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Amid Setbacks, Student-Athletes Stay Strong
July 29, 2020 VOLUME XL, ISSUE 13 Online-Only Edition
Alumnus Named Top Fiction Writer
COURTESY OF JOSEPH ROCCASALVO
Author, former professor and Fordham alumnus Joseph Roccasalvo is the IAOTP's Top Fictional Writer of the Year. By SAFET BEKTESEVIC Contributing Writer
your season worth it. It’s every morning practice, team meeting, lift session and extra workout with your friends that become so entwined with your individual Fordham experience.”
Joseph Roccasalvo, B.A. Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’64, M.A. FCRH ’65, a writer of novels and short stories, has been named Top Fiction Writer of the Year by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP). A full-time writer since 2020, Roccasalvo, who once was a Fordham professor, is still an active mentor. He explained how he considers writing and mentoring related activities, with one balancing
see FALL SPORTS page 11
see FICTION WRITER page 20
COURTESY OF FORDHAM SPORTS INFO
Women’s soccer is one of the 17 fall sports teams at Fordham whose competitive events have been suspended by the Atlantic 10 conference this semester. Teams will still be able to practice with proper safety precautions in place. By PATRICK MOQUIN Sports & Health Editor
On July 17, the Atlantic 10 Conference announced that it was suspending all fall sports seasons for the 2020-21 academic school year in wake of the ongo-
ing coronavirus pandemic. This decision will affect thousands of student-athletes around the country, including 15 athletic teams at Fordham. In the week since, the players on these teams have had to come to terms with the reality of losing the opportunity to play.
Confronting Sexual Health on Campus By THE NEWS DESK
The Supreme Court announced a monumental decision concerning religious rights on Wednesday, July 8 — the court upheld a regulation which allows employers with religious or moral objections to limit access to birth control under the Affordable Care Act. Fordham University, a Jesuit-affiliated school, conforms to New York state guidelines when it comes to health insurance, according to Bob Howe, assistant vice president for communications. Both university employees and students on the
News
ResLife Fall Update
How social distancing will work at Lincoln Center Page 3
Sports & Health
Research at Home
What academic pursuits look like amid a pandemic
university-issued health insurance, Aetna, receive coverage of all FDA-approved contraceptive products and procedures. However, unlike their health care coverage, the university itself has its conflicts with students and the lack of sex education and awareness on campus because Fordham follows Catholic guidelines in relation to birth control. As a result, birth control is not distributed by the Health Center and the distribution of contraceptives on Fordham campuses or with the university’s resources is prohibited. see SEXUAL HEALTH page 4
Arts & Culture
Rowing team member Debra Chieco, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’22, recognized that the postponement was necessary, but also admitted that “It still hurts, though. As a student-athlete, it’s not just the races and regattas that make
Speak Up Fordham: The Theatre Department By KATRINA LAMBERT, SAMANTHA MATTHEWS and NICOLE PERKINS News Editor and Features Editors
Two Instagram accounts, @letstalkaboutitfordham and @blackatfordham, emerged in June as platforms for students, faculty and alumni to anonymously share their experiences of prejudice at Fordham. The accounts appeared in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the largest civil rights movement in recent American history amplifying voices of people speaking out against discrimination, racism and microaggressions. Currently there are 5 posts on @letstalkaboutitfordham and 3 posts on @blackatfordham alleging situations of misconduct
against Prof. Matthew Maguire and the theatre department at Fordham. While this article focuses on allegations against the theatre department and a member of its staff, The Observer plans to publish a series of articles that revolve around the key issues surfacing as more students speak out. Allegations of Misogyny In 2014, assistant professor Kris Stone’s contract was not renewed by the theatre department after she filed several complaints about Maguire, the current chair of the acting program. According to the court papers filed in a 2016 lawsuit against Maguire and Fordham University, Maguire’s behavior made Stone “extremely uncom-
fortable and she reached a point where she dreaded encountering him and even coming to work. Ms. Stone came to view the Theatre Department as an unpleasant and intimidating workplace.” Maguire’s alleged behavior was expanded to include “using the beginning of department meetings to discuss his sexual exploits, pushing attractive female students to go on dates and requiring other students to perform acts of rape, masturbation and molestation in class.” In one case, Stone claims in the court papers, “student of both Ms. Stone’s and Mr. Maguire’s came to Ms. Stone’s office crying because she was terrified by Mr. Maguire’s insistence that she participate as a see SPEAK UP page 5
A Dance Legend: Denise Jefferson's lasting impact ten years later
Page 10
Opinions
Free Speech
Page 18
The First Amendment doesn't prevent criticism Page 14
The Student Voice of Fordham Lincoln Center
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July 29, 2020 THE OBSERVER
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ICE Ruling Threatened International Students’ Return Now-rescinded ICE order would have prevented international students taking online classes from returning to campus
ZOOM
The Office of International Services discussed Fordham's planned response to the ICE decision in a recent meeting, focusing mainly on the potential of offering one-credit in-person courses for international students. By SOPHIE PARTRIDGE-HICKS and GILLIAN RUSSO Editor-in-Chief and Online Editor
“People think that international students are here in transit and after school, they leave. But during those four years of college, we start establishing our own lives here,” said Alexios Avgerinos, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’21. Avgerinos, an international student from Berlin, Germany, has an F-1 student visa in order to live and study in New York City. He is just one of more than 2,500 international students from countries all over the world who are enrolled at Fordham University.
“ Our representatives
are outraged and are working to support our schools and our international students. ”
Bill Colona, director of government relations, federal and urban affairs
On July 6, a decision from the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) revoked online course exemptions for international students. Though the decision has since been rescinded, questions remain about whether returning to U.S. schools would be a safe, or worthwhile, decision. ICE also issued new guidance on July 24 that newly enrolled international students will not be allowed to enter the United States if their course load is fully online. The decision does not affect students already enrolled prior to March 9. ICE’s original broadcast message stated that any student taking exclusively online classes during the fall will not be able to stay in the United States. This decision came at a time when many universities
have already begun planning for online fall semesters due to coronavirus concerns. Although Fordham has opted for a hybrid model for the fall 2020 semester and plans to reopen, there are concerns that high rates of infection across the country may lead to another campus shutdown. Seeking to answer questions, the Office of International Services (OIS) hosted a virtual meeting on July 9 to further discuss the ways the university would support international students under the current rule. The meeting was primarily for administrators, but over 105 members of the Fordham community joined the Zoom call, including many students. “We've been in communication in an ongoing basis with not only the elected officials and their staff who directly represent Fordham, but several others who have a connection with either the university or our office in one way or the other,” Bill Colona, director of government relations, federal and urban affairs, said on behalf of his department. “It appears that there is universal disapproval within our delegation related to the temporary rule. Our representatives are outraged and are working to support our schools and our international students.” Much of the meeting was spent discussing the option of offering minimum-one-credit, in-person classes to international students. Salvatore Longarino, director of OIS, acknowledged that each of Fordham’s schools “might approach this challenge differently,” meaning that such classes would need to be tailored to fit each school’s learning model and course requirements. Some questioned whether DHS and ICE would consider these courses legitimate. Longarino explained that Fordham’s courses have different designations in the Banner course catalog: R for a class at Rose Hill, L for Lincoln Center and D for digital. Any courses with an R or L designation, he said, would be considered legitimate in-person courses by the universi-
ty. Professors will be in charge of the curriculum and class meetings, and he said it is unlikely that DHS or ICE will scrutinize those. Percy Wu, FCLC ’21, is from Beijing but is currently quarantined in New York. He is concerned that his international friends might not be able to return to New York for the start of the classes. He explained how students “will have to get used to taking online classes in their own time zones. For some of them, that’s waking up in the middle of the night everyday to do so.” Wu implored Fordham to ensure that international students would be able to take in-person classes in the event of a campus shutdown. There is a possibility that these measures might become unnecessary by the start of the semester if the ruling is overturned. Fordham has an August 1 deadline to report to DHS that it plans to pursue a hybrid model, Longarino said, hence the push to plan additional course offerings now. However, under the hybrid model, most existing classes should already qualify as in-person, he said.
“ I wish someone
reached out to me. I wished I had received anything saying we are supporting you, we are condemning this decision. ”
Alexios Avgerinos, FCLC ’21
Troy Handoko, FCLC ’22 and a student from Indonesia, brought up the issue of getting his F-1 visas and I-20 form, which provides supplementary information to confirm a student’s F-1 eligibility, renewed to confirm that Fordham is conducting hybrid education. Longarino assured Handoko that it should not be a problem, though no concrete
steps of the process were provided on the call. OIS also planned to launch a webpage with resources for international students in the coming weeks. According to Longarino and adviser for F-1 students Julianne Parayo, the page will include answers to frequently asked questions for students in different scenarios, such as new versus returning students or students currently residing within versus outside the U.S. They also plan to include FAQ lists specific to each school within the university, and Longarino said OIS is working with the deans to obtain the necessary information for these lists. As of July 26, a general FAQ list as well as FAQs for four of Fordham’s graduate schools have been posted. Other students stated that traveling internationally to return to Fordham’s campus is also a fear. “I have a lot of concerns about returning to the U.S., not only because there are hardly any flights right now and so many restrictions but also because if Fordham did decide to open campus for in person classes in August, I think I would be putting my health at risk seeing the increase in the number of cases in New York,” said Preeshita Shah, Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center ’23, who is currently in Mumbai, India. However, the uncertainty means that students who opt to remain at home and take exclusively online classes are unsure what that would mean for their visas in the future. “What then? Do I defer a semester or take a gap year? Because after this semester I’ve realised that online classes are not for me,” Shah said. In the midst of the meeting, President Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., emailed the Fordham community recognizing the new legislation and emphasizing the university’s commitment to supporting its international students. “We believe our international students are a source of strength and intellectual diversity for the Fordham community, and we stand
with them in the face of what seems at best to be an ill-considered and punitive policy,” he wrote. Yet international students who are facing uncertainty about the future of their college careers say they have been waiting for this statement for days. After a since-deleted tweet circulated saying NYU and Columbia would offer one-credit face-to-face courses to support students, many felt that Fordham’s response was delayed. The English department got in touch with all but one of its students shortly after the ICE announcement, according to Department Chair Mary Bly, but otherwise, students have shared a different experience.
“ I’d be even happier
if they took an active measure to ensure their international students can stay in the states. ”
Danielle Eisenberg, FCLC ’21
“I wish someone reached out to me. I wished I had received anything saying we are supporting you, we are condemning this decision. Just something saying please know that you have our full support,” Avgerinos said on the morning of July 9. “I‘m glad Fordham is joining Harvard and MIT,” Danielle Eisenberg, FCLC ’21, said in reference to the lawsuit these schools initiated to challenge the rule, and which Fordham had backed. “I’d be even happier if they took an active measure to ensure their international students can stay in the states.” Eisenberg is currently at her childhood home in Vienna, Austria. Longarino encouraged students to email him with specific questions on their status. This article was first published online on July 13. It has been updated with the most recent information.
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THE OBSERVER July 29, 2020
News
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Fordham Offers Tuition Insurance Plan Through Dewar Program By ALLIE STOFER Asst. News Editor
The Office of Student Financial Services announced on June 22 an option for students to enroll in additional insurance through the Dewar Tuition Refund Plan, which will provide additional support for students who may need to leave school due to medical reasons. The email regarding the opportunity also explained that while due dates for tuition will appear, the university will not be imposing late fees due to the coronavirus pandemic. Fordham has plans to return to campus in the fall; however, with the pandemic and the spread of the virus throughout New York, students may need to withdraw due to personal illness and concerns about returning to campus. The Dewar Refund plan would allow for students in those circumstances to receive part of their tuition back regardless of how far into the semester it is.
