Issue 3 - Volume 137

THEVERMONTCYNIC THE Issue 3 - Volume 137 | September 15, 2020 | vtcynic.com

KATE VANNI

As students continue to party, cops watch, unsure how to act Ella Ruehsen Cynic News Reporter

This illustration is an artist’s representaion of a situation described from a news reporter’s notes

As the midnight moon cast down on the Redstone Green Sept. 6, two UVM police officers watched as a group of 150 students openly violated the University’s strict COVID-19 social conduct policy.

Despite UVM’s Green and Gold Promise, which mandates 6-foot social distancing and caps outdoor gatherings at 25, students gathered with friends Sept. 6 in large groups, crowding the center of the Green and the sidewalks outside residence halls.

Some had pulled their masks down to chat with new friends.

Others unapologetically carried beer cans.

Two UVM Police Services officers, Kevin DiGiorgio and Peter Czekaj, gazed at the crowd in conversation with a Cynic reporter.

“I mean ideally, we would write down every single person, but there are 150 people out here and you’re not going to be able to identify 150 people, so you’ve got to pick and choose,” Czejak said.

When asked about UVM Police Services’ response Sunday night, Chief Tim Bilodeau said that enforcement is an important element for something that’s a public health risk like COVID-19.

Bilodeau also said that according to the police officers, the groups were not larger than 25 in one area, and ranged from five to 15 people.

“For the most part people are social distancing across the spectrum,” Bilodeau said.

“There are little pockets like this weekend where clearly there are some groups that are not socially distancing, but at least from the police side when police officers showed up people socially distanced.”

At one point, the two officers confronted a student holding a can of Bud Light, took down his

information and had him drain the can. They did not ticket the student, but cautioned him.

“You guys just shouldn’t be so blatant about it, you know we’re here,” Digiorgio said to the student.

When asked if the University condones these gatherings and whether or not the administration feels that the response was representative of the campus community, UVM Spokesperson Enrique Corredera sent the following statement in a Sept. 11 email.

“The University takes student behavior seriously,” Corredera stated. “We are holding students accountable through the University’s Center for Student Conduct process.

Sanctions for egregious behavior range from a $250 UVM fine to suspension. We cannot provide specifics in order to protect student privacy.”

Members of the UVM and Burlington community can submit an online incident report for violations of campus policy, including the Green and Gold promise.

There have been 35 offcampus and 81 on-campus incident reports so far this year, according to another Sept. 11 email from Corredera.

When asked if disciplinary action was taken after groups gathered over Labor Day weekend, Bilodeau couldn’t say.

“They’ve sent COVID-19 [violations to SCS], I’m not sure if that was from this weekend,” Bilodeau said. “I know there was alcohol and drug violation from this weekend, and there was a lot of the education component on the group size piece.”

The two officers said they were at the scene to scatter the larger groups of people because of the gathering mandates.

“We’ve been here the whole weekend,” said Czekaj. “The largest group is probably right here.”

The story is continued on page 2

NEWS

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In first meeting, SGA talks BLM demands Lilly Page Cynic News Reporter

In the Student Government Association’s first meeting of the semester, several members pressed leadership on what the group is doing to address demands for racial justice reform from the campus community.

The group met on the fourth floor of the Davis Center at 7 p.m. Sept. 8 for their first socially-distanced in-person meeting.

Junior Paige Bissaillon, a senator on the Committee of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity, asked what SGA’s response is to police reform demands made

by UVM Black Lives Matter.

In their list of demands, the group calls on the University of Vermont to end its partnership with Burlington Police Department, disarm UVM Police and gradually abolish the Department in order to construct a more equitable system, according to their Instagram.

SGA President Lana AlNamee said that the group has been working hard all summer long to answer that question, and that they are in the process of creating an ad-hoc committee in response to these demands.

“It’s all a work in progress, since I really care about having good, quality work,” she said, explaining why the committee has not yet been formed. “And we don’t really want to rush through it.”

SGA Senators sit socially distanced in their first in-person meeting of the year Sept. 8.

Al-Namee also noted that creating the committee is taking time because different students have different perspectives.

“We’re getting it from both sides of the spectrum. Students who feel one way towards the UVM Police and students who feel the other way ­— they don’t feel safe without campus police on campus,” she said. “So we’re kind of working in the process of working through all of those demands.”

