, the nervous system is most significantly affected, explained Nesita Kwan, a licensed marriage and family therapist based in California.

“We need regular deep relaxation and sleep, and if we don’t get that, our nervous systems become so dysregulated that we get overloaded,” Kwan said. “If you don’t sleep

you have all of the intensity from the past days pent up, and you go on for days and days without rest and your nervous system gets completely out of whack.”

Humans need approximately eight hours of sleep nightly in order for their bodies to perform properly.

In addition to harming the nervous system, sleep deprivation can alter the pattern, and, by extension, the quality of sleep a person is getting.

“If you’re not meeting the demands of the body and getting [an] adequate eight hours, it will affect sleep patterns,” Gaddam said. “[Without sleep], your body won’t slow down and relax normally. There are a lot of physiological effects that can come from that. Cortisol levels will be up, insulin resistance will increase and so will anxiety.”

Kwan’s college-aged clients have explained to her why all-nighters are a common antidote to a busy schedule. Ultimately, the perception is that students will get everything done, but that isn’t the case.

“When it comes to sleep and memory there’s the idea that you can memorize everything, but the lack of sleep can impact memory to the point where the all-nighter isn’t effective, or as effective as people think,” Kwan said.

Andy Alsberg, who runs her own therapeutic practice out of Studio City,

California, echoed these thoughts.

“I think that there’s almost a distinction or pride in being able to say that you pulled an all-nighter, but there’s no reason for that,” Alsberg said. “You can spread out and have time to actually enjoy your life without pulling all-nighters.”

Alsberg’s son studied architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. She said she consistently saw how all-nighters were negatively affecting him and his classmates.

“There were many, many times that [my son would] be up until 2:00 a.m. He told me about this one time where he basically didn’t sleep; he stayed up the whole night with a girl who also had to do a review the next day at 9:00 a.m,” Alsberg said. “She completely passed out and had to be taken to the hospital because she was dehydrated, hadn’t eaten and was nervous on top of all that.”

These kinds of habits that students build can have drastically negative effects, not just physiologically, but also emotionally.

“I think when you follow it down the rabbit hole, if you’re not comprehending what you’re learning during the day it’s hard to get the grades you want, your GPA goes down because of it and that can affect your feelings of self worth,” Alsberg said.

“So you’ve stayed up all night to either do your

work, or party and enjoy yourself in college but if you can’t pull it together and do the work, then why be in college?”

Kwan said that sleep is one of the first things she evaluates in her patients.

“It has a big link to depression, self esteem and confidence, and if you’re permanently sleep deprived and you compensate by eating sugar and drinking coffee, you have a whole other set of issues,” Kwan said.

When students decide to pull all-nighters, the idea is that they’ll simply make up for it with a nap or by sleeping in the next day; however, that solution is only a temporary fix for a larger, more pervasive problem.

“You can push your limits to about 24 hours, but then your focus is lost.

When that happens, your vigilance and concentration go down, and you’d need to compensate for that lack of sleep with almost two full nights worth,” Gaddam said.

Poor sleeping habits have become a staple of the college experience. Sleep deprivation is taking its toll on students across the country. In order to fight this, Alsberg believes that it is ultimately the American culture surrounding hard work that needs to change.

“I think [lack of sleep] translates to how we think work should be done in America, which is, well, kill yourself,” Alsberg said. “Basically, you’re not doing a good enough job unless you’re killing yourself, according to our society, and that’s no way for anyone to live.”

Graphic by Clara McCourt

Calendar compiled by Lily Elwood & Katie Mogg Graphics by Marta Hill

Nov. 11 - Nov. 21 The Bacchae Support the Northeastern theatre department by going to see its performance of The Bacchae, a Greek revenge tragedy.

Northeastern Studio Theater, $5 for current NEU students

Thursday, Nov. 16 North End Pizza Tour Feel overwhelmed by the seemingly endless supply of pizzerias in the North End? Eat Boston’s finest slices by embarking on a North End Pizza Tour next Thursday, Nov. 16 from 11:00 a.m-1:00 p.m. or from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

191 Hanover Street, $49

Friday, Nov. 19 Paradise City Arts Festival Known as New England’s way to kick off the holiday season, Paradise City Arts Festival is an experience every Bostonian should check off their list. The event showcases the talents of 175 independent American artists while offering a wide slew of gift ideas, jewelry, fine art and home furnishings.

181 Royal Plaza Dr West, Marlborough, MA, $14

Saturday, Nov. 20 Northeastern Men’s Hockey vs Boston University Watch Northeastern’s men’s hockey team play a home game at 7:00 p.m. on Nov. 20! If you haven’t been to a Northeastern hockey game yet, be sure to check one out.

Matthews Arena, prices vary

Now - Nov. 28 Women Take the Floor Exhibit See the Women Take the Floor exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts before it’s gone! Explore the art of several underrated women artists and learn about the history of women in fine art.

465 Huntington Ave., free with Husky ID

ANNIVERSARY

Page 6

November 12, 2021

Courtesy Larry Rothstein

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of their class, a group of more than 40 Northeast now available at www.nunews50.com. In collaboration with former Editor in Chief

Sports editor a woman? Advancing t

By Donna Doherty “The delivery man looked embarrassed as he stood at the entrance to the Northeastern News office.

‘Um, I have some flowers for the uh — sports editor of the NU News,’ he stammered.” So began the press release issued by the university after I was elected the first woman sports editor of The News in the winter of 1970, my junior year at NU. It wouldn’t be the first time my job was greeted with “Whaaat?” And it wouldn’t be the last time I’d be called a “pioneer,” a label which could sometimes be hard to live up to.

Yes, it was true. I was the first woman sports editor of The News, a promotion noted nationally in newspapers such as The New York Times, The Boston Herald and my hometown paper The New Haven Register, which, in turn, prompted calls for interviews on radio shows around the country. No pressure!

I was stunned. To me, it was like everything else in my life: A natural

By Larry Rothstein As political events in the spring of 1970 spiraled out of control, I decided to print the Northeastern News daily.

I knew the staff was skilled enough and dedicated enough to make it work. My biggest worry was whether we would have enough newsworthy events to fill four pages every 24 hours.

It was a worry that soon vanished when the Boston police unleashed an unprecedented level of violence against students and residents on May 12, 1970, in what became known as the Mother’s Day Massacre.