“ I wish I knew this
was an option before my senior year. ”
Stella Pandis, FCLC ’21
“I think it’s really nice that Fordham is giving students the option to apply insurance on their tuition, God forbid they cannot continue due to health reasons,” Stella Pandis, Fordham College at Lincoln Center ’21, said. Under the Dewar Tuition Refund Plan, students can receive
ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER
up to 75% of select fees back if they are affected by an illness recognized by the International Classification of Diseases or the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Students would need to receive certification from a doctor confirming the condition in order to be eligible. To utilize the Dewar Refund Plan, students need to pay a premium cost, which is “based on the amount of tuition, fees and room that is being covered,” President of A.W.G. Dewar Inc. Phil Beattie told The Observer. In order to enroll in the Dewar Tuition Refund Plan, students must fill out the Dewar CRP Application. They can then choose either Dewar’s general coverage or choose to insure a different amount of tuition. The cost of the general-coverage Dewar plan per semester to cover typical Fordham tuition, general fees and technology fees is $251, according to Beattie. For residential students paying for room and board, it would cost
$308 per semester. Pandis expressed that she did not like that students would have to pay for the insurance since there is an ongoing pandemic. “I understand the university faced financial hardship from the refunds in the spring but I genuinely believe if a student could not continue school during a pandemic the university should be more accommodating in regards to refunds,” Pandis said. Fordham also has its own refund policy whereby students can receive 100% of their tuition back if they request a refund before the start of the semester. If students withdraw later in the semester, they are then able to receive a smaller portion of tuition refunded. “Tuition Insurance complements the University’s tuition refund policies,” Director of Student Accounts Stefano Terzulli said. “For example, if a student withdraws early in the semester, that student may be eligible to receive most of their tuition
back under Fordham’s refund policy. A student withdrawing later in the semester may not receive any tuition reimbursement at all. Tuition insurance helps close a portion of that gap for students who withdraw due to personal illness.” According to Terzulli, Fordham has been partnering with Dewar for 14 years. However, many students were not aware that they had the option to purchase tuition insurance. “I can guarantee that this insurance is not advertised at all. Incoming freshmen should get an email about this just like we do to explain the insurance fees. I wish I knew this was an option before my senior year,” Pandis said. Terzulli said that Fordham chose Dewar specifically because it protects students who are forced to withdraw due to personal illness without any added conditions. “We found their exclusion for claims is less stringent than other companies that provide this service,” Terzulli said. “For
example, some companies that offer tuition insurance will only provide coverage for mental health withdrawals that require hospitalization. With Dewar, there is no hospitalization requirement for a mental health withdrawal claim.” Jeffrey Ng, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, explained that it is important for hospitalization not to be a requirement because “hospitalization is not a diagnostic criterion for any formal psychiatric or psychological diagnoses.” Terzulli stated that the Dewar insurance plan cannot be used to refund tuition if classes are once again shifted online due to the coronavirus pandemic, unless the student withdraws due to personal illness. “Opting in for tuition insurance is a personal choice that every family needs to make. Given the pandemic, should a student take ill and be forced to withdraw, Dewar Tuition Insurance can help provide some financial relief,” Terzulli said.
What Social Distancing Will Look Like in Dorms By ALLIE STOFER Asst. News Editor
As students prepare for the fall semester, they are now faced with the decision between living on campus or taking classes remotely. As of July 21, Fordham plans to house 1,250 students on campus at Lincoln Center. Students who choose to take classes remotely for the fall semester will maintain guaranteed housing for the spring semester. After New York City moved into Phase Four on July 20, Fordham released an email with updates to their Fordham Forward plan for the fall. Fordham stated in the email that they are de-densifying campus, including residential buildings. In a follow-up email sent on July 24, the Office of Residential Life explained their plans for an extended move-in process to de-densify move-in. Resident students who live close to campus will be able to drop off their belongings between August 7 and 15. Students will then return to campus for official move-in on August 23 for first-year students or August 25 for returning students. Those who are unable to participate in the early belonging drop-off will be able to move in slightly earlier than others. New residents, including international and transfer students, will be able to move in on August 22 and 23. Returning students who cannot participate in the belonging drop-off can move in on August 24 and 25. Fordham also plans to de-densify the dorm buildings by no longer offering converted triples in the apartments. According to Jenifer Campbell,
LARA FOLEY/THE OBSERVER
The residence halls will look and feel very different this semester with the de-densifying measures set in place such as no longer offering converted triples and not permitting non-Fordham guests in the halls.
senior director of Residential Life, the full capacity for McMahon and McKeon Halls combined is 1,297 students. In previous years, overcrowding has led to forced triples for freshmen in both McKeon and McMahon Halls. Additionally, they are considering using outside
vendors for more apartments in case the demand for housing becomes too great, according to the Fordham website. “A portion of the faculty and students will teach and learn remotely, and all employees who can work effectively from home will continue to do so.
There will be fewer students in residence halls and in common spaces,” University President Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., wrote in the email. Traditionally, Fordham has a guaranteed housing policy for all four years or until a student withdraws from housing. Campbell stated that this policy will remain, except for students who choose to take online classes this fall but wish to return to on-campus housing in the spring. According to Dean of Students and Student Life Keith Eldredge, Enrollment Services is currently developing a program which will allow for students to declare their classes fully online, fully in-person or hybrid, and then choose their housing accordingly. “Typically, a student who withdraws from housing forfeits their housing guarantee unless they are participating in a Fordham approved Study Abroad program or they take a Medical Leave of Absence,” Eldredge said. “This year, if a student opts to take classes remotely and withdraws from housing for that reason, they will also be guaranteed (spring) housing.” Fordham will also limit outside guests into residential halls, as non-Fordham guests will not be permitted to visit McKeon or McMahon, and visitation between residence halls will be limited. Usually residential students can sign two non-Fordham guests into the building at a time. “I think that it will be harder for the incoming freshmen as it’ll be harder for them to hangout with friends who dorm,” commuter student Halima Kah-
ramonova, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’22, said. “Even if I didn’t live there, McKeon became almost like a second home to me during my freshman year.” Kamila Vahidi, FCLC ’23, lived in McMahon her freshman year and explained the importance of being able to be part of the freshman community in McKeon.
Campbell explained that if a student becomes sick with the coronavirus, there will be quarantine spaces available in both McKeon and McMahon. “It’s already going to be difficult enough to be a freshman in the middle of a pandemic, trying to navigate what the etiquette is for making friends or attempting to have a college experience while still being COVID-safe, and I just don’t think it would be fair or good for McMahon freshmen to be less able to forge connections with the majority of their class/see friends,” Vahidi said. Campbell explained that if a student becomes sick with the coronavirus, there will be quarantine spaces available in both McKeon and McMahon. She also stated that there will be spaces available off-campus if necessary. The Fordham website states that students who are able to return home and quarantine will be expected to do so.
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July 29, 2020 THE OBSERVER
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Lack of Resources on Campus Affects Student Safety SEXUAL HEALTH from page 1
Health Services and Sexual Health Contraceptives are covered under Aetna Student Insurance, the required provider for Fordham students without health insurance. “Honestly, the moment I found out about the Supreme Court ruling, the first thought that came to my head was ‘oh my god, there’s a good chance that Fordham will take it out of our aetna student insurance,’” said Anita Kwok, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’22 and secretary of Feminist Alliance. According to Kwok, there have also been instances of birth control-shaming in University Health Services (UHS) and refusal to permit reproductive health-associated guests for club events. Ellie Tycer, FCLC ’23, said she first realized Fordham was going out of its way to prevent safe sex when she talked to friends attending other schools. “Friends at other universities encountered posters promoting safe sexual habits, information on how to obtain prescription contraceptives, and opportunity upon opportunity to obtain condoms,” she said. “I was never exposed to these resources at Fordham LC. Instead, Fordham uses the restriction of ‘opposite sex’ guests overnight in dorms and a complete lack of sex Ed information as attempts to eliminate intercourses from happening in dorms and therefore any unsafe sex.” This is not an uncommon practice at Jesuit universities, including schools such as Boston College and Loyola University Chicago. Each university’s response to the availability and prescription of contraception revolves around the same repetition of Catholic moral and family values. Fordham describes their refusal to provide contraception as “standard practice.” Even though Fordham upholds the Catholic doctrine in regards to the distribution of contraceptives on campus, not all students accept that doctrine themselves. In a survey conducted by The Observer in 2019, it was revealed that 62% of the 315 Fordham students sampled were sexually active and nearly 8% of those students were having unprotected sex. Of the sexually active students, 27% had considered forgoing the use of contraceptives because they are not easily accessible on campus; 10% considered forgoing them because they were too expensive. In response to the Supreme Court’s ruling, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that providing employers with the moral grounds to
WWW.QUOTECATALOG.COM VIA FLICKR
Following the Supreme Court decision limiting birth control insurance coverage by employers, students were relieved to find out that contraceptives are covered under the Aetna Student Insurance plan. However, many students feel that Fordham does not do enough when it comes to education on safe sex practices.
dictate the supply of contraception is forcing underprivileged women to forgo contraception or use less effective methods. Without full-coverage of birth control methods, women would be forced to pay out of pocket for alternative health insurance or birth control.
“ The university being able to regulate students’ access to knowledge and supplies will do nothing other than lead to students getting into unsafe situations that could be avoided. ”
Lucy Murray, FCLC ’23
The Health Center currently provides routine gynecological examinations, pap smears, sexually transmitted infection testing and pregnancy testing. Services are offered five days per week, by appointment. When asked if any changes have been made to the Health Center’s feminine care policy, Maureen Ke-
own, director of university health services, stated that the aforementioned policies were not affected by the Supreme Court’s decision. Fordham does state that they make limited exceptions for birth control if there is an existing medical condition along with proof of the condition. However, former and current students attest that these exceptions are difficult to come by. In 2014, one student at Rose Hill was denied a renewal of prescription for birth control by the UHS on the grounds that hormonal birth control is most commonly used as a contraceptive. Later that week, that student collapsed and was taken to the hospital. She had ovarian cysts and needed a new prescription in order to treat her condition. This student’s condition and treatment is not an anomaly. Hormonal birth control pills have been known to treat or prevent a variety of medical conditions in women, including polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, premenstrual syndrome and primary ovarian insufficiency. Additionally, the use of contraceptives during sex is essential to protect against the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Fordham has affirmed its commitment to the health and safety of its students. “If you’re going to be
COURTESY OF CHRISTIAN GEORGE
Fordham, in upholding its Catholic traditions, advocates for abstinence on campus. Students at other universities, however, have open access to information, condoms and other contraceptives.
your best in the classroom, you’ve got to be at your best physically and emotionally, too,” the university states on its website for health and safety.
“ Fordham University
has a very passive stance when it comes to sexual health, but especially when it comes to birth control methods. ”
Anonymous RA
Lack of Safe Sex Information and Resources Among RAs With an emphasis on health and safety, Resident Assistants (RAs) in McMahon are required to update two bulletin boards every month, and one of those boards is supposed to be used for health and well-being awareness. These bulletin boards in the hallways of the McMahon residence hall are never filled with resources regarding sex education and safety. “In terms of what you can put on the bulletin board, that is really up to the RD (Resident Director),” a former RA who asked to remain anonymous said. “There wasn’t a set list of ideas that you couldn't put on the bulletin board.” According to the RA, each RA submits a proposal for their bulletin board topic to the RD, who must then approve it in order for the health and well-being idea to come into fruition. RAs are also encouraged to host events for their residents with the intention to either educate or to build community on their floor, while at the same time keeping aligned with the Jesuit traditions. RAs are supplied with a budget to spend on their events, but the budget and event concept all must be approved by the RD as well. “I highly suspect that if you had a proposal and it called for giving out contraceptives, using Fordham dollars, that would probably not get approved,” the RA said. “Unless you can figure out a way to rationalize it within the Jesuit tenets — which is impossible.”