Another student asked about

how SGA is dealing with the ongoing protests in downtown Burlington calling for police reform.

Senior Chris Harrell, an SGA Senator and member of the UVM Union of Students Executive Committee, who was at Battery Park attending the protest during the meeting, called in through Zoom and said it was inappropriate for SGA to have their meeting at the same time as the protest.

“I think while the protests

MAC MANSFIELD-PARISI / The Vermont Cynic

are going on, it would need more consideration for us to move our meeting time so that students can participate in the march,” they said. “We should be doing everything we can to make it as easy for students as possible.”

Al-Namee explained that she hadn’t thought of changing the time earlier bcause of class schedules, but that the group could take a vote.

“That is something we can consider next time to send out

a survey,” she said. “So people who are interested in attending the protests, please do, and we will find a better time next time, so that’s something we can do.”

However, Speaker Sarah Plaut pointed out that it might not be so easy to change the meeting time by vote.

“I believe our time would be written into the Constitution,” Plaut said. “And in that case, we wouldn’t really be able to change it, but we can talk about it later.”

‘You can’t put reins on kids’: hundreds gather on Green Ella Ruehsen Cynic News Reporter

Story continued from page 1 The two officers said they mainly try to focus on verbally enforcing an educational component for students.

“We’ve been out here a couple of days and it’s just us, and you have hundreds of students,” DiGiorgio said.

“There’s only so much we can do on a campus of what, 12,000 students, we’re trying as best as we can really. Ideally, you want people to be in groups of less than 25 but it’s hard.”

According to an Aug. 26 email from Annie Stevens, outdoor gatherings greater than 25 and indoor gatherings greater than 10 are strictly prohibited per order by Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger.

“I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to observe these orders,” Stevens stated in the email. “If you violate them, the University is prepared to follow through with immediate suspension. It is that simple, and it is that important. There will be zero tolerance for those who ignore the rules.”

A first-year student, Charlie,

was out Sept. 6 with his friends.

“I think it’s really hard for kids that think, like ‘oh college, woohoo,’ you know?” he said.

“Everybody wants to go to college and have a good time. If there are no cases then there’s basically a bubble here, then an outbreak probably won’t happen, but if there are cases, then there are, and that will suck for us but it is what it is.”

The officers said they also sympathized with students for wanting to enjoy the weekend.

“They’re just sick of being cramped up in the house for months now and want to come out,” DiGiorgio said. “It’s kind of a fine line we’re toeing with all that stuff with people just being out here and having fun, not really being destructive, which they can be.”

It has been really hard for the first years especially, Charlie said.

“Especially for freshmen, we’ve been dealing with this for so long…” he said. “The freshman got stripped of their senior year, and so at the end of the day you can’t put reins on kids, they don’t have parents here.”

It has been a learning curve navigating the new aspects of the job, Czekaj said.

A group of students sit together on the Redstone Green Sept. 11.

DiGiorgio agreed, explaining that the officers were not taught how to enforce mask-wearing mandates.

“I mean it’s tough, it’s just ever-evolving, our job,” DiGiorgio said. And especially in today’s current climate where we’re hated by everybody, it’s a fine line you toe.”

The police officers who were on the scene that night are still uncertain of how things will look for their department in similar situations moving forward, Czekaj said.

“It’s still one of the first weekends,” Czekaj said. “I’m sure something will probably come from this, I can’t tell you

what it is, I don’t know.”

Some students were unbothered by the situation and the presence of law enforcement.

“The cops do a pretty good job, they’re really chill they actually just walk around and ask people to put their masks on, that’s all they’ll really say, they’re pretty much just doing their thing.” said first-year, Julia. “If there are cans on the ground they’ll be like ‘hey pick up your can,’ anything really, litter, alcohol cans too, they don’t enforce.”

Other students were concerned about the size of the groups. “[The crowd] seemed a little

KYLE ELMS / The Vermont Cynic

big, I mean it is outside, but still big,” said first-year Seb Jacobs.

“I mean I could be wrong, but it seemed to me like a lot of people out here are under the influence, and it didn’t seem like a lot of people got in trouble, so it seemed like they were a little relaxed.”

Jacobs also expressed concern about an outbreak on campus.

“I feel like an outbreak is probably gonna happen -- I’m not worried about it but I am expecting it. I do think some people aren’t taking this entirely seriously,” he said.