When the semester started, protests escalated against the Vietnam War and violence being waged toward African Americans. By this time, Northeastern was no longer a conservative campus, but was fully engaged in opposition to the war. In fact, it was leading the way. Political science professor Steve Worth had written a bill that argued former President Richard Nixon could not send Massachusetts servicemen to Vietnam because Congress had never passed a formal declaration of war. By March 27, the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the State Senate had voted for the bill and sent it to Gov. Francis Sargent for signature. The next step was a Supreme Court challenge.

Northeastern students were also heavily involved in planning,

progression toward a goal worked for and ultimately achieved, albeit not always greeted with welcoming acceptance. I got used to skeptics at every level of my career — even later when I rose from assistant editor to top editor of The New York Times-owned TENNIS magazine, covering the sport that was totally ahead of its time in acceptance of female reporters, though we were still vastly outnumbered by our male counterparts.

Veering at the employment fork in the road toward sports was all a happy accident, one of several in a career that has arced from legal and general reporting to sports and to the arts, my three great loves in life.

It was all good preparation for what it was like to be an anomaly in the male-dominated world of sports at that time. I was a White House reporter-bound English-Journalism major who found herself seeking solace in the comfort zone of sports on the school paper. It was a respite from a stressful co-op job, where,

with other area college students, a massive, city-wide demonstration on April 15 against the war, coupled with a one-day strike of classes and they were organizing a Bobby Seale Day. Seale was awaiting trial in New Haven, Conn., for murder. Betty Shabazz, wife of the slain Malcolm X, was scheduled to appear that spring as part of Northeastern’s Distinguished Speaker Series.

Protests on April 15 lead to violent clashes with the police. I covered the confrontations in Harvard Square.

As the Doors’ “Come on Baby Light My Fire” blared from Harvard Yard dorms, I found myself being chased by police down the alley behind the Harvard Coop, narrowly escaping with my camera and film intact.

Then a national tragedy occurred.

On May 4, members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of anti-war demonstrators at Kent State University, killing four students. The newspaper picture of a 14-year-old Mary Ann Vecchio, arms raised in anguish, begging for help as she knelt over the dead body of Jeffrey Miller, ignited a visceral response leading to students demanding all universities and colleges close until the war ended. The Northeastern faculty voted almost unanimously to join the strike. On May 8, the News published a Special Strike Edition.

A series of block parties took place on Hemenway Street over the first weekend of the strike. Residents complained to the police about the noise

as a barely-out-of-her-teens court reporter, found herself in a different kind of spotlight covering the Bobby Seale Black Panther murder trial for the New Haven Register.

The News was my solace from the drama of that national story which accidentally dropped into my lap when I was suddenly catapulted from backup reporter for the Superior Court beat into the main role. The regular reporter was immersed in a salacious trial of gang rape by a motorcycle club. It was the kind of on-the-job experience that Northeastern liked to tout to potential students: Earn your way through college and come out with two full years of experience in your chosen field.

I was more than hooked. I was committed, diligent, yet confused by what the hoopla was, even though I was politically active and certainly not ignorant of the history. But this was a two-bit hit job on a suspected police informant by what turned out to be a bunch of young, impressionable people about my age swept

up in the passion stirred by the charismatic and exciting Bobby Seale.

It was easy to stay above that fray because of the sheer intensity and volume of work required by a neophyte reporter thrown into a huge story, learning on the ropes, and privately scared to death about making a mistake or, worse yet, worrying that this might be the biggest story of her career. One day I crumbled to the floor in tears at my parents’ house, betraying my ambition when I wailed to my startled parents: “What if this is the highlight of my career? It’s too big, too soon.” Little did I know, a White House assignment was in my future.

When I got back to school, it was a relief. I was with friends, mostly writing types, all of them connected to my journalism classes or The News, Spectrum or Cauldron. I needed to relax and have fun with my extracurricular activities. Sports was going to allow me to take that breath.

And, as it turned out, sports

saved me and my career. Thanks to Woodward and Bernstein, after Watergate broke in 1972 while I was at graduate school at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications, everyone wanted to be an investigative reporter. The job market tightened up, and I was lost for a few years, mired in a go-nowhere job at a law firm which was supposed to be padding my legal resume and helping me toward that dream job of being the next Leslie Gelb, the esteemed New York Times writer (yes, I realized that Leslie was a male).

My femaleness was always in my face, coming into play on so many levels, and, yes, there were accusations and innuendo about favoritism. Because the New Haven Register knew that I had been elected sports editor of the News, and because the paper was being sued for sex discrimination by its women reporters, when a job opened in sports, the sports editor offered it to me. Smart move on his part. We met

Riot on Hemenway Street:

and the loud music. That Sunday night, the News office was filled with staffers piecing together the first daily strike issue. I was listening to WNEU, the campus radio station, and heard a live report that a large group of police was gathering at the intersection of Hemenway Street and Westland Avenue. Since everyone was busy at that moment, I decided to head over to see what was happening.

As I walked the short distance, I was only dimly aware of the police riot that had occurred at Northeastern in February because of the appearance of San Francisco State President S.I. Hayakawa. I wasn’t in school; I was working on my co-op job at the Massachusetts State House.

I remember reading an article or two in The Boston Globe. If I had known more, I would have been better prepared for what was about to transpire.

When I arrived, Hemenway Street was filled with students and other young people. The police — more specifically, the Tactical Police Force, a special unit to quell riots — was indeed assembling at the head of the street. To my eye, they looked at least 100 strong. Then, as if by command, they removed their badges and pulled down their plastic visors.

A second later, they charged.

I was standing next to two Northeastern students who immediately ran toward their apartment and told me to come with them. A Tactical Police officer was right behind us.

We flew through the unlocked glass

doors of the building and scrambled up four flights of stairs with the officer echoing each of our steps.

Somehow, the student opened the door, we fled inside, and he locked the door, just as the officer’s night stick slammed against it, repeatedly.

We feared he would shatter the door, but it held. A few moments of silence and he retreated down the stairs. I waited a prudent amount of time, thanked my benefactors, and headed out to the street.

There was carnage everywhere.

Windows and glass doors were smashed. Students and residents were bloodied. I interviewed Mike Mandel, a blind student at the Berklee School of Music, and his wife Elizabeth, both of whom had been beaten. I entered the apartment of a terrified, elderly Austrian couple; the police had shattered their windows and broken their furniture.

The couple said it felt like living through the terror of the Gestapo again. I gathered more stories and headed back to The News office.