“The university being able to regulate students’ access to knowledge and supplies will do nothing other than lead to students getting into unsafe situations that could be avoided,” Lucy Murray, FCLC ’23, said. Murray cited reproductive health as one of the most pressing health issues in our age bracket. “Students expect their university to take care of them and for many people, reproductive health and planning is a big part of their wellbeing and ability to control their own future, and not being able to trust that the college has the students safety and best interests in mind is upsetting,” she said. To learn how to be a role model and handle the needs of residents, RAs undergo several training sessions: two to three weeks before the start of the fall semester, a few days before the start of the spring semester and then at least two out of three sessions during each semester. When asked whether RAs are educated on sexual health topics at these trainings, the RA responded, “Not really.” According to the RA, if a situation related to a student’s physiological health is brought to their attention, the RA is supposed to defer the student to Health Services. If that problem is interfering with that student’s mental or academic well-being, then it may be in the RA’s realm of influence, however, RAs are not educated on topics of sex education duirng their trainings. “This rule that clearly originates from a ‘moral judgment’ is sex negative, ignores the presence of many queer students,and lastly, is ineffective at preventing intercourse,” Tycer said. “Fordham’s ‘attempts’ to prevent unsafe sex resemble the majority of public schools around the USA that teach abstinence-only sex Ed.” “Fordham University has a very passive stance when it comes to sexual health, but especially when it comes to birth control methods,” the RA said. They added that having safe sex is not promoted by ResLife because it goes against Jesuit values. Due to its longstanding practice of withholding contraception from women on campus, Fordham does not seem open to deviating from its Catholic values in the near future. The Supreme Court decision enacted on July 8 further cements the university’s right to the passivity students continue to associate with its stance.
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THE OBSERVER July 29, 2020
News
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Students Speak Out Against Theatre Professor’s Alleged Misconduct
COURTESY OF @LETSTALKABOUTITFORDHAM VIA INSTAGRAM
Several students have submitted posts to @letstalkaboutitfordham regarding the conduct of Matthew Maguire, current head of the acting track and former head of the theater department. Many have called for his resignation over the years. SPEAK UP from page 1
victim in a rape scene on stage.” The court papers also read that Stone reported Maguire’s actions to Elizabeth Margid, chair of the theatre department at the time, but no concrete action was taken. Margid did not respond to The Observer’s request for comment. The lawsuit resulted in a $20,000 settlement, according to reporting in the New York Post. However, Stone was barred from teaching at Fordham and was prohibited from speaking about the case. Bob Howe, assistant vice president for communications, released a statement in 2016; “Ms. Stone made these deliberately provocative allegations only after she was denied reappointment. The University hired an independent investigator who concluded there was no merit to the allegations.”
“ Anytime I would speak in class, he would cut me off almost without fail to the point where other students would notice it. ”
Amara McNeil, FCLC ’23
One anonymous submitter on @letstalkaboutitfordham was a student in the theatre department when the lawsuit was proceeding. They wrote, “I found out about the lawsuit, not from the school, but from the New York Daily News in summer 2016.” They claimed that Fordham Theatre leadership briefly addressed the allegations to students in March 2017, but no additional information was discussed and no conversation was had. This is not the only post on the accounts about Maguire — to date, there have been five posts made about him on @letstalkaboutitfordham out of their 376 total and four on @blackatfordham out of 196. Similar allegations to the ones Stone made against Maguire have been posted — only this time the allegations are coming from current students and alumni. The numerous allegations below detail that Maguire has allegedly permitted an environment of toxicity, sexism and racism throughout the department. These allegations comprise 9 Instagram posts and 14 testimonies collected by a group of theatre students.
When asked about these allegations, Maguire told The Observer, “I am reviewing all of these materials and looking forward to working with the entire community to achieve real change at Fordham.” In an interview with The Observer, Amara McNeil, FCLC ’23, who is a Black woman, said that Maguire repeatedly ignored her. “Anytime I would speak in class, he would cut me off almost without fail to the point where other students would notice it, McNeil said. “He would criticize anything I said. And I noticed that he wasn't doing that with other students, especially white male students. It got to the point where I didn't even talk in class.” Jayla Pollock, FCLC ’22, said, “He would never answer questions when they were raised by women. But if a guy asked the question, even if it wasn’t their scene, he would answer it.” Another student, who spoke to the Observer anonymously to avoid future conflicts with Maguire or the theatre program, also experienced a similar situation when she went to a meeting with him required to get an A in his class. The meeting was proceeding normally until he “closed the door, put his hand on my leg and said ‘can I ask you a personal question?’ Not knowing what to do, I just said yes and then he goes on to obsess over my height ... I made an excuse and left as soon as possible.” Evan Sibley, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’16, submitted one post stating, “I have seen Mr. Maguire make inappropriate sexual comments to other students that have made them feel uncomfortable and unsafe.” Maguire has also been accused of perpetuating a harmful environment for his Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students.
mal thing. And I was able to discuss my experiences with them and they were able to empathize with it because they had similar experiences.” Maguire was director of the theatre department until 2019, when his role changed to the head of the acting track and a professor. According to a 2019 Observer interview with Maguire, the decision to step down was his own as he felt that he was at the peak of his career as theatre director. During his tenure, however, students raised multiple concerns with him about plays that were produced. In fall 2015, Maguire decided to put on a mainstage adaptation of “The Orphan of Zhao,” which is a 14th century Chinese play. The production had four Asian actors and six white actors. An alum of the theatre department, who asked to be anonymous out of fear of a negative career impact, FCLC ’16, recalled that the play “involved yellowface. The theatre program has always been conscious of its student body lacking diversity, and it was a conscious choice to produce a play that called for a cast of color which could not be fulfilled with our casting pool of student actors,” they said.
“ Seeing a role model,
Creating a Space of Discomfort for BIPOC Students
a person in power, who can consistently get away with making women feel uncomfortable or making people of color feel uncomfortable, because he’s just trying to do his job has definitely bled into the student body. ”
McNeil said she was asked to do a piece on police brutality without any advanced notice. As a Black student, she found this to be uncomfortable. “Keep in mind, this is a class with 44 students, and maybe four of them are Black. I expressed my discomfort with doing the piece and I asked if I could opt out of doing it. Matthew seemed to be very confused as to why I wanted that and didn't really respect my decision.” “It wasn't until I started to have conversations with some of the Black upperclassmen students that they were like, yeah, this is a nor-
In a letter addressing the concerns of yellowface at the time, Maguire wrote, “We cannot wait until we have a sufficient pool of the ‘correct’ ethnicity to decide to produce a play, because if we wait, then those actors and designers and stage managers will not come to Fordham.” Although Maguire affirmed in his letter that yellowface was unacceptable, the same concerns arose in 2019. The play “Sound of a Voice” by David Henry Hwang
Claire Talbott, FCLC ’21
was written with two Japanese leads and slated to be a part of the 2019 studio season. The show cast a white person as the male lead. A week before the premiere, the department discovered the show was legally prohibited from being put on unless there were two actors of Asian descent in the main roles. The show was shut down and only shown to theatre students after the finding. Claire Talbott, FCLC ’21, who identifies as Chinese and white, was a lighting designer on the show. When she asked about the casting decision, she said she was told “it was just about him being right for the part. I said, well did you look for an Asian man to audition for the part? We only had one Asian male acting student at the time. We want to do diverse plays. But we don’t want to whitewash.” In Maguire’s acting classes — which every Fordham directing and acting student is required to take — he had previously assigned the students to perform “A Raisin in the Sun,” a play by Lorraine Hansberry that featured a predominantly Black cast. As a Black student, David Wilson, FCLC ’21, said, “There was an issue of how are we going to connect to this text and be able to give a truthful story if only two of these students (in the class) are Black actors, and he kept disregarding that and sticking to his reasoning for it and it just didn’t feel like there was much listening on his end. I had a difficult time doing my scene with a white actor playing my Black mother.” A Ripple Effect Talbott further said, “Seeing a role model, a person in power, who can consistently get away with making women feel uncomfortable or making people of color feel uncomfortable, because he’s just trying to do his job has definitely bled into the student body,” she said. “I’ve heard white students complaining that if we do shows with a diverse cast, they don't get a part.” Wilson agreed and stated that he has heard white students attributing BIPOC students getting roles to their race rather than their talent. “It’s made it very difficult because I know for me personally, I have had to work very hard on every show. It makes it harder for us because we don't get to focus on our craft for the sake of focusing on the craft; we focus on it to prove ourselves now.” A group of students are collecting testimonies from current and former students of Maguire — they currently have 14. They are calling
for the removal of Maguire as the first step to rectify these issues. McNeil specified that she would like to see anti-bias training for both students and faculty, and more concrete emotional and financial support for BIPOC students at Fordham.
“ They attribute
everything to us as our race and not on our talent. I would like to see that addressed. I would like to see the faculty take more accountability for their microaggressions as well.”
David Wilson, FCLC ’21
Wilson clarified that the issues facing the Fordham theatre department are not isolated and apply to the campus as a whole. “There are so many times that students openly speak against students of color and say that they are lucky to be in this program. They attribute everything to us as our race and not on our talent. I would like to see that addressed. I would like to see the faculty take more accountability for their microaggressions as well.” McNeil connected the allegations against Maguire to the larger issue of Fordham University not holding its faculty accountable. She said, “There have been many instances in which we'll report one faculty member to another and they will either not take you seriously or talk you out of saying something or just say no.” While allegations against Maguire have surfaced recently on @letstalkaboutitfordham, they’ve been raised since at least 2014 when Stone first voiced her concerns. The anonymous alum from 2016 believes Maguire’s power over those in the theatre department is part of the problem. “Matthew could impact your time at Fordham and therefore your career, which scared some students from speaking up.” McNeil pointed out that this was not a unique feature of the theatre department. In the end, she says, “The issue of Matthew McGuire is a limb off of the larger issue of Fordham University. ” Joe Kottke contributed additional reporting to this story.
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July 29, 2020 THE OBSERVER
www.fordhamobserver.com
Fordham Details Hybrid Learning Plan for Fall 2020 By MICHELLE AGARON Asst. News Editor
This fall semester, Fordham is exploring uncharted territory to provide a fulfilling educational experience for students, despite the ongoing pandemic. On May 28, the university announced that it will implement a new learning model, described as a “flexible hybrid learning environment,” which offers both in-person and online coursework. By employing this plan, Fordham aims to seamlessly transition to online instruction in the case that New York faces another coronavirus outbreak. The Office of the President released an update for the Fordham Forward plan on July 20, stating that every student will be able to choose whether they would prefer an online, in-person or hybrid learning experience in the fall. The university also plans to break at Thanksgiving, meaning students will not return to campus until the spring semester begins. Dennis Jacobs, Ph.D., Fordham’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, played a key role in a task force formed by the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, which quickly developed safety guidelines for higher education in New York. Jacobs is confident that Fordham’s plan delivers in both safety and quality of education. “We wanted to create an environment that’s versatile and resilient, to deliver a quality Jesuit education under any circumstance,’” he told Fordham News. Fordham is demonstrating its versatility by updating learning software for the university’s classrooms and online mediums. Steven D’Agustino, Ph.D., Fordham’s director of online learning, stated that there are plans under-
way to install new cameras and microphones in classrooms to improve the quality of learning for remote students. Aside from the continued use of Zoom and Blackboard, D’Agustino spoke to the success and future use of VoiceThread, an asynchronous discussion tool, and Perusall, an online tool for textual analysis and close reading. “We have learned and grown so much over the past few months – new approaches, new synergies, new skills – and that, in the midst of sorrow and loss, it is important to recognize those small but essential victories,” D’Agustino said. “Teaching is at once backward looking (here are things you should know) and forward looking (you are part of a better future), so we are used to these kinds of tensions.”