NEWS

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Photo illustration by Cynic Staff

Frustrated RAs demand more of ResLife Lilly Page Cynic News Reporter

Frustrated with the lack of protection and guidelines for COVID-19 situations, a group of anonymous RAs sent a list of demands to the director of ResLife.

Three days later, they received a response that was “vague and frustrating,” according to one RA, that made no commitments to change any ResLife rules, instead claiming that most of the demands had already been met.

The group of RAs sent the letter to Rafael Rodriguez, the Executive Director of ResLife Aug. 31 requesting hazard pay, personal protective equipment, clearer protocols surrounding COVID-19 situations, guaranteed housing for RAs if the University closes, cleaning supplies in common bathrooms and the ability for RAs to have a voice in determining their role.

Rodriguez responded in an email Sept. 2 to all RAs, stating that, “most of these items have already been addressed or are in progress,” and thanked the RAs that reached out, praising them for their hard work during the pandemic.

Some of the changes he highlighted included decreasing the frequency of room inspections to only twice a semester, no community walks and not entering student rooms to do a room check.

However, RAs said the email did not address their concerns, and that there have been ongoing issues since before students even arrived on campus.

The RAs in this story appear

with single name pseudonyms as they feared they would lose their jobs for speaking out against ResLife.

“It feels like they don’t care because they’re not in this position,” Emily, an RA and Senior at UVM said. “They are home in their own homes, they don’t have to share bathrooms.

It’s an out of sight, out of mind type of feeling.”

Emily, who has been an RA for two years, said that being an RA on the first weekend of school was stressful for her because she felt she wasn’t given clear guidelines on what to do concerning COVID-19.

“We went through training and it was kind of like they weren’t addressing COVID issues enough,” she said. “So the residents across campus were like ‘what do you do in this situation?’”

In an email response to the Cynic’s request for comment on this, Rodriguez stated that this wasn’t necessarily the case, and that training for RAs covered a wide range of topics including COVID-19.

“Representatives of the UVM Strong Working Group, including Gary Derr, Michelle Paavola, Annie Stevens and I met with the RAs alongside superiors prior to RA arrival to discuss the changes to their role,” he stated.

David, another RA, said there were other issues with the training as well, like how they were told that if something needed to be dealt with to call the police, something they didn’t feel was the right thing to do.

“We don’t need to be introducing police into spaces

that they don’t need to be in,” he said. “That can make people of oppressed identities really uncomfortable and scared, and you can make the situation so much worse.”

The lack of communication that Emily felt became apparent when students started hosting gatherings that broke the Green and Gold Promise, she said. “[UVM’s guest policy] was written in a way that was not clear,” Emily said. “It could have been detailed much better, and that’s really important.”

According to an email from Provost Patty Prelock sent to students Sept. 1, students cannot have any guests in their rooms. This guest policy is not included in the Green and Gold Promise.

Emily said that it was after the first weekend back that RAs decided to voice their opinion in an email written to ResLife requesting changes be made.

“Breaking up a party is no longer safe,” she said. “It’s always an exposure risk.”

Several RAs expressed frustration that they are on the front lines enforcing rules on students who aren’t complying with the Green and Gold Promise, all while not receiving hazard pay.

Hazard pay, according to the US Department of Labor website, is additional pay for performing hazardous duty or work involving physical hardship.

“The fact that nothing has changed other than that increased workload, that increased burden and the increased risk, now that we are in a pandemic,” David said.

“We haven’t received additional compensation.”

Rodriguez responded to the request in his Sept. 2 email.

“In spite of the financial implications of our record low occupancy numbers we are still committed to offering the same number of RA positions as we understand how important and crucial this role is for many but will not change the current compensation” he said.

David said the response from Rodriguez was a lie.

“We wanted hazard pay and Raf responded saying we are still committed to offering the same number of RA positions.

This isn’t true,” David said.

“They didn’t offer the same amount. We’re understaffed.”

Rodriquez stated that with the exception of buildings taken off-line for isolation spaces that they offered the same number.

“However, we do have a handful of vacancies which the team is working on filling,” he stated.

David said that there is a pattern with upper ResLife in that when RAs voice their concerns, they will say that changes are being made, but that nothing ever changes.

“It’s like we get talked in circles,” he said.

Emily said that in another instance, some RAs were upset that not all RAs were given proper PPE, pointing out that some ResLife employees in dorms such as CCRH did get face shields while others had to rely on their own face masks night after night.