Our first strike edition blanketed the story. We gathered facts and published them — the Northeastern infirmary was filled with dozens of students with broken arms, and lacerations of the head and face.

We called for eyewitness accounts.

And we editorialized white students now knew what Black Americans had experienced for centuries: that unchecked, the police could be instruments of terror.

In the next issue, we published, along with numerous first-person accounts of the riot, a front-page picture of the police charging, taken

by Newser Mike Moi. Also on the front page was a boxed statement from Boston Police Supt. William Bradley who said that no policemen had used clubs and that no objective person could say that the police overreacted. We reported that on the following night, 2,500 students, faculty and residents peacefully held a party on Hemenway Street.

Finally, we editorialized that Boston newspapers and television stations did not believe our account of what we repeatedly called “a police riot.” Regardless of the details and evidence we presented to them, there was little coverage of these events and no follow up.

However, one reporter did believe us: J. Anthony Lukas, The New York Times’ Boston correspondent and future winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Common Ground for his study of the city’s busing crisis. On Friday, May 15, The Times published a front-page story which led with the news that at least three official investigations were underway into what one city official described as “the worst case of police overreaction” in recent Boston history. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the mayor’s Office of Human Rights and the police department itself were studying a flood of citizen complaints about police behavior.

November 12, 2021

ANNIVERSARY

Page 7

The Huntington News

tern graduates from the Class of 1971 came together to create an anniversary issue Larry Rothstein and his classmates, The News has republished two of the articles.

the cause across sexual barriers over lunch, chatted casually about sports, though I knew the questions were loaded to see just how much I was up on. He never asked for a resume or even a clip of any articles from The News.

So, there I was, a pioneer again, totally oblivious to that status at first, because the guys on staff were both accepting and protective. It was an eye-opening experience, however, for them to see how cruel some people could be. I was assigned to the scholastic beat, writing game stories and features on football, hockey, basketball, etc., and was reminded by helicopter parents that you don’t put the name of the kid who was deked by for a goal, you don’t say who fumbled the ball, you don’t give your work phone number to a coach for a story because his wife might find it in his wallet and call you at that number to ask if you’re having an affair with her husband.

You don’t ever make a mistake in a story or else you’re a “dumb

broad,” and you are expected to operate at a level 110 percent over your male peers, who, of course, never make mistakes, right? You never give too much credit to the archrival team who beat your kids’ team, because then “you stink” will be yelled from across a hockey rink.

You just keep moving forward.

One day my boss noticed me updating my index cards on all things tennis. He took the tennis beat away from one of the guys, who only covered the U.S. Open and a few nearby events. I expanded the coverage to a weekly column and features on all levels of the sport, covered World Team Tennis, the U.S. Pro Championships at Longwood, and some U.S. Tennis Association junior events.

But all good things must come to an end. Mine did when the assistant sports editor, who was also the assignment editor, took more than a liking to me, and responded to my lack of reciprocity by assigning me to the desk for weeks. My colleagues

were outraged, I was distraught and threatened to report him to the top editor, which could ruin his career as he was ruining mine, because the paper already had one discrimination suit on its hands.

He pleaded ignorance to my accusations, and miraculously, out of the blue, The New York Times-owned TENNIS magazine called with a couple of freelance assignments. I was given permission to write them, though they were never published.

They were just exercises to see if I could handle magazine writing.

When the managing editor offered me the entry-level job of assistant editor in December 1978, I went to the Fairfield County office to interview with the editor. I could tell it wasn’t going well ... déjà vu of the interview I’d had at Columbia U with a chauvinistic dean who asked why an attractive woman like myself was seriously interested in making this career choice. It was the same attitude toward women demonstrated by many of the all-

: Boston Police unleashed Lukas’ article included many of the incidents the News had uncovered, along with his own reportage.

An example: “During this time, policemen and students were shouting epithets and obscenities at each other. Students concede that they heard their colleagues shout “Pig,” “Power to the people,” and worse at the police. In turn, they say, some policemen shouted, “Kent State got four — we want more,” “If you think Kent State was bad, just wait,” “Marxist Maggots” and “Commies. If we catch you, kid, we’re going to beat your head into jelly.”

Lukas ended his piece quoting News staffer Myron Burtman, a student at Northeastern’s College of Criminal Justice who had worked for two months on co-op in the Boston Police Department’s Communications and Records Bureau. He said, “There was provocation for clearing the street, but there was absolutely no provocation for the police to enter the buildings or to do what they did after they entered the buildings. This whole experience has just driven home to me the need for professionalization of police. In New York, police standby while construction workers attack kids. Here, police attack kids with animal joy. They weren’t police officers; they were a mob.”

The months passed. The investigations ground on. Then, in the Feb. 12, 1971, issue of the Northeastern News, Myron reported on the results. The

Civil Rights Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office released its report concluding that the police had used “excessive force.”

It indicted that “some police officers destroyed property and assaulted people.” But it concluded that there was little possibility of criminal prosecution against the officers involved because, although 99 complaints had been filed, no one could identify any of the officers. (Remember — they removed their badges before they charged.)

The two other reports reached similar conclusions. All three recommended action be taken against the officers involved.

None was taken then.

None ever was.

A Google search now reveals only Lukas’ article and his follow-up of the investigations. The Mother’s Day Massacre, along with the S.I. Hayakawa riot, have seemingly passed into oblivion.

But the recent murders of African Americans George Floyd, Tawana Brawley and others, and calls to defund the police, or at least reform them, make these events relevant again. All evidence, past and present, must be weighed when considering how best to move forward to create security in our communities, as well as how to achieve justice and fair treatment for all.

Hemenway Street Riot Accounts Published in the Northeastern News

Testimony of a NU student “At about 12:30 a.m., I entered one of the apartments at 153 Hemenway St. One student was lying on the floor, bleeding profusely from a gash on his right forearm. I helped him out of the room to administer first aid … I returned to the apartment with four others, and we sat in the middle room.

“A couple of minutes later, I heard a lot of yelling, and two students ran in, one into the middle room, the other into a third room, locking the door behind him. I heard a bang; later I learned the police had severed the lock from the door.

“Three policemen raced into the middle room striking at the students and objects in the room. I was struck five times—twice on the left arm, once on the left shoulder blade and once on the right knee.

“As they left the room, I asked, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ One of the policemen replied, ‘We are doing our job,’ and swept everything off the top of a bureau, smashing a couple of bottles. Then they left.”

Testimony of a Northeastern resident assistant: “On the night in question, I was standing in front of 153 Hemenway St. observing the disturbances of the evening … I assumed the tactical police were clearing the streets.