“ If you even remotely
care about New Yorkers, your fellow commuter students and professors, and our Black and Brown communities like some of you have repeatedly emphasized on social media this summer, please stay home ”
Anonymous Commuter Student
Columbia University is approaching the fall semester similarly, with most courses slated to occur either remotely or following a hybrid format. Although there is no mention of students
being able to choose their preferred method of learning at Columbia, both Fordham and Columbia faculty members are at leisure to choose the most appropriate and effective mode of teaching for their course. Columbia is also updating its equipment and technology to better serve the student body, regardless of location. New York University (NYU) is currently offering in-person, online and hybrid courses; every course will make remote attendance possible for students who are unable to attend. NYU courses with more than 40 students will be taught remotely to optimize safety for their community. Columbia is limiting in-person attendance to 50 students. Fordham has not provided a concrete attendance limit yet. Despite Fordham’s optimism for a hybrid learning plan, many students have voiced their concerns about returning to campus and reconvening with students from other states where coronavirus cases are rising rapidly. The anonymous-submission Instagram account @letstalkaboutitfordham recently featured multiple commuter students voicing their concerns about Fordham’s reopening and learning plan. Responding to a survey conducted on Instagram, one anonymous commuter student was shocked not only by the online model vs. in-person model interest ratio, which was around 40-60, but also by the “sense of community” students appeared to value above all. “For those of us who live here (New York City), we just cannot afford risking our lives and our family’s lives just so we can have a sense of community,” they stated. “If you even remotely care about New Yorkers, your fellow
Key Takeaways Students have the option to choose: fully in-person, fully online or hybrid (online and in-person) courses Fordham will add new cameras and microphones to classrooms to improve the quality of learning for remote students. Plans are to continue to use Zoom, plus experiment with VoiceThread, an asynchronous discussion tool; and Perusall, an online tool for textual analysis and close reading. It is up to the professor which method will be chosen for the class (synchronous, asynchronous, in-person only, which learning program, etc.). It depends on what works best for the professor and their teaching style. MADDIE SANDHOLM/THE OBSERVER
commuter students and professors, and our Black and Brown communities like some of you have repeatedly emphasized on social media this summer, please stay home.” Another submission sent in by a commuter student amassed nearly 900 likes. While most of the submissions and commenters acknowledge that an exclusively online semester is not optimal, they are willing to sacrifice an in-person experience to secure their safety. Fordham has partially addressed these concerns by allowing students to choose their preferred style of learning for the fall semester, but certain students are calling for more –– namely, a complete deconstruction of any in-person or hybrid plans in favor of an exclusive-
ly online experience and their safety guaranteed. This sentiment was relayed by another anonymous student on July 24: “I think it’s completely irresponsible for Fordham to even offer the option of in-person classes… this is coming from someone who hates Zoom classes (a lot) but we have to urge Fordham to make all classes virtual.” On July 28, The Office of Academic Records announced that students planning on taking more than two online classes will have to complete a form declaring their preferred choice of learning method for the fall. Students will have until Aug. 6 to complete the form. A list of classes already planning to go online for the fall semester was also included, with plans for daily updates.
Student Sues Fordham Claiming Free Speech Is Under Attack
Austin Tong faces disciplinary actions for an Instagram post holding a gun, gaining national attention By SOPHIE PARTRIDGE-HICKS Editor-in-Chief
Since Austin Tong, Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center ’21, first declared he would fight the university’s disciplinary actions, his story has garnered national attention and received an outpour of support for his right to freedom of speech and to bear arms. The university found Tong’s two Instagram posts were in violation of the university regulations related to bias and hate crimes and were threatening or intimidating behavior. Tong maintains that these claims are an attack on his free speech as an American and officially filed a lawsuit in the New York County Supreme Court on July 23. Beth Fagin, Fordham’s legal associate counsel, did not respond to The Observer’s request for comment or to confirm the lawsuit. To support his legal fees, Tong created a GoFundMe page. As of July 28, he has raised $77,190 from over 2,000 donors. Because his case has received so much attention, Tong has also become a National Rifle Association (NRA) member. Although a member benefit is described as “24/7 defense of your gun rights,” according to the NRA website, it is unclear if the organization will financially support Tong. The Observer reached out to the NRA for comment but did not receive a response. The NRA did show their support by posting a video about Tong to its Instagram account with more than 1.7 million followers. In the video, Tong says, “Fordham University, see you in court, I am not backing down,” while holding an AR-15.
The video also included a runner with a number to text to support the Second Amendment. On July 22, Tong appeared on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle with conservative television host Laura Ingraham to share his story. “Well, you know, supposedly we have the First Amendment here and we have the Constitution, but that’s not what Fordham University thinks, that’s not what the bad people think,” Tong told Ingraham.
“ They want to silence
any voice they do not like, and they silenced me because they don’t like what I said, and I will not back down to that. ”
Austin Tong, GSBLC ’21
Ingraham referenced others associated with the Fordham community, specifically Christina Greer, associate department chair of political science, who has publicly shared her political views without repercussion from the university. Fox highlighted one interview in which Greer claimed that Donald Trump was “abysmal for American democracy,” and suggested that professors can say what they want but Fordham students are not extended the same privilege. “They want to silence any voice they do not like, and they silenced me because they don’t like what I
said, and I will not back down to that,” Tong explained. Although Tong has appeared on many large-scale media outlets, attention has only been given to one of the two Instagram posts in question. Tong first posted an image of David Dorn, a Black police officer who was killed in the protests, with the caption “Y’all a bunch of hypocrites.” Posted on June 3 at the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S., the post received immediate backlash and criticism claiming that it was tonedeaf in the socio-political context. Tong posted the picture holding the semi-automatic weapon the following day with the caption “Don’t tread on me #198964,” which he says was to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre in China. Ingraham did not ask about the post of Dorn in the Fox News interview and if the two images were related. Dean of Students Keith Eldredge and Assistant Vice President for Communications Bob Howe did not respond to The Observer’s request for more information regarding why the punishments were justified. FIRE, an organization dedicated to defending free speech on college campuses in the U.S., contacted University President Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., on behalf of Tong. Lindsie Rank, program officer of the Individual Rights Defense Program, authored a letter urging the university to reverse the disciplinary actions. “Fordham has acted more like the Chinese government than an
COURTESY OF AUSTIN TONG
Austin Tong, GSBLC '21, has threatened to take legal action against the university for sanctions imposed in response to two Instagram posts from early June. In a letter he posted to Father McShane and the Board of Trustees, he accused the university of "treading on the fundamental freedoms of this country."
American university, placing severe sanction on a student solely because of off-campus political speech. In banning Tong from campus, placing him on disciplinary probation with threat of suspension, and issuing other sanctions, Fordham has betrayed not only Tong, but also its own ideals,” she wrote. Tong, however, continues to receive support from around the country and world. On July 21, New York’s Young Republicans Club announced that Tong was awarded an honorary membership. President Gavin Mario Wax commended Tong for his “brave stand against Marxist administrators at
Fordham University” in his tweet. Campus Reform, the self-described “conservative watchdog to the nation’s higher education system,” also offered Tong a New York correspondent position. Editor-in-Chief and conservative political activist Cabot Phillips interviewed Tong for Campus Reform. Tong has also been interviewed by other outlets including NBC News, The Daily Ledger and One America News about his case and his plans. When The Observer reached out to Tong for an interview, he denied the request, stating, “My words and my meaning will not be skewed.”
www.fordhamobserver.com
THE OBSERVER July 29, 2020
News
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Concerned and Optimistic: Students Prepare for an Unprecedented Semester By KATRINA LAMBERT News Editor
With less than a month to go before the academic year begins, the Office of the President released an update on July 20 further detailing the university’s plans for resuming operations in the fall semester. Included in the plan is the decision to not continue in-person classes after Thanksgiving break and specifications on de-densifying the campus. This is the first update since Fordham’s previous announcement on June 30, which contained a 35-page document detailing the university’s phased approach to bringing students back to campus. Since the last report from the university, New York City entered into Phase Four of reopening, which solidifies New York colleges and universities’ ability to be in operation at full capacity. However, despite permission from the state to have personnel on campus, the small footprint of the Lincoln Center campus makes proper social distancing tactics difficult to organize.
“ Our campus is not built for social distancing — much less Manhattan ”
Sydney Costales, FCLC ’21
As a result, Fordham plans to have some faculty and students teach and learn remotely, as well as to reduce volume in the residence halls and common spaces. “Our campus is not built for social distancing — much less Manhattan,” Sydney Costales, Fordham College Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’21, said. Costales, who is returning from quarantine in Hawaii, is preparing to move off campus to Brooklyn come the fall and take all online classes. She said her decision not to return to campus comes from feeling unsafe considering that students will be traveling from all parts of the world to New York City. “We know (New York City) has been hit really hard in the past, and they are doing really good right now, but I’m sure we’re all aware how quickly that can change,” she said. In order to make the living space at Lincoln Center more adaptable to social distancing procedures, the university plans to create one-way corridors, install protective barriers at all high-traffic areas, designate entrances and exit doors for each building, and convert non-traditional classroom spaces into classrooms to limit occupancy in classes. One of the main drawbacks to the Lincoln Center campus, which several students have referenced as a point of concern with university social distancing practices, is the
PHOTOS COURTESY OF BOB HOWE
Lowenstein will get a new look this semester with students having the option of taking classes either online or in person. Social distancing measures will be enforced in classrooms, elevators and common areas.
tightly packed nature of the elevators in the Lowenstein Center. On Fordham’s website for updates on the coronavirus, “lessening elevator capacities” is listed as an objective point for preparing for the fall. No further elaboration is provided on how the task force plans to achieve this; however, the website does additionally state plans to increase time in between classes to hopefully stagger students heading to and leaving from class. In addition to lessening the number of people in any particular area of the campus, the university also plans to install filtration and dilution systems which will be in operation 24 hours a day. These mechanisms aim to purify air inside the buildings on campus to minimize exposure to the virus. The university outlined a detailed plan for monitoring the virus’s effect on campus, including mandatory universal coronavirus (COVID-19) testing for all faculty, students and staff prior to arrival on campus, and then again at set intervals throughout the semester. Throughout the semester, Fordham students, faculty, staff, administrators or guests will be required to respond to a series of pre-screening questions through the application VitalCheck before entering campus. The university member or guest must receive clearance in order to enter campus grounds. There is also a system for contract tracing and quarantine procedures in case a student on campus does become infected with COVID-19. Residence hall rooms will be designated for individuals to quarantine if they become infected, as well as spaces off-campus, if needed. Some students have expressed that these precautionary measures are enough to feel comfortable returning to campus. “For many students, including myself, who flourish under face-to-face instruction, reopening will allow us to take full advantage of the opportunities that Fordham offers,” Aisha Virender
Sanwal, Gabelli School of Business Lincoln Center (GSBLC) and FCLC ’23, said. Virender Sanwal is double-majoring in global finance and political science, and she feels that living in the dorms and taking in-person classes are the best way for her to receive an education. She said that the daily screening and testing procedures that Fordham plans to enact reassures her that the pandemic’s spread on campus will be carefully monitored. Currently, there is a mandated self-quarantine for 14 days for people coming to the New York metro area from any of the 31 states that are experiencing severe outbreaks of COVID-19. The large quantity of residents quarantining on campus at the start of the academic year could pose a threat to the envisioned purpose of these spaces.