Rodriguez stated in an email response to the Cynic that gloves, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes for the RA

rooms and Front Desk have been provided to RAs and that face shields have been recently deemed as an unacceptable type of PPE by Risk Management.

“The equipment provided reflects necessary PPE as determined by UVM Risks Management based on the type of work/activity being performed” he stated. “Face shields have been recently deemed as an unacceptable type of PPE by Risk Management.”

The email sent to Rodriguez also complained about an incident in which someone was asked to locate vomit, which Rodriguez responded to, stating he “wholeheartedly agree(s) RAs should not play any role in responding to vomit in the halls aside from reporting it up to ensure it is being addressed.”

Another issue was guaranteed housing, something that David thinks is important because for some people, this housing is all that they have.

“The only way he responded was like ‘okay, you can just apply for it… and maybe you’ll get it,” he said. “Which I thought was pretty troubling.”

As for the next steps, the group of RAs is trying to schedule a meeting with ResLife to see if having a face-to-face conversation does anything.

“We are going to keep trying to advocate for ourselves until we know for ourselves, our peers and for everyone’s safety because we are the ones enforcing the stuff,” he said.

“We are gonna advocate for that until something is changed and the conditions are better.”

OPINION

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EXECUTIVE Editor-in-Chief Sawyer Loftus editorinchief@vtcynic.com Managing Editor Alek Fleury newsroom@vtcynic.com

OPERATIONS Operations Manager Katherine Izadi operations@vtcynic.com Distribution Manager Inquries email cynic@uvm.edu

EDITORS Copy Chief Will Keeton copy@vtcynic.com Culture Sarah Robinson cynicculture@gmail.com Features Greta Rohrer cynicfeatures@gmail.com News / Sports Emma Pinezich news@vtcynic.com sports@vtcynic.com Opinion Gabby Felitto opinion@vtcynic.com Podcasts David Cabrera vtcynicpodcasts@gmail.com Layout / Illustrations Kate Vanni layout@vtcynic.com Photo Bailey Samber photo@vtcynic.com Assistant Editors Mac Mansfield-Parisi (Layout), Cole Fekert (Illustrations), Irene Choi (News), Hayley Rosen, Emily Johnston (Opinion), Sophia Venturo (Culture) Page Designers Will Guisbond Social Media Mills Sparksman cynic@uvm.edu

EIC: Why we didn’t blur photos Letter from the Editor-in-Chief

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n the Vermont Cynic’s second issue, we devoted three pages to covering and showing protests against police brutality that have been occurring in downtown Burlington.

Since those photos were uploaded to the web and spread on social media, some people have expressed concerns over the safety of protestors given recent threats of police action against demonstrators and violent retaliation from those who disagree with the demonstrators.

I want our readers and the commenters to know I have read each of these comments and taken the community feedback to heart.

That decision rested on my lap because, as the Editorin-Chief, it’s my task to make tough ethical decisions.

Before diving into my response to these concerns, I wanted to explain why the initial decision to post these photos was made.

The Cynic is a vehicle for

the First Amendment, that’s how we’re able to function.

We’re a media organization that seeks to document the news and stories happening on UVM’s campus. That means our role is a little different than that of an activist.

because I wanted to represent these historic demonstrations in the most authentic way possible.

Years down the line, I want to open a book about the history of Burlington’s fight against racism and

“We have a common goal: expose injustice and fight for what’s right, but at times that’ll diverge and look different.”

We have a responsibility to report and record history as it happens, the way it happens.

At times that often means how we do that and what we write or publish diverges from the interests of activist groups.

The reason photos with protestors’ faces were posted and used in publication is

police brutality and see the courageous faces of those who stood against injustice.

Just like journalists at professional orgs, student journalists have the right to take photos of protestors demonstrating in public, without their consent. If you’re in a public place, someone else

can take your photo, according to a mountain of U.S. case law.

The next part of the decision-making process is the journalist weighing what their responsibility is.

Since these photos were published, the promise of retribution from the Burlington Police means we have a responsibility to allow people to continue demonstrating without the fear of police action.

Going forward, each time protests and other public demonstrations are photographed, before photos are published they will be individually reviewed by the Photo Editor, the Managing Editor and myself.

I can’t make a broad policy that explicitly says we will never show a protestor’s face again. Each situation is different, every photo taken is different, therefore the policy will shift with each situation.