Many students, including myself, entered the dormitory. I immediately attempted to clear the lobby by telling the students to go to the

male faculty at Syracuse.

Then, in popped his boss, the CEO of the Golf Digest/TENNIS division of The New York Times Magazine Group for an introduction. “Oh, you’re the Donna Doherty who wrote that line about Eddie Dibbs having as much chance to win that match at Longwood as Michael Spinks had of getting any more money out of the Tooth Fairy,” he said, sealing the deal.

Fortunately, when the New York papers went on a wildcat strike for 84 days in the summer of 1978, the Golf Digest/TENNIS editors had been reading my tennis coverage in the Register.

I climbed onto that wagon and traveled the world in the Golden Age of tennis, working with the top stars of the game: Pete Sampras, Chris Evert, Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Bjorn Borg, my childhood idol Billie Jean King, and more. It was heady and exhausting, as I worked my way up from assistant editor to the

top editor’s slot in 1990, three years after I’d talked then-Vice President George H.W. Bush into a White House interview about his lifelong love of tennis.

As fate would have it, I’d forged an active volunteer life in the arts, which served me well enough to make a full circle career move back to the Register as Arts Editor. It saved my life after a heartbreaking ending at TENNIS when the Times sold all its magazines, and the new owners brought in their own people.

For once, I wasn’t the “only” in the room. My pioneer days were over, but proving myself wasn’t. You can imagine how an arts community responds to a sportswriter taking over its coverage, but they soon realized my passion, and together we raised the standards of the section to new award-winning heights.

I didn’t have to worry about sexism. I only had to make them feel appreciated and worthy of attention … something I’d learned a lot about.

upper floors of the building.

“A few moments later, a few members of the tactical police entered the building by smashing several plate-glass windows. Seeing them entering the building and swinging indiscriminately at students and private property, I attempted to seek refuge in the closest door available, which was the apartment of … the assistant director of student housing at Northeastern. Finding the door locked, I turned around and found the tactical force member standing in front of me. In the process of identifying myself as a member of the staff, I was clubbed twice, resulting in needed medical attention.

The officers, having found that I was a member of the staff, broke open the door of … the apartment with a nightstick and ordered me inside.

There I saw that they had clubbed the assistant director of student housing. His wife and children were there, also.”

ing an eye on the advancing police.

I then saw them break rank and start running at full speed in our direction. We then started running ourselves. We got through the first outer door, which was unlocked.

We then got through the second outer door which was locked. The three of us were standing at the outside of our apartment door. Mike attempted to get the key in the lock and open the door. As he was doing this, the police broke the windows in the outer doors and burst into our building breaking through the locked outer door. Without any remarks to any of us, six to eight policemen started beating us with clubs as we stood huddled, facing our apartment door …

“Our backs were to the police at all times, only turning our heads to explain that we lived there. Mike and I each received five blows …

When they were through beating us, they immediately left the building, and we got into our apartment and locked the door. “… After the streets were empty of police for a few minutes (just over an hour from the beating) … we went to Mass. General Hospital Emergency. Mike was treated for scalp lacerations: six stitches on the top of his head and three stitches over his right eye. I received two stitches to a cut on the back of my head. Also, Mike and I were beaten on both shoulder blades, the top of my thigh and my left arm.”

Testimony of the Assault on Blind Musician Michael Mandel and his wife Elizabeth Mandel “… Around midnight, we stood around the entrance of our building at 110 Gainsborough St. talking with friends and observing the events on Hemenway St. Mike was playing the flute … I could see that the police were marching in formation in our direction.

‘Mike had already started up the stairs and our neighbor Peggy and I started up the stairs after him, keep-

SPORTS

Page 8

November 12, 2021

Men’s basketball preview: a return to normalcy, but questions remain

By Nicholas Tesoriero News Staff After a season marred by uncertainty, fans and players alike can take a collective breath of fresh air when Northeastern men’s basketball returns next week. The Huskies are set to open the season Nov. 9 on the road at Colgate University. Fans will finally return to Matthews Arena when the team takes on Boston University Nov. 16, a night where head coach Bill Coen will be honored.

Despite the excitement of fans returning, many questions linger for the team after the recent departure of guard Tyson Walker, who transferred to Michigan State University. Walker, the 2021 CAA Defensive Player of the Year, was the team’s leading scorer and finished third in the CAA in points (18.8) and assists (4.8) per game in the 2020-2021 season.

The leadership of Coen and the returning Freshman All-American guard and CAA Sixth Man of the Year, Jahmyl Telfort, will be crucial to filling in the gaps.

Coen, the all-time winningest coach in NU history, surpassed Jim Calhoun with 251 wins last season and is entering his 16th year as head coach for the Huskies. He had nothing but positives to say about Telfort, highlighting his contributions both on and off the court. “[Telfort] is an incredibly hard worker, elite teammate and always comes to practice with a smile on

his face,” Coen said. “He dedicated himself all summer long, stayed on campus and trained.”

The team will rely on Telfort’s versatility. Coen said he’s a “two-way player, a multiple position player, a guy that can really impact the game.”

Telfort, a 2020-2021 Kyle Macy Award finalist, was one of the best freshmen in the nation last year, and fans will be excited to see him take his next steps as a player this season.

Telfort is not the only returning player in line for a significant role, as Coen noted the “huge part” junior center Chris Doherty will play this season.

“The only two games we lost in the regular season last year, Chris didn’t play in,” Coen said. “[The team will] need him to play at a high level if we expect to compete for a championship.”

Doherty, a hometown kid from Marlborough, Massachusetts, will be expected to contribute in all columns of the box score this year. Coen said he is “a high motor player, he’s a guy that passes the ball very well, rebounds the ball very well [and is] scoring at a higher clip.”

Shaquille Walters, senior guard, will get an opportunity to start at the point in place of the departed Walker, assuming increased ball handling and scoring duties. Coen said that Walters has “shown ability in the past” and will exemplify the coach’s “next man up” mentality.

New Faces In addition to the familiar faces returning for larger roles this season, the Huskies have also taken on four transfer players.

Junior guard Joe Pridgen is an inter-conference transfer from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and finished fourth in the CAA last year with 8.2 rebounds per game.

There’s an element of familiarity in the transfer.

“Joe’s a Massachusetts kid, [we’ve] seen him for a number of years,” Coen said.