Students coming from restricted states are expected to quarantine for 14 days in a location not on the list of restricted states and take a COVID-19 test within a 7-day period prior to coming to campus. On July 27, the university released its plan for students who wish to return to the campus from one of the restricted states. “All students coming from restricted states and other countries should plan adequate time both to quarantine and to get tested,” the email from Jeffrey Gray, senior vice president for student affairs, stated. Students coming from restricted states are expected to quarantine for 14 days in a location not on the list of restricted states and take a COVID-19 test within a 7-day period prior to coming to campus. The university said that it is wait-
ing on approval from New York state to allow students coming from a restricted state and planning to live in Fordham housing to quarantine in their respective residence hall room or on-campus sites. Before official guidance from the state however, the university recommends students make offsite plans for quarantining, such as hotels or areas outside one of the restricted states. Another option is for the student to remain at home and take classes online until the restriction on their state is removed. Since the pandemic is still an evolving situation, with new research coming out daily about the way the virus behaves, students find themselves questioning how “campus life” will be impacted when they return. “I honestly don’t think that we’re going to be able to have a lot of campus activity next fall,” Costales said. “I just don’t see logistically how that would play out in terms of social distancing.” The university, as of yet, has not provided much information on how extracurricular activities may or may not, be impacted by regulations on campus. When students return to campus they will be required to accept the following actions, referred to as “The Ram Pledge”: always wear a mask in public places on and off campus, wash hands frequently and for at least 20 seconds, self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms and complete VitalCheck screenings daily, follow all university protocols to measure the virus’s spread, and “act in the spirit of people for others.” These actions delineated in the pledge provide some insight into how campus life may be affected. Additionally, student visitation passes for the fall semester for all non-Fordham students will be suspended. Other concerns students have about their return to campus is the event of another campus shutdown. Fordham’s tuition rate increased by 3.33% this year, stirring tensions among students
While students in Fordham’s Law School and Gabelli School of Business will be spaced out, there are still concerns about social distancing in corridors and elevators.
who are already experiencing financial hardship from the shutdown of many businesses due to the pandemic. “I’m worried that, in case one of my three roommates can no longer room, the others and I will have to assume those expenses,” Virender Sanwal said. “This would be an added concern on top of the additional 3.33% increase in tuition rates Fordham announced last month.”
“ Overall, it will be quite a different scene back on campus this fall, but I hope for the best, after all, optimism is key to overcoming adversity ”
Aisha Virender Sanwal, GSBLC and FCLC ’23
Adding to her concerns is contention revolving around reimbursement rates. For the spring semester of 2020, when students were sent home early due to the COVID-19 outbreak in New York, there was a 50% refund for housing, meal plans and selected fees. However, the partial refund wasn’t deemed acceptable by many students who felt that their education had been impacted by the transition to online and wished for their tuition to have been reimbursed as well. Going into the next semester, when another campus shutdown is a possibility, those tensions persist. “Understandably, educational institutions need this money to offset costs, but students should also not suffer financially when the situation is in no fault of their own,” Virender Sanwal said. The incorporation of the hybrid class model that Fordham plans to utilize is supposed to help the transition into a fully online class method in the event of an early shutdown. Currently, the university is working under the expectation that after Thanksgiving break, all students will be transitioned into fully online classes. Beginning July 27, students will have the opportunity to declare their preference of either fully online, hybrid or fully in-person classes for the fall 2020 semester, according to Laura Auricchio, dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center. While many Fordham students have yet to make a decision about returning in the fall, the ones who have expect many things to be different, regardless of their choice. “Overall, it will be quite a different scene back on campus this fall, but I hope for the best,” Virender Sanwal said. “After all, optimism is key to overcoming adversity.”
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News
July 29, 2020 THE OBSERVER
www.fordhamobserver.com
The New Normal for Colleges
By JOE KOTTKE News Editor
The annual return to college campus for millions of students is less than a month away, yet coronavirus cases are spiking around the country, leaving young people and their families anxious for reassurance of safety from their respective schools. Many public school districts have already made the decision to move to fully online instruction, such as Los Angeles and San Diego. Harvard, California State University and The New School are among a growing list of colleges and universities that will not conduct any in-person classes this fall. Fordham University’s reopening plan promises a return to campus while also providing options for students to stay fully online or create a hybrid schedule, including both online and in-person courses.
“ Fordham’s plan, while
seemingly optimistic for students returning to campus like myself, felt like it left gaps for those going fully online or those who are immuno-compromised. ”
Katie Heaton, FCLC ’23
Katie Heaton, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’23, plans to move back to midtown Manhattan but will not be living in Fordham’s residential housing. “Fordham’s plan, while seemingly optimistic for students returning to campus like myself, felt like it left gaps for those going fully online or those who are immuno-compromised,” Heaton said. Anna Helldorfer, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’23, is one student who made
the decision to live at home and complete the fall semester remotely. "Personally, I don’t feel that going back to the city just to enjoy myself is worth putting myself and others at risk,” Helldorfer said. “I’m lucky enough to be well suited for online learning and I have a pretty good home life, so I’d prefer not to contribute to the possible spread of COVID(-19).” According to Helldorfer, she is glad that Fordham gave her the option to go completely online, but she wishes that they’d made announcements earlier so that she could feel more secure in her decisions. Lack of communication is just one concern felt by students around the country with the unpredictability of the coronavirus. Now, Fordham students are facing similar challenges to other college students concerning tuition cost, social distancing within residential housing, online versus in-person class offerings and academic calendars. University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is returning to in-person instruction, but with a social distanced campus, including daily COVID-19 symptom questionnaires, a mask requirement and closed common spaces and facilities. Fordham is also de-densifying campus and plans on conducting monthly surveillance and daily monitoring of symptoms in both students and employees.
“ I know these are
unprecedented times, but I wish we had more support and guidance on what the fall will look like. ”
Catherine Cieminski, UP ’22
“I know my school is doing their best to figure everything out, however, there has been a huge lack in communication and clarity on what campus will really look like,” Catherine Cieminski, UP ’22, said. According to Cieminski, the university has not specified what will happen if there are on-campus cases, there has been a lack of available work-study positions and their online option is not flexible — especially for STEM students who need lab access. “I know these are unprecedented times, but I wish we had more support and guidance on what the fall will look like. Personally, I’m opting into taking my classes online, but I still am worried about my friends taking in-person classes,” Cieminski said. “Our school has a very small health center and it’s pretty difficult to get an appointment, so I am wondering about their ability to take on COVID(-19) testing and maintain mental health and personal health appointments and availability.” Although small, the University Health Services (UHS) at Lincoln Center continued to serve students via email and phone even during quarantine. According to an email sent out by McShane on July 21, UHS will be stocked with supplies, testing materials and Personal Protective Equipment. University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) updated their fall planning on June 18 as California cases began to rise. Now, the state has over 450,000 cases. The university will be converting their lecture-style classes — with class sizes of 500 or more students — to asynchronous, so students who will not be in the California time zone have flexibility in viewing or attending instruction. The revision to classes comes after this past spring semester. Fordham students had similar
problems connecting to Zoom class calls when living in different time zones around the world. According to Isabella Binger, UCSB ’22, chemistry and biology labs, dance classes, and other necessary in-person instruction will happen in smaller sections.
“ I wish that they just
would have made it a lot more clear about which classes are going to be in-person so if you do have an immune disorder or if you have something where you are more at risk, you could take the classes that are online specifically. ”
Isabella Binger, UCSB ’22
In comparison, the theatre department at Fordham has moved non-academic work, such as studio and main stage shows online for the entire year. Heaton, a theatre major, is moving back to be able to engage in the community in other ways: “Knowing that being on campus even though the majority of my education could be online still leaves a network of artistic people who are looking to make safe and independent work on campus,” Heaton said. Binger cited communication as a frustration at UCSB: “I wish that they just would have made it a lot more clear about which classes are going to be in-person so if you do have an immune disorder or if you have something where you are more at risk, you could take the classes that are online specifically.”
University of Iowa The University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is doing the same as Fordham by keeping their regular academic calendar and moving to all online classes in the period between Thanksgiving and winter break.
“ Both my parents are
older than 55 and are immunocompromised, it would be a lot less stressful and mentally healthy for me to live alone during the pandemic. ”
Elisabeth Oster, University of Iowa ’23
According to Elisabeth Oster, University of Iowa ’23, any class with more than 50 students will be an online-only class, while smaller classes will be in-person unless the professor chooses otherwise. Two of her six classes will be in-person. In comparison, Fordham’s average class size is 23 students with the larger classes being core curricula like philosophy or theology. “I feel that in order to overcome where we’re at with COVID-19 in-person schooling is inadvisable and is only inplace for the collegiate financial structure. The very real possibility that we might shift back to college life only for it to go seriously wrong soon after creates a lot of unwanted uncertainty. On the other hand, both my parents are older than 55 and are immunocompromised, it would be a lot less stressful and mentally healthy for me to live alone during the pandemic,” Oster said. Oster said she appreciated the virtual panels and town halls that the university conducted in the past months, maintaining strong communication.
ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER
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They also are providing students with a face shield, two cloth masks and two disposable masks since Iowa City has a mask mandate. McShane is hosting a virtual town hall on July 30 covering the fall semester; however, it is the first of its kind for the university. Lynn University Unlike Fordham, some schools are scrapping their traditional academic calendar and imposing a new schedule. Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, will institute four separate fourweek terms for the fall semester, where students take two courses per term. The block schedule is meant to limit the number of students who come into contact in class, provide an eased schedule for those who opt for remote instruction and prepare for any necessary “quick switching” to all remote learning.
“ I enjoy learning and
being in a classroom and online classes don’t have the same effect. ”
Ella Semonian, Lynn ’23
According to Ella Semonian, Lynn ’23, housing will be limited to a maximum of two roommates and there will be no off-campus entry. “I do hope that we can stay open rather than campus shutting down because the online school that everyone went through this past semester was pretty rough. I enjoy learning and being in a classroom and online classes don’t have the same effect,” she said. Similarly, Fordham issued strict housing guidelines, including limits to guest access and de-densifying dorm rooms and common spaces. Florida has seen an extreme rise in cases during the month of July, surpassing 400,000 reported cases. “I appreciate how they aren’t being ditzy like the rest of Florida. There isn’t much that I feel they could have done a better job with, to be honest,” Semonian said. Luther College Like Lynn, Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, completely rehauled their class schedules and will begin the fall semester in
THE OBSERVER July 29, 2020
September with only freshmen on campus attending one course while upperclassmen complete one course online. Then, in October, all students will be enrolled in two courses until Thanksgiving break. The plan is to conduct the second half of the first semester on campus in December and January and return to a normal spring semester.