We have a common goal: expose injustice and fight for what’s right, but at times that’ll diverge and look different.

Call out the administration, not students Emily Johnston Assistant Opinion Editor

Instagram accounts, like @ catswearmasks, have started to callout and show students not wearing masks.

It’s easy in a pandemic to start an ‘us vs. them’ rhetoric, and accounts like this play into the idea that there are the high and mighty versus diseased fiends.

It isn’t ethical or helpful to call out individual students for not wearing masks.

Those living on Redstone aren’t responsible for a possible outbreak, the entire student body and the administration are responsible.

We have to realize that the UVM administration brought students back; any rules and regulations and implementation of said rules are the responsibility of UVM admin.

Therefore, any blame for an outbreak shouldn’t be on specific sectors of campus or on specific students.

Reports from students on campus state that students are gathering in large groups on Redstone green without masks.

Those on the green are being irresponsible, but aren’t to blame for any outbreak.

Since Aug. 1, Vermont requires masks to be worn in all public settings where social distancing isn’t possible.

UVM, by not breaking up these groups, is essentially disregarding that rule.

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According to the Fall 2020 return to campus guide, masks must be worn when in the presence of others or in public settings.

While students should put the needs of the community above their own desires and wear masks, students shouldn’t be solely responsible for keeping UVM safe.

UNC Chapel Hill returned to all remote classes after mask violations caused an outbreak, according to an Aug. 17 New York Times article.

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While many blamed the students, many also believed that there should not have been in-person classes in the first place.

UVM also decided that inperson classes would continue.

Any fallout from that decision isn’t the students’ fault.

Already, there are 12 students who tested positive, according to the UVM weekly testing report.

If UVM wants a safe campus, they need to ensure that all students are following

the rules.

The Green & Gold Promise states that students should promise to “follow social distancing and face mask guidelines.”

UVM made it clear in this promise that any outbreak will be blamed on students only.

Students need to realize that there are people living in Burlington that may be immunocompromised.

Students also need to realize that creating an “us vs. them” rhetoric will only cause harmful divides in the student body.

A large outbreak may not be deadly for those oncampus, but it could be for the Burlington community.

That is why UVM is trying to absolve themselves of any blame from a potential outbreak, and why public shaming is becoming a problem.

Redirect any anger about COVID-19 to those responsible for bringing us back to Burlington.

First-years on Redstone are only doing what they’re allowed to by the University.

If one has an issue with it, take it up with people who are able to prevent gatherings.

Blaming poor organization and implementation of COVID rules on students will only help the administration, not us.

Emily Johnston is a Junior environmental science major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2018

OPINION

Dress up to get rid of the COVID blues Gabby Felitto Opinion editor

As we’re in this weird state of dealing with a global pandemic and not being able to live the lives we’re used to, many have gotten used to wearing pajamas everyday.

Even though UVM’s back in session, online and in-person, we’re still in this slump we’ve been in since March.

We can’t hang out with our friends like we used to. Many of us can’t get ready and physically go to every class everyday. We can’t go out into town and spend hours hanging out at trendy places.

Our lives have changed. It’s all virtual. Our fun events turned into Target runs. We’re not as in control of our lives like before and many of us are stuck inside all day with too many intrusive thoughts.

One thing that could give us the much needed serotonin and control back into our lives is getting dressed up.

While in quarantine, I spent most of my time in my dad’s Primus shirt and bare face. I’d wake up late, feeling no motivation to do anything, especially to get ready. Why would I? I wasn’t going to see anyone.

I went from constantly thinking of what to wear to waking up and wearing the same shirt to study for my online classes or watch “90 Day Fiance.”

Quarantine screwed with my daily routine.

What I put on my body and my face is how I express myself.

But since everything had been canceled, my enthusiasm to get ready diminished.

Towards the end of quarantine though, I got sick of it. I hated how I felt and looked.

I missed putting myself together, so little by little, I would decide to get ready, One day, I’d put on clear lip gloss and a fresh shirt. This progressed into wearing dresses and lipstick.

I felt much happier. I felt like myself. This gave me something to do for an hour each morning, even though I wasn’t going to see anyone. I was getting back to my old routine.

It’s hard having the motivation to get ready, especially when you have no one to see.