Nikola Djogo, a graduate student, played four years for Notre Dame (2017-2021) before transferring to NU. The experienced guard brings leadership expertise after being elected a team captain for the Irish in the 2020-2021 season.

Guards, sophomore Glen McClintok and graduate student Tyreek Scott-Grayson, round out the transfer class.

“Those guys bring in experience that should really help the team,” Coen said.

The new group is “getting up to speed” and ready to “play a huge role in determining success,” along with the foundation that “knows what it takes to compete for a championship,” makes for a winning combination, Coen said.

New Opportunities The upcoming season bears

many exciting opportunities for the Huskies, including two nationally televised games against the University of Delaware and James Madison University, Jan. 17 and Feb. 3 respectively. Both games will take place in Matthews.

“Having a national broadcast on your campus is very exciting,” Coen said.

The team will also face off against four A-10 schools this season, including hosting both the historic program of Davidson College and St. Bonaventure University, a top-25 team in the nation.

“It’s a great opportunity for our

program to compete against the best and try to get better,” Coen said.

The Huskies were bounced from the CAA Championship semi-final last year, losing 67-74 to eventual champion Drexel University. The challenge should be even greater this year, and NU isn’t backing down.

“I’ve been around the CAA for a while, this is the most unknown there’s ever been in a positive way,” Coen remarked with a smile. “Every team in the league has a chance, the unknown will translate to a very exciting year.”

In a year filled with uncertainty, the Huskies are up for the challenge.

Photo by Harriet Rovniak Chris Doherty (left) and Shaquille Walters (right) play against James Madison University.

Northeastern Women’s Hockey: Dominant, but where are the fans?

By Khalin Kapoor News Correspondent At the historic Matthews Arena Oct. 24, the Northeastern women’s hockey team dominated the Holy Cross Crusaders to the tune of a 3-1 victory. While the play on the ice was electric, the atmosphere was not. At best, the crowd was sparse, with the NU student section, the DogHouse, less than 10% full and the majority of the other seats empty. The recorded attendance at this game was 702, but it felt like much less than that in the arena. At one point, the loudspeakers blasted crowd noise to emulate the sound of cheering fans, something that was not present at the game.

The day before, when the NU men’s team played against Colorado College, the attendance was 4,650 people. The DogHouse was sold out, and the excitement was palpable in the atmosphere of the arena. Cheers and chants rained down from the student section, and the crowd erupted during big moments in the game.

It was a marked difference from the women’s game, to say the least.

This NU women’s team is in the midst of a run of dominance that is unprecedented in collegiate sports.

Graduate student and goaltender Aerin Frankel was voted the best player in the country last year. The

team went 19-1-1 last year and are currently 7-2 this year. They were the first team in their division to ever make it to the NCAA championship game, and they are well on their way to making another appearance this year. They have multiple Olympians on their roster, including senior forward Alina Mueller who has played in two Olympics and was the youngest player ever to medal in women’s ice hockey when she won bronze in Sochi at the age of 16. Given the dominant nature of this team, it is baffling as to why the attendance is so low this year. In their three home games this season, the average attendance is 947. Contrast that to their counterparts on the men’s team, whose average attendance in their four home games this season is about 3,261. That is more than triple the average attendance for a team that has been unquestionably better over the past few years.

The attendance disparities between these teams brings up a much larger conversation about the promotion and perception of women’s sports.

“With the women’s hockey team in particular, it’s just getting the word out there … letting people know how great and dominant that team is … building more basic awareness about that team in particular and how well

they’ve done is a good starting point,” said Dr. Jacob Depue, an assistant teaching professor in the communications department.

Northeastern has many avenues with which to market their sports programs like through email blasts, QR codes around campus or highlight videos on social media. These are simple ways to increase awareness about the teams and get more fans into the stands.

“It only takes one game,” said second-year business administration major Darren Yeung. “Once someone goes for the first time, they are hooked for the rest of the season.”

Another issue Northeastern needs to address is the scheduling of these games. All but one of the Northeastern men’s games are scheduled at primetime, 7 or 7:30 p.m. They are often on Friday or Saturday nights. For the women’s team, their games are often scheduled to start in the mid-afternoon, 1 or 2 p.m. While they do have some games that begin at 6 p.m, they have no remaining home games that start at 7 p.m. or later.

“If you put more women’s games on Friday and Saturday nights at 7:00 p.m., I really think that would go a long way to get fans to go,” Depue said. “Students don’t want to go to games at 2:00 p.m.”

The Northeastern women’s hockey team deserves to have fans packed into the stands every time they play.

This is a team that people, especially students at Northeastern, need to know about. They have a shot to make history again this season, and fans need to be there to witness it happen.

Photo Courtesy Khalin Kapoor Above: The student section in the men’s game against Colorado College Left: The student section in the women’s game against Holy Cross

SPORTS

November 12, 2021

Page 9

Huskies get revenge against Seahawks

By Peyton Doyle Deputy Sports Editor The taste of revenge is wonderfully sweet when it replaces the sourness of defeat. While the hunger for vengeance was satisfied with a win in the semifinals against the top-seeded University of North Carolina Wilmington (11-4-1, 7-3-0 CAA), or UNCW, Northeastern’s women’s soccer team (9-8-1, 6-4-0 CAA) is not done yet.

On Thursday night, the Huskies’ desire for revenge propelled them to the CAA championship game. The match was the second meeting in the semifinals over the last two seasons between NU and UNCW, and the Huskies were able to let out an incredible sigh of relief when the clock finally ran out this time around.

NU knew how difficult it would be to take on UNCW, who beat them twice over the last two seasons. This year NU faced a 2-0 loss at home in the regular season delivered by the Seahawks. It was last year’s playoff match, however, that left the Huskies with the real sour taste in their mouths. NU led that matchup 2-0 going into halftime. UNCW quickly showed why they were the top team in the regular season and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. In a 21-minute span in the second half, the Seahawks scored three goals, putting a cruel finish on the Huskies’ 2021 spring season.

This season, the Huskies made

sure that they grabbed the game by the reins and never let go, controlling the match from the start.

NU landed three shots on goal in the first 30 minutes compared to none for UNCW, and the Huskies deftly fended off their opponents’ attempts on goal at the end of the first half.

Junior goalkeeper Angeline Friel helped hold off the late assault.

With just three minutes remaining in the game, graduate student forward Kayla McCauley found a way to break the stalemate and reach the back of the net, leading to an explosion of celebration from herself and her teammates and a gripping sense of defeat for her opponents.