“ As someone with an
autoimmune disorder, I have been very anxious while waiting for Luther’s plan to be released. ”
Maddie Lomprey, Luther College ’21
“Personally, I am very excited about the plan,” Maddie Lomprey, Luther College ’21, said. “As someone with an autoimmune disorder, I have been very anxious while waiting for Luther’s plan to be released. I appreciate that we will get some time on campus for sure, with these measures in place.” Luther students will not have to sign a code of conduct contract, which Lomprey said she is concerned about, given that many places in Iowa are open without mask mandates. “I want to trust that Luther students will protect one another as best they can, but I think without them signing a contract to do so, there is room for failure.” Fordham, on the other hand, announced that students will have to sign the Ram Pledge before arriving on campus; the contract binds students to wearing a face mask while on campus, engaging in proper hygiene, following testing guidelines and monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms. Loyola University Chicago
“ What upsets me is the lack of financial consideration from the school. ”
Maggie Gathumbi, LUC ’22
News
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Loyola University Chicago (LUC) will be fully online except for labs, following the same academic calendar without a fall break. “I personally don’t mind doing online as I am more of a visual learner,” Maggie Gathumbi, LUC ’22, said. “What upsets me is the lack of financial consideration from the school. Many students would want the tuition to at least stay the same from last year but they have increased the tuition which I believe is inconsiderate. However, most campus facilities are still open, which I do appreciate.” Fordham also increased tuition by 3.33% for the 2020-21 academic year, even though students had concerns about financial distress and a change in educational value. Late fees were temporarily suspended, and the university now offers a tuition insurance plan, but there are still calls to halt tuition increase, following other schools. Samford University
“ I feel okay about going back but nervous because it’s in a different part of the country that hasn’t been as careful ”
Eleanor Chapman, Samford ’21
Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, is also cutting fall break and Labor Day to minimize travel in and out of campus. All on-campus instruction will also end before Thanksgiving break, including online and hybrid courses. “I feel okay about going back but nervous because it’s in a different part of the country that hasn’t been as careful,” Eleanor Chapman, Samford ’21, said. “I am glad they are requiring masks and that we have to be tested prior to school and I also think it’s good that not all of our classes will be in-person.”
Fordham is also requiring testing prior to arriving on campus, although there is an option to administer your COVID-19 test at either Lincoln Center or Rose Hill. Chapman also said that she wished the university would have given the option of not returning to campus for those who do not feel comfortable. Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) in Evanston, Illinois, is offering a mix of online, hybrid and in-person classes this fall, similar to Fordham. The university did confirm that they will return to normal letter grading this fall after instituting a mandatory pass/no pass system this past spring. Although Fordham’s pass/fail policy this past spring was optional, there has been no word of a return of that option for the fall.
She wishes she knew more about which of her classes will be online, as they have not registered yet. Elizabeth Paige, NU ’23, said she is excited to return to campus and feels safe doing so, but she wishes she knew more about which of her classes will be online, as they have not registered yet. Unless Fordham students have been contacted by professors individually, there has also been no communication about what classes will be available in-person or online only. Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) in Bozeman, Montana, will be conducting its fall semester in person with the requirement of face masks as well as classroom social distancing. Charlie Higgins, MSU ’23, said he was skeptical about the university’s plans and worried about his professors’ health. “I think we are eventually
going to do online classes once cases start rising again, so I believe that I am not going to get the full education I paid for,” Higgins said. MSU, like many universities, shifted their academic calendar to begin two weeks earlier in August, ending the fall semester at Thanksgiving break to reduce student travel on and off campus. The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
“ I wish they could be
in-person because that is what seems like a ‘normal’ college experience ”
Sabrina Finn UMN ’23
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (UMN) is also offering many different class formats, though it is up to the professor’s judgment. Sabrina Finn, UMN ’23, will be taking all of her classes online this fall. “I wish they could be in-person because that is what seems like a ‘normal’ college experience, but you will not see me complaining because I know that this is necessary to keep me, my peers, my professors, all other staff, and even my family safer,” Finn said. As students across the country adjust to a new normal in college life, whether opting to return to campus to take in-person or online classes, or staying home, students unanimously said safety is a priority. “The lack of information that Fordham has provided thus far about on-campus life makes me nervous, so living at home gives me the ability to control my own environment,” Helldorfer said. “For me, campus life is mostly based around the friends that I’ve made and because most of them share my opinions, we’ve made plans to stay together outside of the city.”
Sports & Health
Sports & Health Editors Aiza Bhuiyan - ebhuiyan@fordham.edu Patrick Moquin - pmoquin@fordham.edu July 29, 2020
STEM Students Resume Research Remotely
By AIZA BHUIYAN and LUKE OSBORNE Sports & Health Editor and Sports & Health Editor Emeritus
Every summer, students team up with mentors from the Natural Science and Integrative Neuroscience departments to research in various scientific disciplines. The majority of this research occurs in the labs of Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC). Due to the current pandemic, however, students and mentors had to modify traditional researching operations to allow students to work from home. Professor Guy Robinson’s Lab Robinson is a lecturer in biology for the natural sciences department. He divides his research interests between paleoecology, the study of past ecosystems and pollen studies. To help him along the way, Robinson oversees 12 students on three projects. He regularly engages with his students remotely and has shifted his research away from in-person laboratory work to data analysis. One project involves the pollen station at Fordham Lincoln Center, which is the only certified aeroallergen monitoring station in New York City. Robinson has acquired 10 years’ worth of data through the pollen station. Currently, two of his students are specifically analyzing the data to ascertain how the construction on the 140 West Building affected airborne pollen levels. Additionally, another group of five students will be investigating questions related to modern pollen.
Robinson also assembled a separate group of three students who are working on a project that uses data from Fordham’s Calder Center. This project seeks to correlate the rising carbon dioxide levels with increasing grass pollen concentrations. Additionally, the students will study the contributions of the pandemic on the increased daily grass pollen count. The final ongoing project is an analysis of the Neotoma Paleoecology Database, which houses data concerning pollen and mammalian fossils, spanning the last 5 million years. Two student researchers will be using this database to look at changes in plant and animal distributions over time by studying specific pollen grains. “Studying the air we breathe and how that changes over days, years and decades is a worthwhile experience for anyone considering public health or the health professions,” Robinson said. He also added that even though paleoecology might not seem “directly relevant” to future careers outside of the field, he said, “I feel that doing original research with real data is good preparation for any future endeavor.”
Professors Grace Vernon and Mary G. Hamilton’s Lab Hamilton is an emerita professor of chemistry and Vernon is a professor of biology and the FCLC pre-health adviser. With the help of Anusha Imran, FCLC ’22, the team was planning on studying molecules found in the blood of the American lobster, but they are instead taking the summer to review the related lit-
erature to prepare for the future experiments in the lab. In particular, Hamilton, Vernon and Imran aimed to localize where hemocyanins and superoxide dismutases could be found in lobster cells. They also wanted to study how Brown Shell Disease affects the relationship the molecules have in lobsters. Imran acquired funding from the Dean’s Summer Research Grant, but is unable to perform her experiments because the laboratory is closed. “The pandemic has really put all the work that I had planned for this summer on a pause and potentially delayed my processes for a year since we are not sure when students can work on their projects in the fall semester,” she said. Nevertheless, Imran sees the planning she’s doing now with Vernon and Hamilton as a way to streamline the future experiments she will conduct with them. Imran feels that the work she’s doing is highly relevant to her future career in medicine. She believes the investigative process and data analysis her research requires will prepare her to succeed as a physician.
Professor Spyros Efthimiades’ Lab Efthimiades is an associate professor of physics at FCLC. He generally researches infrared divergences in quantum electrodynamics. This summer, he is mentoring Anoosh Kouyoumdjian, FCLC ’21, with her research in “Biology, Medicine, and Modern Physics.” They will be studying the application of quantum mechanics in x-rays, lasers, radiation therapies and MRIs.
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The labs at Fordham will be waiting when researchers return; in the meantime, professors and students have been conducting remote projects.
“Because I do theoretical work, the pandemic has not affected my efforts,” Efthimiades said. Kouyoumdjian and Efthimiades meet weekly on Zoom to discuss their theoretical understanding of different scientific functions in quantum mechanics. Professor Marie Thomas’ Lab Thomas is an assistant professor of chemistry who primarily studies ways to dissolve cellulose in ionic liquids, dissolve chitin in ionic liquids, and use ionic liquids as antimicrobials. Because she is unable to meet with her students in a traditional wet lab, she had to temporarily end her researching operations. Instead,
she assigns her students’ various scientific journal articles to read and has them create presentations on them. Her research group meets weekly on Zoom to discuss the presentations and papers. “The meetings are helping me understand my own interests, think more critically, pay attention to details I wouldn’t have considered, and helping me be more flexible in creating new ideas,” one of Thomas’ research students, Reginaflor Glorioso, FCLC ’21, said. Despite a global public health crisis, students in STEM are still progressing forward with a new wave of ideas and remote projects.
Making It or Breaking It? Baseball Players Reflect on Future Plans By PATRICK MOQUIN Sports & Health Editor
Baseball is an unforgiving sport given time. No baseball player has ever quit; the sport simply moves on without them. Younger kids can’t hit the ball off the tee and pick up a football helmet or lacrosse stick instead. Middle school players get cut in high school, and the vast majority of high school players don’t get offers from colleges. From there, a smaller, highly capable group meets their match at the collegiate level, ending their dreams of reaching “the big leagues.” Only the most talented and persistent progress past this point, but the Rams had two such players break through this summer. Two men on the 2020 Fordham
baseball team can now proudly say that they’ve made it to the next level, as shortstop Jake MacKenzie and starting pitcher John Stankiewicz, both Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill ’22, signed MLB contracts last month. The pandemic has postponed their minor league careers for now, but eventually, MacKenzie and Stankiewicz will begin to play in the farm systems of the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins, respectively. Both players signed contracts as undrafted free agents on June 15. At one point, MacKenzie was considered a shoe-in selection in the 2020 MLB Draft, and Stankiewicz was considered as a late-round pick as well. However, this year’s draft was significantly shortened due to the coronavirus pandemic, going
from 40 rounds in 2019 to just five in 2020. This denied thousands of high school and college players the opportunity to be drafted and vastly widened the undrafted free agent market. After going undrafted, MacKenzie admitted that he was disappointed but said, “I knew that there were some teams that still wanted to give me a chance to play at the next level, and that was something I still really wanted to do.” Stankiewicz echoed his teammate’s sentiments but admitted he was more uncertain, saying, “I wasn’t sure if I would be signed because each team went about signing guys differently but I was hoping I would get the chance to sign.” Both players had spoken with several teams before the draft, and
COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS
After three seasons with Fordham, John Stankiewicz, GSBRH ’22, will be playing in the minor leagues for the Minnesota Twins when circumstances permit.
in MacKenzie’s case, several teams pressured him to sign as soon as he was eligible. In the end, both players signed with teams that had already shown interest in them, indicating that the shortened draft was likely the only thing that prevented them from being drafted in the first place. As they plan the next stages of their lives in the sport, they both described the difficulty of preparing for their minor league debuts during a pandemic. Stankiewicz said that the Twins had to change their plans for him, because “Normally, after the draft I would go and play somewhere in the minors but this year is different. We’re missing out on the next level of competition but this extra time is great to work on things to prepare you for next year.” Meanwhile, MacKenzie said that he was using the time off to take in the moment and prepare for his playing days to begin. He also agreed that losing his final college season hurt him in terms of development, as he’s had to do work on his own that he would have done with the team. With so many players leaving, mainly seniors and these two MLB signees, the Fordham baseball team will never be able to properly replay their 2020 season, which was canceled in the wake of the coronavirus last spring. It’s even more deflating after hearing from the players about what could have been. Earlier this year, MacKenzie described the hole that departing players would leave in 2021, saying, “We had a good core group of seniors coming back, and it’s going to be pretty tough trying to do it next year without them.” Now, he and Stankiewicz will join that
group of players moving on. Despite suffering significant losses, the Fordham baseball team is technically built to develop players and give them a future in the sport. The team’s personal results and pursuit of the Atlantic 10 Championship are important, both to the student body and to the players themselves, but in the end, the dreams of these student-athletes do not end on their birthdays. Unlike some other sports at Rose Hill, the baseball team has a reputation for athletic success beyond the turf at Coffey Field, and as these players leave, they were both quick to point out the effect that Fordham has had on them. Stankiewicz described his three years on the team as “amazing” and said, “It was great to have the chance to compete with all my teammates and learn from my coaches over the years ... and I am grateful for the opportunity to have chosen Fordham University.” MacKenzie was just as happy with his decision, saying, “Between baseball and school, you can’t really combine the two in a better way. You’ve got great academics there, and then baseball was exactly what I was looking for ... You get a chance to get out there and play against the best teams in the country regardless of how big the school is.” Fordham’s top players are obviously a key to their success, but what often goes unsaid is the profound effect that the program can have on the players. These two student-athletes entered Fordham out of high school with little more than raw talent. In three years as Rams, they’ve developed into pro-caliber prospects and even better men.