Lack of control is a huge stressor in life. While getting dressed is so simple, it gives us a sense of control as it’s one of the only things we still have control over.

Getting dressed and not getting dressed also correlates to how we’re feeling.

If you’re not getting dressed, it can lead you to have a reduction in positivity, eating poorly, drinking more, as well as affecting our self-worth.

During quarantine, lots of emphasis was put on selfcare. While this is thought of as cooking and skin care, putting glitter eyeshadow on and wearing a puffy dress or nice slacks that make you feel beautiful is also self-care.

I know that we are in this COVID purgatory where many have little interaction with the outside world, but dressing up will make a difference in how

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you’re feeling.

After starting school again, I’ve made sure to continue my routine of putting on makeup and a cute outfit that’ll make me feel beautiful when I look in the mirror.

My Target runs have turned into fashion shows that I carefully pick outfits for. It’s one of the only things I can look forward to now.

While I looked funny walking into my first in-person class of the semester wearing a gingham dress with a slit at my thigh and tall boots, an outfit that is sexier than I’m used to, I kept my head held high. I felt powerful in my outfit. I was powerful in it.

So, while we’re dealing with the COVID blues, I encourage you to put some funky eyeshadow on and wear that colorful dress or silky button-up that’s in your closet for special occasions.

Look and feel more like yourself as you attend your virtual lectures.

You might feel out of place looking like you walked off the set of Euphoria, but trust me, once you look at your reflection, you’ll feel glamorous.

You might also just end up spreading joy by influencing others who see you in your fancy outfit.

Even if your lipstick gets smudged underneath your mask, you’ll be happy you put it on. So what if no one sees you.

Dress for yourself, you deserve to see how good you look.

Gabby Felitto is a Junior Public Communicatons major. She’s been writing for the Cynic since fall of 2018

SAVANAH TEBEAU-SHERRY

CULTURE

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The Fleming reopens with digital option Anna Kolosky Culture Staff Writer

Image source: Fleming eMuseum

(TOP LEFT) “The Funeral of Saint Notburga” by an unknown artist was painted in the 15th century. It depicts two oxen carrying a coffin through the gates of a medieval city.

(TOP RIGHT) A photo of sculptor Judith Brown in her studio by Charles Uht is in the American collection.

(BOTTOM) “Beratung” is a restrike etching done in 1895 by Kathe Kollwitz. The etching depicts a group of men in a darkly lit room, deeply involved in conversation.

Adorned with artwork and artifacts, the Fleming Museum sits nestled on central campus.

For the first time, the Fleming will be featuring a digital collection for student access.

The Fleming museum will reopen its doors to the public on Sept 15. Numerous COVID prevention policies have been put into place to secure the safety of museum goers.

Fleming also announced that admission is free to all attendees for Fall 2020.

Manager of collections and exhibitions Margaret Tamulonis has been working on the Fleming Museum’s database for 20 years. She has spent five of those years creating the online database that was released this past April.

“It started off as digitizing the catalog cards,” Tamulonis said. “The ultimate goal was to release it this year, but with the pandemic we knew we had to get it out before the end of the spring semester.”

There are over 24,000 objects in the collection, which is over 24,000 research projects, Tamulonis said. The database is informed by student research, and new information is constantly being added to it, Tamulonis said.

Users can find the database on the Fleming’s website. On the online collections search page, users can search through the collection’s categories and view photos of any object, from paintings to sculptures.

The online format also helps students get more out of their classes now that they have gone

remote, Tamulonis said.

“I’m currently working with a history class focused on colonial history,” Tamulonis said. “With the database, the students can visit the website and objects I have set aside for them. We’re hoping to do the same for other classes in the future.”

Alice Boone, Curator of Education and Public Programs, said she has been especially excited for the database launch and the possibilities it offers.

“I’m a huge database nerd,” Boone said. “Before it launched in April, I had no idea what was really in our collection. Now, it has completely transformed my work to know everything we have available.”

Searching in any database is a trial and error process, Boone said. One of the biggest tests for the database came when Boone and museum curator Andrea Rosen put together their fall exhibition, Reckonings, Boone said.

“It began with a prompt: find something that helps you talk about, for example, loneliness,” Boone said. “The problem is that you can’t just type in “loneliness.” You have to page through a lot of information that isn’t tagged a certain way.”

After extensively searching through the database, Boone compiled a list of items she found interesting.