After the game, when asked about the winning goal, McCauley acknowledged the excitement of the goal but also set her focus on Sunday’s championship game.

“Honestly I was shocked,” McCauley said with a smile. “I am just so excited for the team and looking forward to Sunday.”

McCauley also spoke on the team effort and determination that led to the long awaited victory that put them in the CAA championship game for the first time since 2017.

“We just worked our butts off the whole game,” McCauley said. “We just gritted it out, the backline, the midfield, all of the forwards. It was just grit, and we knew that it was do or die.”

Their result in the postseason is not the only impressive part of the

Huskies’ season. Their path to the conference tournament was equally valiant and full of the same grit that the team preaches.

With the pressure mounting and the holiday looming over, NU was not spooked by their Oct. 31 matchup against the College of William & Mary. Huskies’ junior forward Nina Dooley smashed home the lone goal in the match and the second of her career to make it quite a happy Halloween for her squad.

That singular goal was the difference in making the postseason tournament for the Huskies. After losing to the Drexel University Dragons (6-8-3, 2-5-2 CAA) in double overtime Oct. 28, NU needed to beat the Tribe on Sunday in order to advance to the CAA tournament. Despite getting just two shots on goal as a team, Dooley preserved the season in the 36th minute, locking them into the final playoff spot.

Following the win, NU’s assistant coach Ryan Goggs applauded the spirit that his team showed down the stretch.

“It was brilliant all around today from start to finish,” Goggs said.

“Our girls stepped up to the plate today, we are very proud as coaches that they made it to the playoffs.”

A Halloween game is quite a rare occurrence for the Huskies: This match marked just the second time this century they have played Oct. 31. Both holiday matches have provided quite the treat for the Huskies, however. Prior to this one, their

last Halloween game was a 4-0 win against Hofstra University to end the 2009 regular season.

The match this year, however, was far more important than the one 12 years prior.

The last three games of the regular season were emblematic of just how trying and uneven this season has been for the Huskies. NU played the three worst teams by record in their conference, the College of Charleston (3-12-3, 2-6-1 CAA), Drexel and William & Mary. It

should have been an easy slate for the team that was 3-1 over their previous four games including a win against nationally-ranked Hofstra (15-31, 7-2-1 CAA).

Rather than sweeping their opponents and coasting into the tournament, the Huskies needed a come-from-behind win against the Cougars, lost in double overtime to the Dragons and registered just two shots on goal against the Tribe.

Overcoming challenges and streakiness was a point of emphasis for this team over the course of their season. They started off the year with a 3-1 record in August, which led into a win-less September. The team extended their four-game non-con-

ference losing streak into the CAA schedule where they started off 0-2 including their loss to UNCW. From Oct. 3 on, however, the team went 5-2 in the CAA and showed that you can never underestimate a Huskies’ team under head coach Ashley Phillips.

Photo by Carissa Mastrangelo Graduate student Mikenna McManus delivers a free kick in a game at Parsons Field Oct. 3

OPINION

Page 10 The Huntington News EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief

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Op-ed: Graphic violence in film is dangerous if left unaddressed

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Content warning: Discussion of sexual assault.

Opinion

Editor’s note: The Huntington News wants students to know Northeastern University and elsewhere provide sexual assault resources for students.

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Since 2015, student rates of sexual assault have risen, with almost one in four undergraduate women experiencing sexual misconduct on campus. COVID-19 has exacerbated sexual violence and domestic abuse, bringing up renewed discussion on ways to address and reduce assault.

This conversation has been made even more relevant on campus with a recent article in The Scope, in which some Northeastern students expressed that the university does not adequately address sexual assault allegations. Feelings of failure to reprimand perpetrators and hold them accountable by the university are also shared by survivors detailing their stories on NEUtoo.

Rape culture is deeply prevalent on college campuses as well as society as a whole, propped up by many institutions, customs and attitudes.

One of the many ways in which sexual violence is normalized is through the inclusion of violence in film and other media. Every year, countless films and TV shows are released consisting of violent assault scenes, leaving a lasting effect on its viewers.

Studies show that men who watched movies showing violence against women expressed fewer neg-

ative emotions toward those movies and began to consider them as less violent and less degrading to women.

In a separate study, it was found that this leads to reduced empathy for survivors regardless of the gender of the victim in films, acceptance of rape myths and increased attraction to sexual aggression. For women, this trend is actually reversed, with women who were exposed to filmed sexual violence being more disapproving of interpersonal violence and rape myths. There is a clear negative effect on the viewers, their attitudes and consequently wider society.

Shows, such as “Game of Thrones” and “Outlander,” heavily feature on-screen sexual assault of men, women and children, which has caused backlash from some viewers.

These particular examples are often shielded by the fact that such scenes are either historically or contextually accurate. Parts of “Outlander” are set in mid-1700s Scotland and the world of “Game of Thrones” is based on medieval Britain. But it is not enough for sexual assault to just be historically accurate, it must also be portrayed correctly, both with regard to the story and the viewers themselves.

Unless these violent depictions actually confront and dissect power structures which allow and perpetuate abuse to take place, they have no place being included. So frequently, sexual assault is used to

add ‘grittiness’ to the film, or give a character a more traumatic background, with little attempt to tie it into social and contextual factors. To be clear, I am not advocating for a sort of censorship in which we don’t even attempt to portray the experiences of survivors, but I am suggesting that unless there is a valid reason for sexually violent scenes to be shown, they should not be. In those cases all they do is desensitize the viewers to interpersonal violence and condition us to be more likely to overlook violence in reality.

There are many facets of rape culture and contributing factors to high sexual assault rates which still need to be addressed and resolved.

And while reducing cinema’s portrayal of brutalization is not going to completely solve these very pervasive issues, it is a step toward making viewers perceive violence as the serious and dangerous phenomenon that it is. Considering the prevalence of media and film in our day-to-day lives, increased education and awareness of how the media impacts our attitudes is of paramount importance.

Yeva Khranovska is a second-year political science and philosophy combined major. She can be reached at khranovska.y@northeastern.edu.

Op-ed: Bisexual Superman makes progress for LGBTQ+ visibility

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Photo by Harriet Rovniak Superman’s son and the new Superman, Jonathan Kent, is a true “Gen Z” member: He cares about climate change, school shootings and — to some Marvel fans’ chagrin — is bisexual. Clark Kent and Lois Lane’s son stars in the latest DC comics installment called “Superman: Son of Kal-El” and in the November edition, shares a kiss with male friend Jay. Not only is this representation extremely important to LGBTQ+ youth and adults, but also it exemplifies a big step forward for representation within comics, as Superman’s son is a household name and a culturally recognizable character.