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THE OBSERVER July 29, 2020
Sports & Health
11
COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS
Fordham’s football season was suspended in a decision by the Patriot League on July 13. Four days later, the Atlantic 10 Conference suspended all fall sports competitions.
FALL SPORTS from page 1
Persevering Despite Disappointment: Student-Athletes Reflect on Suspended Season
Chieco said that the plan in place for rowing to continue in the future is tenuous at best. While the sport doesn’t include proximity between boats in competition, it’s a team sport, which means that teammates must work within extremely close quarters to even practice. Protocols and safety standards are still being developed, but it’s very difficult to conceive of a plan that allows them to safely compete or practice freely. Chieco has been rowing for Fordham for two years, and in that time, said she has found some of her closest friends. However, for incoming freshmen like swimmer Ryan Davidoff, FCRH ’24, settling into student-athlete life and making friends on his team will take more time now. Davidoff considers himself fortunate because he does feel somewhat welcome, citing “numerous Zoom meetings where we have been introduced to the team as well as added into team group chats. The captains truly have done an excellent job of helping us get assimilated into the team and culture.” However, in Chieco’s case, truly bonding with her rowing team took hours of practice,
team exercise and competition. Team leaders will make their best attempts to make new players a part of the team, but they can only do so much without a schedule. Davidoff still remains optimistic that the team will compete in the spring.
“ As far as Fordham
as a whole goes, this is a team effort that extends far beyond rowing, athletics as a whole, or any one college. Do your part. Protect your peers. Wear a mask.”
Debra Chieco, FCRH ’22
The young swimmer expresses hope like so many other athletes, but in reality, there is no concrete plan for rescheduling at the moment. There have been discussions of moving competition to the spring and/or shortening the season. In the case that fall athletic competition is
canceled altogether, a universal redshirt year, where athletes are eligible for an extra season, may become a possibility. All of the spring athletes were extended this offer after spring 2020 sports were canceled. Women’s soccer player Kendall Dandridge, Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill ’22, had mixed feelings about the possible solutions. On a shortened spring season, Dandridge said, “That’s kind of a tough situation to be in, because you’re using your year of eligibility on eight games versus 20 plus. You want to play, but you also don’t want to miss out on all those games.” She even said that she would consider a gap semester to prevent this scenario. In a way, the women’s soccer player prefers if the season were just canceled, which would present her with a fifth year at Fordham. When asked if she would return to Fordham for another year, Dandridge replied, “Oh, for sure. I would 100% take it, just because I would want another season. I don’t know what that looks like academically yet ... but I would definitely stay for a fifth year, or fourth season, at Fordham. Being in this quarantine and not being able to do anything, I’ve really come to re-
alize how much I appreciate the game and how much I love it.” Obviously, different solutions will appeal to different players. In Dandridge’s case, she wants to pursue graduate school, so a fifth year would be preferable. For other students, a shortened schedule this year wouldn’t be ideal, but it would be better than nothing at all. While every player was disappointed that they wouldn’t be playing, all of them were quick to recognize the importance of canceling the season. Chieco put it best, saying, “As far as Fordham as a whole goes, this is a team effort that extends far beyond rowing, athletics as a whole, or any one college. Do your part. Protect your peers. Wear a mask.” However, beyond a dedication to public health, the one common tie between these players is the determination they’ve demonstrated in the face of these confusing and unforgiving events. Despite not knowing any of his teammates or when his college swimming career will begin, Davidoff said, “Although it’s challenging, I am very determined to stay in shape and to contribute to the swim team’s overall goal of a good showing at the conference championships.”
Dandridge recognized her coaches for accommodating her and her teammates in an uncertain time and said, “This is the first time I haven’t played fall soccer since I was five. I’m just trying to stay motivated and continue to work out, because every little effort still matters, because we’ll be revisiting the season at some point.” Chieco has the utmost faith that the rowing team is up to this new challenge, saying, “When we get to race again ... you’re going to see that we will have succeeded despite the circumstances, not failed or slacked off because of them. It’s a tough situation, but Fordham Rowing is tough as hell.” The situation to which Chieco is referring is indeed a foreign one to Fordham athletics and all of the students the institution represents. Plans going forward are still uncertain, and it’s unlikely that the entire matter is settled any time soon. This puts many players in a difficult position, but they’re clearly not letting it get to them. They’re disappointed and nervous, but it seems that there’s very little that could possibly rob them of their perseverance in the face of long odds. If anything, this will only strengthen their resolve as Rams.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF FORDHAM SPORTS INFO
Swimming and cross country are among the sports teams that will not be able to compete this semester due to the pandemic. Despite the challenges, “The captains truly have done an excellent job of helping us get assimilated into the team and culture,” incoming first-year swimmer Ryan Davidoff said.
Opinions
Opinions Editors Emily Ellis - eellis14@fordham.edu Haley Smullen - hsmullen@fordham.edu
FORDHAM’S LACK OF SEXUAL HEALTH RESOURCES PUTS STUDENTS IN DANGER
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the student collapsed and was sent to the hospital for treatment. Students should not be placed in situations where they are being sent to the hospital for issues that can be treated with a simple prescription for birth control. Fordham’s subpar sexual education has a direct impact on the health and well-being of students on campus. The nurses in the Health Center need to be educated on the importance of birth control and STD testing, and all students should receive accurate information regarding their sexual health.
The Health Center is morally obligated to stop shaming students for their sexual health concerns and instead provide students with accurate information regarding STDs and birth control. Fordham is not the only institution failing to provide adequate resources for sexual health — birth control has been under attack on a nationwide scale. The Supreme Court’s decision on birth control in Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania ruled that private employers can deny birth control coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The ruling is abhorrently misogynistic and seems like a blatant violation of the separation of church and state. This national attack on birth control means that now more than ever institutions like Fordham need to embrace sexual education and protect their students from STDs and unplanned pregnancies. The main sexual health segment taught during the New Student Orientation program for around 20 years comes from speaker Elaine Pasqua, who demonstrated the high likelihood of getting an STD in college with a plastic cup activity. Pasqua concluded her pre-
Observer the
STAFF EDITORIAL
e’ve been told that sex should be an uncomfortable topic of conversation. Fordham has only reinforced this stigma around sex, and we need to hold administration accountable for their inadequate sexual education. This isn’t Sunday school. We are all adults, and we deserve the ability to communicate about sex in an honest and welcoming space. Several first-person accounts on @letstalkaboutitfordham have recently claimed that Fordham failed to provide students with accurate information regarding their sexual health. In one instance, a sexually active student with abdominal pain said that the nurses in the Health Center told her that abstinence is the only true birth control and was allegedly denied a pregnancy test and told to seek help elsewhere. Another student who suspected they had a sexually transmitted disease (STD) claimed that nurses told them that they might have chlamydia without checking the results first. These are only two of the many alleged accounts shared on social media about the Health Center failing its students by providing inadequate and false information. It is not right that students are refused treatment or testing on outdated religious grounds. We all decided to attend a Catholic university and respect the religious values of the institution, but those beliefs deserve to be challenged when they negatively impact student health. The Health Center is morally obligated to stop shaming students for their sexual health concerns and instead provide students with accurate information regarding STDs and birth control. This lack of birth control and STD education is not just a recent issue. In 2014, a Rose Hill student developed ovarian cysts that needed to be treated with hormonal birth control. However, Fordham policy restricts the Health Center from writing new prescriptions for contraceptives. A week later,
July 29, 2020 THE OBSERVER
sentation by reasserting that abstinence is the “best” form of sexual protection and STD prevention. She failed to acknowledge that abstinence programs have been proven largely ineffective in preventing pregnancies or STDs. Fordham needs to stop supporting speakers who advocate for abstinence more than birth control, and they need to give accurate medical advice about STDs and birth control during Freshman Orientation. Abstinence is not even realistic for most college students. Nearly half of the 20 million STD diagnoses each year are from people between the ages of 15-24. A survey of 315 students in 2019 conducted by The Observer found that approximately 62% of Fordham students are sexually active. Of those students, 8% replied that they were not using contraceptives and 27% responded that they considered not using contraceptives because they were not easily accessible. Clearly, Fordham students are not abstinent, so if Fordham truly wanted to protect its students, it would educate its health care professionals on birth control and provide students with ways to engage in sexual behavior while simultaneously protecting their health. Sexual health is not a religious or political issue. It is a basic form of health care. If Fordham wants to embrace its Jesuit value of “cura personalis” and care for the whole student, it needs to provide students with accurate information about STDs, birth control and sexual health. Although the pandemic has led to a decrease in sexual activity for students, that does not invalidate the importance of sexual education. Fordham should develop a better approach to sexual education and health by further educating nurses and providing students with accurate information regarding birth control and STDs. Fordham students deserve to be properly educated and provided with resources to tackle sexual health concerns.
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Opinions
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American Issues Are International Students’ Issues JESSICA YU Contributing Writer
Attending an international school in China meant I was taught exclusively in English. It meant consuming American media while munching on imported Cheetos and sending messages to friends using blocked apps like Instagram and Snapchat. It meant that by age seven, I knew I would attend a university in America one day. To put it simply and rather bluntly, it was instilled in me at a young age that America was “better.” Better for me, my future and my career. Plus, you guys have The Cheesecake Factory, reality TV and free speech, whatever that means. Attending an international school also meant that I had become Westernized to the point where I cannot fit in with the locals back in Beijing. My Chinese is rather broken, just like my parents’ hearts when I forgot the word for “transfer” the other day. (Unoriginal joke, I know.) This happened during a discussion about my fall plans, before the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rescinded its policy against international students. Apart from the fact that I was incredibly stressed about what I would do if I got kicked out of the country (since going back to China still isn’t an option, I’d have to go to Singapore, a lovely country, but one I have never lived in), watching the news also brought on a sense of isolation. So, I can’t relate to Chinese locals. I also can’t relate to Singaporean locals. I’m not American, but coming to Fordham, I definitely found myself fitting in with the American kids more. The idea that ICE could kick me out of
the country reinforced this doubt in my head: I don’t really belong here, do I? The American Dream has this weird way of pulling people in with its shiny promises of accepting everyone but making any socalled “minority” feel othered at
some point. The past few months have been one big mess. The murder of George Floyd was a wake-up call, reminding us that Black and African American citizens are still being betrayed by a deeply racist system. When Instagram first became saturated with activism, I ex-
pressed both my shock at the news of lynchings, shootings and unjust murders of Black Americans and my guilt for not having done more sooner. One of my friends told me, “OK, it’s good to take action but you shouldn’t feel bad when you’re not even American.”