Fleming staff and student employees then chose an item that spoke to them and created their own personalized label for it, Rosen added.

Each label is an individual’s thought about how the object helps them process their feelings about the pandemic,

police brutality, racism, or any other current issue, Rosen said.

Reckonings will exist both physically at the museum and in online format as a slideshow, Rosen said. This exhibition is their attempt at sharing authority in a historically and predominantly white space, Rosen said.

“The museum has not always been a place where BIPOC people have felt welcomed since they do not often see themselves represented,” Rosen said. “So we wanted to do something more collaborative that would challenge the authoritative, often white, museum voice,” Rosen said. “ However, the database posed some limitations as the categories that structure the database are founded in colonial ways of knowing the objects, Boone said.

“We know so little about so many objects because of how they were collected,” Boone said.

‘But, students have made new knowledge more robust in the database through the work they have done in their classes.”

Boone and Rosen hope to run a second installation of Reckonings in the spring semester that will feature new people and voices.

“Research is social and best when shared,” Boone said.

“The database is a great first step in the unlearning process, but having conversations with people about the research they do adds so much more. That’s what’s going to help us rethink our ideas about these objects.

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CULTURE

Students manage COVID inconveniences

KATE VANNI/ The Vermont Cynic

Junior Claire Smith, junior Blaise Iha and sophomore Ben Harris pose for a photo Sept 10.

Cyrus Oswald Culture Staff Writer

As students return to campus with the oppurtunity for in-person classes, some don’t feel that the University is totally on their side.

On Mar. 11, the UVM department of Residential Life recommended that students not return to campus after spring break, marking what would be the beginning of months of online classes.

Blaise Lah is a junior at UVM. He came back to Burlington at the end of the summer.

“If schools were to really care, if their number 1 priority was health and safety, they would show that more,” Lah said. “At least, it seems UVM’s number one priority is money, and number two is safety.”

After a remote end to the spring 2020 semester, UVM has taken precautions to have a somewhat in-person fall semester.

Sophomore Ben Harris likens it to a second first-year.

“You’ve got to learn everything again,” Harris said.

“I know where the Davis Center is and all that, but [the hard part is] learning how to have a social life and adapt to the changes.”

Harris said that as his classes have been moved online, he has a newfound appreciation for inperson learning.

“I’m taking three in-person classes, and those are the classes I’m most excited about and most engaged with,” Harris said. “I really did not thrive with online classes. It’s just great to be back in Burlington.”

Students have flocked back to campus. But even if they’re

here, they aren’t totally buying in.

“Were set up to fail… we’re a bunch of 18 year old’s who’ve been locked up for six months, in the college dorms, and they say you can’t go into each other’s rooms and you can’t do a bunch of other stuff, and we’re going to punish you for it.” Harris said.

Lah said she’s conflicted about students being back on campus.

“I’m satisfied but I’m not happy. I’m glad to be doing classes but I don’t know what the alternative would be,” Lah said. “I don’t know if they’re doing their best and there’s another alternative.”

Junior Claire Smith has been in Vermont since June, and said she feels much safer in Burlington than in her hometown, and much safer on

campus. However, she has a strange feeling being back at UVM. “If I see people out and about downtown, it’s not strange because everyone’s living there, but when I go to campus it’s a weird in-between,” Smith said.

According to UVM spokesperson Enrique Corredera 857 students stayed on campus in non-emergency housing after spring break and before the Mar. 30 cutoff.

Smith was one of these students. She said that being at UVM now feels more like those two weeks this past spring than a normal, in-person semester.

Lah was also on campus after spring break for a few weeks. Back in March, he said he felt the precautions due to COVID were an undue burden.

“It felt like everything came with a ‘but’, like you can get

your mail, but you have to walk across campus and your CATcard might not work at the place.” Lah said. “It wasn’t super accommodating to the students.”

Now he has warmed up to the measures in place to stop the spread of the virus.

“At this point there’s been so many more obnoxious ‘buts’ from different organizations that the ones from UVM are just another thing to go through.”

Lah said, “I’m kinda used to it at this point.”

For the time being, many students are following University protocol to stop the spread of COVID-19.

As the global pandemic continues, students await instructions from their universities on how to stay safe and healthy.

FEATURE

8

COVID-19 impacts the BTV bar scene Rebecca Holt Staff Writer

On Aug. 20th, the City of Burlington instituted new policies limiting gathering sizes and alcohol sales to prevent the spread of COVID-19, right before University of Vermont students flooded back into Burlington to start a new semester.