Jonathan, or Jon, Kent is not the first openly queer DC character, as side characters have come out since the 80s, but his household name makes this a landmark event. Queer representation in children’s media has increased in the past few years.

Disney Channel made history in a 2014 episode of “Good Luck Charlie”

by having a pair of lesbian parents in one episode, not as titular characters but as parents of one of the main character’s friends. The star actress, who was five years old, then received death threats from people who were upset about having lesbians on a children’s show. Disney faced backlash from a lot of parents whose children watch the show, and the next openly gay character did not appear on a Disney show until a character in “Andi Mack” came out as gay in a 2019 episode. Any deviance from a predictable heterosexual storyline is big news: Elsa was the first princess to not have any love interest, and many fans — and critics — decided that the movie is a queer allegory and shows Elsa as a lesbian. According to these theorists, the song “Let It Go” represents coming out. Additionally, cartoons such as “Shera” and “Steven Universe” have received a lot of praise for their queer representation, with “Steven Universe” being nominated for a GLAAD media award.

Queer representation in media is essential because it allows young kids to feel safe to question and explore their own identities. Additionally, showing queer people in media helps to normalize the existence of LGBTQ+ people in real life. Having LGBTQ+ characters also helps to affirm people’s own identities, especially if they are unable to find that support within their own family

and friends. A study from the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics found that lesbian, gay and bisexual people who reported parental rejection in their teens were 8.4 times more likely to attempt suicide.

In a recent edition of the “Batman: Urban Legends” comic, Batman’s sidekick Robin, another well-known superhero, also came out as bisexual.

Loki is the first titular character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to come out as bisexual in the new show that can be found on Disney+.

Superheroes are people who provide a positive role model for kids, and queer representation in superheroes can demonstrate that their sexuality is not the only thing that defines who they are as people, that who they love is not entirely a big deal.

Having openly out heroes allows queer youth to imagine themselves as heroes of their own lives, especially if they are facing harassment, rejection or bullying.

“I’ve always said everyone needs heroes and everyone deserves to see themselves in their heroes,” said writer of “Superman: Son of Kal-El” Tom Taylor on Twitter.

While Superman’s son being bisexual is a big deal, it should also not be the end of DC’s pusuits to create a more inclusive and representative space. Disabled people, people of color, transgender people and other marginalized communities should also be able to see themselves in

their favorite heroes and villains.

That being said, Superman’s son being bisexual led to rumored death threats against some of the writers and producers of the comics.

DC faced criticism for having a bisexual Superman, with one Fox News reporter calling being gay a “disease” and a Republican running for senator in Ohio saying that a bisexual Superman is going to “destroy America.” Despite gay marraige being legalized in the United States and the increasing sense of LGBTQ+ acceptance in American culture, the significant backlash over a teenage comic character sharing a queer kiss demonstrates that the fight for LGBTQ+ progress is not yet over.

Thousands of LGBTQ+ people across the country are still facing discrimination, workplace harassment, the threat of conversion therapy and more. While one gay comic book chartacter will not undo decades of rampant homophobia, it is a step in the right direction.

The fifth edition of the series that includes the controversial kiss will come out November 16. The edition had unprecedented orders and needed to be reprinted in order to keep up with the demand.

Renée Abbott is a first-year journalism and criminal justice combined major. She can be reached at abbott.re@northeastern.edu.

OPINION

November 12, 2021

Page 11

Op-ed: Biden needs to continue to keep campaign promises, address climate crisis

Photo by Harriet Rovniak In late October, the United Nations officially began its long overdue two-week conference on climate change. 197 parties, including the United States, were in attendance at the summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

Although President Joe Biden is participating in this international forum, his recent actions on climate change prove more performative than transformative.

In a speech to fellow leaders last Monday, President Joe Biden talked the talk, referring to climate change as an “existential threat to human existence as we know it.” But can he walk the walk?

The summit comes following a release from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, saying that the planet has

warmed by 1.1 degrees Celsius since 1850-1900, primarily due to carbon emissions that have been released into the atmosphere from human activity.

The Biden-Harris presidential campaign page promised to “rally the rest of the world to meet the threat of climate change” through a variety of measures, from new preventative legislation to distribution of resources in the communities most impacted by climate change. But Biden’s main approach to achieving climate justice was rejoining the Paris Agreement.

In February, the United States did just that. Just hours after his inauguration, Biden signed an executive order rejoining the Paris Agreement.

Like many other Americans, I hoped that this step so early on would represent a progressive future for Biden’s presidency and his climate policies. Disappointingly, though not surprisingly, this hope has gone unfulfilled. Americans voiced their disappointment with the lack of progress the Biden administration was making on addressing climate change with climate justice protests breaking out this fall in the nation’s capital.

In an interview with AP News, the co-director of climate justice organization Zero Hour called current events a “betrayal from the White House.” And frankly, I agree.

Not only is the climate crisis an issue of rising temperatures and sea levels, but also one of human rights.

Fossil fuel extraction has detrimental impacts on many Americans, especially Native American communities across the country.

It is time for us to consider climate change as an intersectional issue, one that disproportionately impacts marginalized communities worldwide.

Jennifer Psaki, White House press secretary, urges climate activists to investigate the plans Biden already has in place to address the climate crisis.

But two lingering demands of Biden were expressed by activists across the country: declaration of a national climate emergency and rejection of dependency on fossil fuels.

Biden’s most recent climate-related Build Back Better bill, which promised to “phase out fossil fuels from America’s electricity supply,” is still being negotiated after its original budget has been reduced by almost half.

So other than attempting to convince his colleagues to pass this legislation, what else can Biden really do?

He can call the climate crisis what it is: an emergency. Biden’s hesitancy to declare a national climate emergency has been criticized by activists, politicians and environmental groups alike.

In a collaborative letter published in December 2020, more than 380 climate and environmental groups called on Biden to make this declaration before

he had even taken office.

This criticism is warranted. If the president were to honor the wishes of these advocacy groups, he would be joining 2,037 jurisdictions in 36 countries that have declared a climate emergency; these governments oversee about 1 billion citizens cumulatively. This lack of action from Biden as an international leader is ridiculous, especially as the United States stands at number two in international carbon emissions.