Establishments with a First or Third Class License from the Department of Liquor and Lottery (DLL) may only serve alcohol from 8 am to 10 pm, according to the Burlington City Council COVID-19 Emergency Order re: Gathering Size and Alcohol Sales.

Most bars in Burlington had previously stayed open until 2 a.m. at the earliest.

“It’s a delicate balance between public health and the survival of our locally owned small businesses which are super important to our community,” executive director of Church Street Marketplace and Director of City of Burlington Business Support Kara Alnasrawi said.

The City Council order will remain in effect until Sept. 30, unless the Council amends, rescinds, or suspends the order, or until the Mayor ends the COVID-19 emergency in Burlington.

“The hope is that it won’t last forever; that it will just be for a temporary period of time until the students have adjusted to being back and the community has adjusted to having them back,” Alnasrawi said.

To keep businesses profitable while following social distancing restrictions, Alnasrawi said the City of Burlington launched an Open Streets Program where businesses are allowed to spill out into streets across the city on Saturdays, effectively expanding their revenue producing space.

An expanded sidewalks program was also launched so businesses can block up to two parking spaces in front of their establishment to either sell goods or to seat customers, according to Alnasrawi.

Brad Luck, co-owner of the downtown bar Rasputin’s, closed his business on Mar. 14 due to current State regulations and concerns about safety.

“We certainly have thought about trying to stay open with outdoor seating, but we don’t have a lot of road frontage,” Luck said. “It’s also just not the type of environment that people expect when they come to Rasputin’s, and we want to replicate the experience that people have, or return to it.”

Unable to take advantage of the Open Streets Program, Luck said Rasputin’s paid some employees with Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) money early on, while keeping some employees on for an additional eight weeks. The bar continues to access both state and federal resources to stay afloat without

MICHAELA REARDON /The Vermont Cynic (TOP LEFT) Nectar’s Lounge and Restaurant sign lights up the sidewalk where customers are dining outside Sept. 5.

(TOP RIGHT) COVID-19 related signs are pinned to the door of Nectar’s Lounge and Restaurant instructing customers to maintain social distancing rules Sept. 5.

(BOTTOM) Customers of Red Square Bar and Grill dine and drink outside Sept. 5. their usual summer inflow.

In reference to bars in Burlington that operate with indoor and outdoor seating, Luck said that bars inherently promote socialization, while lacking the structure to enforce social distancing.

“The act of drinking doesn’t promote wearing masks, and the idea of going to a bar is usually to hang out with other people and have fun and drink,” Luck said.

Earlier this summer, four establishments were issued warnings from the DLL for violating Governor Phil Scott’s state of emergency executive order, which limited outdoor operations to a maximum of 150

people and having all patrons seated. Red Square Bar and Grill and Ake’s Place received warnings on June 24th, and The Other Place and JP’s Pub on June 30, according to The Burlington Free Press.

Bars continuing to operate may face additional problems other than COVID-19 restrictions, as Alnasrawi said colder weather as a potential threat to Burlington’s businesses.

“When the weather changes anything outdoors will be problematic,” Alnasrawi said.

“Currently, indoor dining is allowed and being indoors in a bar is allowed; I don’t envision that changing, it’s about whether members of the public will be

comfortable doing that in winter.”

Current State guidelines cap indoor seating at 50% capacity with a max of 75 people.

Without supplemental outdoor seating, bars may struggle with such a limited capacity for guests and restrictions on their hours during colder months; however, another COVID-19 outbreak could be even more harmful to businesses and Burlington’s residents.

University of Vermont senior and Burlington resident Emma Starkweather said that the lessening presence of bars may create an unregulated, counterproductive social scene.

“After 11 pm, people are still

going to be up and want to go out, especially on Fridays and on the weekend” Starkweather said. “I stopped by a party and the basement was ridiculously packed and I just turned around and walked home; it literally went back to normal, it was like there was no COVID-19, like everyone was at a house party.”

During the week of Sept.

3, UVM reported 3 positive COVID-19 tests, bringing the cumulative total to 12 students since Aug. 7, according to a Sept. 10 Vermont Cynic article.

The Aug. 20 Emergency Order will be reevaluated Sept. 14, two weeks into UVM’s fall semester.