If Biden were to take this action, he would gain access to provisions reserved for presidents leading the country though a time of extreme strife. Other national emergencies in the past included pandemics and wars, matters of national security. Elevating climate change to this level of importance would force Americans to acknowledge this issue fervently.

The term “national emergency” could also unite both sides of the aisle and force timely, concerted action against climate change. As of right now, the climate crisis is a partisan issue, rather than one that is feared and agreed upon by members of Congress.

Local leaders here in Massachusetts argued this view already. Sen. Elizabeth Warren already acknowledged her position via Twitter, saying, “By officially declaring it a national emergency, the Biden-Harris administration can unlock more tools and resources to tackle this

crisis head-on.” Sen. Ed Markey also supported this initiative through a letter addressed to the Biden administration, co-signed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Veronica Escobar.

But this encouragement from fellow politicians clearly has not been enough.

As college students, we are able to apply pressure on Biden. An easy first step is to sign petitions, sponsored by many members of the U.S. Congress, including Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts; this will let Biden know that classifying the climate crisis as a national emergency is one of your main concerns as a citizen and voter.

Encourage your family members and friends to do the same. A recent poll by Vice found that 60% of people in the United States “almost never” discuss climate change with those around them. Demand from voters of all ages, races, political beliefs and locations is the only way to force Biden’s recognition of the issue for what it is.

We have a responsibility to let Biden know that labeling the climate crisis as a national emergency is not just symbolic; it allows for true change that could make a world of a difference.

Greta Magendantz is a first-year journalism and political science combined major. She can be reached at magendantz.g@northeastern.edu.

Op-ed: Qualified immunity is unjustifiable

Photo by Harriet Rovniak The qualified immunity defense can be used by law enforcement and government employees for self-defense. Typically, qualified immunity is used to protect officers from civil rights claims requesting monetary damages resulting from constitutional violations. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed two cases in which police officers were accused of excessive force and disorderly conduct.

In the Rivas-Villegas v. Cortesluna court ruling released in late October of this year, justices ruled in favor of this clause, suggesting that the officers were “entitled to qualified immunity.” Throughout the official Supreme Court document, numerous court cases were referenced, such as Tennessee v. Garner (1985), which held that in extreme cases involving significant threat of death or major physical injury, “it is not constitutionally unreasonable to prevent escape by using deadly force.”

According to the Court, the majority of their decisions are not based on policy preferences, and the U.S. Constitution “permits a balance between society’s need for order and the individual’s right to freedom.”

Yet, the judicial doctrine of qualified immunity invalidates an individual’s right to prosecute officers who commit felonies while on duty.

Currently, officers are protected from liability in most civil rights cases due to this decision unless prosecutors can prove that a clearly established law was violated, typically by using similar cases as precedent. However, this has provided a legal loophole for officers, protecting them from most cases where accountability is necessary.

The doctrine of qualified immunity is designed to protect police officers from cases that seriously incriminate or defame them to ensure that they do not have to take any responsibility for the actions they take. This is unjust, and this system appears to have been implemented to protect oppressive officers from accountability.

A variety of civil lawsuits shield law enforcement officials from civil liability under this doctrine. Over time, it has evolved from cases where officers have destroyed property, killed innocent people they thought were suspects or stolen money. Last year, for instance, two businessmen accused officers in Fresno, California of stealing approximately $225,000, and the Supreme Court ruled in favor of qualified immunity, suggesting that their rights were not clearly

constitutionally violated.

Presently, the Northeastern University Police Department, or NUPD, clarified the complaints process as soon as complaints were filed.

According to Massachusetts public reporting requirements, campus police are required to compile a daily report consisting of “all responses to valid complaints received, crimes reported, the names, addresses of persons arrested and the charges against such persons arrested.”

This requirement creates great transparency within complaint reports and criminal activity, so it can be considered beneficial.

Although this provides clarity in between arrests, there is no oversight enforcement, meaning officers can embellish their documents freely and without consequence.

Even so, private campus police officers are protected by qualified immunity since authorized supervision is not enforced in their complaint reports. In 2015, due to numerous mass shootings, police officers at Northeastern University began arming their officers with semi-automatic rifles to prepare for emergency situations on campus despite opposition from the Boston Police Department, or BPD. The BPD responded to this announcement by suggesting that it was unwise for campus police departments to make these executive decisions while “nestled within city neighborhoods” without consulting them first. As Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans told WGBH, equipping officers with semi-auto-

matic rifles is not necessary because Northeastern falls within the BPD’s jurisdiction. However, NUPD officers still carry rifles.

NUPD released a response, saying that these rifles would only be deployed during “high-level emergency situations,” such as active shooters on campus. Yet, a lack of student and community involvement significantly impacts the integrity of the police force, lowering public confidence in the legal system.

Following this announcement, many staff members wrote a letter complaining about this decision, stating that the NUPD may “run the risk of making some members of the Northeastern community feel less safe.” The addition of semi-automatic rifles to campus police gear is completely unnecessary, causing reasonable concern for Northeastern community members, especially since the community had no input in this decision.

This is not the root of the problem — it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Since 1871, qualified immunity has been employed by federal law enforcement officials to ensure control over the systematic law enforcement structure, where police officers are immune to liabilities in court. Due to this, present law enforcement agencies like the NUPD are entitled to behave recklessly, which is not in the best interest of the communities they are sworn to protect.

This clause prevents accountability nationwide, which impacts civil rights cases significantly. Ultimately, if qualified immunity is changed or

ended, it increases the likelihood that victims or their families will receive compensation from unjust state violence.

This is exemplified in the George Floyd case. The murder of George Floyd was a national tragedy that the country unified around to protest corruption in law enforcement.

People did this by attempting to end qualified immunity. As a result, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in early March 2021, ending qualified immunity and banning chokeholds.

The Justice in Policing Act bans no-knock warrants in federal drug cases, mandates data collection on police encounters and creates a nationwide police misconduct registry, so officers responsible for misconduct can be held accountable. However, the U.S. Senate did not pass this bill, with Republican senators introducing a competing plan and releasing their dissenting opinions to the public.

In the event that this democratic bill becomes a law, it will inspire progress in law enforcement systems so that civil rights lawsuits and community involvement in impactful decisions can evolve for the better.

Additionally, this ensures that police officers will face liability for criminal actions without protection from the courts, bringing justice for those whose civil rights were violated.

Haley Alphonse is a first-year journalism major. She can be reached at alphonse.h@northeastern.edu.

Page 12

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