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER
Sure, I’m not American, but this is the country I chose to invest my future in. Maybe the system I grew up in also failed me by not educating me enough on racism and anti-racism, but I am responsible for learning about it now. I’m also responsible for being part of the fight for change. I may not be American by citizenship, but this is where I am building a life. It’s disappointing to see the state of America today: In addition to the issue of police brutality, there’s also the fact that the pandemic is nowhere near under control, and millions have lost their health insurance. But it’s also slightly hope-inducing to see that when people advocate for change, change happens. It’s not perfect. There’s still an incredible amount of injustice pulsing through this country. However, we have to acknowledge the fruits of our efforts. When we asked, and by asked I meant threw a fit, all of George Floyd’s killers got arrested. Through a collective effort, we were able to get ICE to rescind the policy of barring international students from staying in the country if they were taking exclusively online courses. One might argue that we shouldn’t have to still be throwing a fit in response to injustice. We haven’t won every battle yet. However, considering that throwing a fit in some other countries means execution, the effects of public pressure show us that it is our best method. It’s not enough to blindly believe that this is the greatest country in the world, especially not while lack of action is causing the deaths of thousands every day. If America wants to keep its status as a world power, we had better work for it. And yes, that “we” includes international students.
How I Know I Am Ready for My Freshman Year at Fordham First-years have experienced many challenges during their senior year but are now more than ready for college JOHN HULTQUIST Contributing Writer
A common superstition is that bad things happen on Friday the 13th. Friday, March 13, marked the end of my in-person education at Fenwick High School, a private school in Oak Park, Illinois. My sister and I vlogged on my Snapchat story: “Here it is, what could be the last day of our senior year. I hate the coronavirus.” Saying this, I got home in time to watch Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announce that he was closing K-12 public and private schools throughout the state of Illinois for at least two weeks. High school seniors, like me, who applied early decision already knew where we were going to school. I was enrolled at Fordham University and was excited to have locked down my plan for the fall. Other classmates, like my twin sister, Taylor, who had not yet committed to a school, were stuck adapting to what was going to be the ongoing stress of deciding which college or university to choose. Universities were doing the best they could with online visits and video presentations, but it was nothing like being there. Taylor finally settled on Villanova University, grateful that she had visited the campus to aid her decision before the world shut down. For the next several weeks the rest of the country followed what seemed to be countless
stay-at-home orders. I adapted with my fellow senior classmates to the world of online learning. Fenwick utilized Schoology and Zoom to accommodate this unique and never-before-tested learning environment. When I was not online learning, my family passed the time with social media, watching Netflix and doing endless puzzles. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many new challenges to my family, like so many other families. I must admit that, while it has not always been without conflict, I have really come to cherish our time together, as I know it will not be long before our lives will be crazier than ever. Finishing high school was no worry for Taylor and me. We are excited for our high school graduation ceremony to take place, even with participants wearing masks, practicing social distancing and not having our parents in the audience. The ceremony will be one step closer to feeling like there is closure from high school. The class of 2020 has lost so many cherished memories that could have been made at senior prom, spring varsity sports seasons and an in-person baccalaureate Mass. Millennials and Generation Z have sought out new ways of figuring out how to keep busy. I spent the first half of the summer taking a New York University (NYU) online course called “Covering the COVID-19 Pandemic.” We started a website called Six
Feet Forward and covered a variety of topics, all related to the coronavirus and how our country was starting to reopen. Unfortunately, The New York Times reported 218,897 new cases of COVID-19 on July 11, causing me to wonder whether it would be more appropriate to rename the site “Six Feet Backward.” Throughout the course, we found that the United States continues to struggle to figure out how to safely reopen. Whatever happens going forward, it is clear to the incoming freshman class and other college students that this upcoming school year will be unlike any other. Finding ways to connect to incoming Fordham students has been easy despite everyone being online. Given the circumstances that we find ourselves in, we made almost an instant connection. Through my NYU course, I was able to meet people sharing similar fears of the unknown of our upcoming freshman year. Through reflection and conversation, we have come to realize that the incoming freshman class is all in this together. We will be bonded by the chaos and all of the missed memories created by the pandemic at the end of our high school careers. The great irony, of course, is that the pandemic might have made us lose memories of our senior year, but it also enabled us to make memories that will be with us forever. When June 28 brought the New York State Department of
Health’s “Interim Guidance for Higher Education during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency,” there was more hope New York City would reach Phase 4, before reopening universities like Fordham. With grim weeks in-store until school is supposed to open for the fall semester, the most important thing to note is that the safety of students and the entire Fordham community will be the university’s top priority. Despite the Chronicle of Higher Education suggesting that only 58% of colleges and universities are planning for an in-person fall semester, I am looking forward to the fall semester and I feel
prepared. I am confident that my high school education has equipped me well for Fordham. I’m also confident — after meeting other Fordham freshmen and interacting with students during my summer course at NYU — that freshmen everywhere have a “we can do this” attitude. We have persevered through the end of a chaotic last semester of high school and have ridden a roller coaster this summer, listening to colleges speculate about life on campus in the fall, when we all know is that no one really knows what that will be like. Whatever the fall brings, however, the incoming freshman Class of 2024 will stand together.
COURTESY OF JOHN HULTQUIST
Hultquist is among the Class of 2024 set to begin college during the pandemic: “This upcoming school year will be unlike any other,” he wrote.
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Silenced or Shouted Down? Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from accountability EVAN VOLLBRECHT IT Manager
Once again, the ideals of free speech are being discussed in the news, with public intellectuals sounding the alarm that these essential protections are being lost in the ravenous jaws of “cancel culture.” Once again, they’re wrong. The usual charge is that free debate is essential to the health of a democracy, and therefore the “silencing” of opposing viewpoints is a violation of their constitutional rights. True, it may be a private entity that’s “silencing” them and not the state, but there’s an expectation that outlets like universities, newspapers and social media companies must be fair and balanced. Private entities like these, however, have the right to determine the bounds of acceptable debate (at least when it comes to the debates they host) and do so in accordance with their own standards. To criticize these decisions, and the values that underlie them, is reasonable — but crying “free speech!” obfuscates the issue. Of course, it’s also perhaps true that the entities who define the public square in modern times should be held to the same constitutional standards. Under the principles outlined above, if Twitter were to ban any posts mentioning Black Lives Matter, no one’s rights would be violated — and yet it is obvious that to do so would be a great injustice. This isn’t the main issue facing the people who signed the Harper’s Magazine “Letter on Justice and Debate,” though. They cry out for fear of indirect silencing, the creation of a climate in which they are punished for speaking their minds. These fears are not entirely imaginary — the example of Colin
Kaepernick’s blackballing from the NFL proves that. However, this rhetoric is most often heard from people who are asking six-figure sums to speak their minds from the loftiest platforms in the nation. It’s the height of arrogance for them to proclaim the death of the marketplace of ideas simply because people don’t want to buy what they’re selling — especially when they’re being paid by the word for it. It’s hard to take complaints about silencing seriously when they’re being aired in places like The New York Times, Atlantic Magazine, The New Yorker and Harper’s Magazine. For all the
claims about their own intellectual diversity and standing against the tide, a majority of the most vocal critics of cancel culture share the same orthodox centrist or center-left views — not only with each other, but with many of the most politically powerful people in the world. The worst material fate that awaits the purveyors of these “unpopular” opinions is a dropped book deal or speaking gig after an outcry on Twitter. That is a common thread among many of these free-speech appeals — Twitter mobs trying to ruin their lives, cancel culture running rampant and so on. It represents what
these plaintiffs, from disaffected students like Austin Tong to major columnists like Andrew Sullivan and Bari Weiss, fear most. Accountability. That’s what so-called “cancel culture” is about, after all: seeing the powerful and influential held accountable for the harm their actions — and words — cause. Sometimes that means exposing celebrities for sexual harassment; sometimes that means refusing to let someone with harmful views speak on campus. Often heard is the quote by Evelyn Beatrice Hall: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right
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to say it.” However, it is truly out of touch to insist that someone should face no opposition for the ideas they promote — especially when the ideas themselves have very real effects on the same people the speaker demands to be shielded from. After all, in the age of social media, millions of people who aren’t tenured professors or noted columnists are beginning to find platforms of their own. Many of these people are members of marginalized groups, finally able to make their voices heard after years of oppression — and in case the First Amendment crusaders have forgotten, all these people have the same rights they do. Landing a job as a columnist doesn’t give someone special privilege to speak, and the healthy debate that they laud as the lifeblood of democracy is not limited to the Opinions section. The fact that thousands of ordinary people can shout down New York Times editors and columnists is an achievement of free speech, not the death of it. To all those who wish to defend their “free speech” from cancel culture: If your words are met with derision from the crowd, maybe you don’t have anything worth listening to. If your truths are so hard and inconvenient that you find your audience standing against you, try to do a better job of convincing them — or consider the possibility that they’re right and you’re wrong. To paint all your critics as mobs animated by groupthink, to condemn them as snowflakes for being too sensitive to appreciate your genius, to bemoan the death of free speech because not enough people are praising you — this rhetoric alienates, condescends and misses the point. If you want to keep your platform, you’d better earn it.
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How Do You Solve a Problem Like Austin Tong? What Austin Tong’s recent case against the university tells us about free speech on college campuses GABRIELA RIVERA Contributing Writer
As a disclaimer: I’m not an expert on the First Amendment, but I do know that we all walk a fine line when it comes to free speech and freedom of expression when we’re in “public.” Private spaces are allowed to regulate who they allow in and what actions are permitted on their premises. Private businesses are allowed to determine who represents them and who can be let go from a position. In both instances, when we join private entities, we relinquish some of our rights to act or speak in a certain way. We are not always guaranteed to be protected by the Constitution. Let’s say you go to Walmart and there is a no-mask, no-entry policy, but you refuse to wear a mask. Walmart has every right to kick you out of the store, no matter how much you fight the decision. You are on Walmart’s property, violating their rules and endangering not only other shoppers but their employees as well. Or maybe you’re acting a fool in a public space, like Central Park. Amy Cooper’s biased actions against Christian Cooper, a Black birdwatcher, caused her to be terminated by her employer for not embodying the company’s standards. She wasn’t at work or participating in her job in any way, but anywhere she goes she is an employee who (even if unknowingly) represents the company. Amy Cooper was caught on camera making a false report with an obvious bias against
Christian Cooper. She suffered the consequences. Both of these situations showcase that when you enter a space or position in any private business/corporation/university, you are subject to their policies, however lenient or stringent they are. As active Fordham students, we are subject to the rules of the university both on- and off-campus. The Office of the Dean of Students requires us to adhere to the Student Code of Conduct. In being a part of the community, we are expected to follow the university’s rules and if we violate any policy (either on the property, in the city or online), we can be reprimanded. For example, when one student posts an image that’s divisive, threatening or could be harmful that image is a representation of a Fordham student. Just like in Amy Cooper’s case, that student did not represent the private business’s ideals and would justifiably face punishment. Would that student have the right to retaliate against the university’s punishments and if so, on what grounds? In reality, there are none. That student agreed to be in line with Fordham’s policies until they no longer affiliated with the university, if they violate said policies they are subject to the consequences — end of story. The Constitution, while we believe it is always intact and applicable to every point in our life, loses its power in non-public spaces like Fordham. Austin Tong, Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center ’21, claimed
that the university’s actions lockdowns for school shooters. armed, Tong showed his weapwere an “explicit attack on my I know people who have been ons and his potential. Fordham freedom of expression”; howevhurt by gun violence. I wouldn’t needs, and has the full right, er, technically, this is not true feel safe knowing someone I to protect its community and because neither the platform see in the hall has the means to ensure that he cannot bring the he posted on nor the univercommit violence at this level. By weapon he posted to campus. sity guarantees to protect all posing with the gun and spoutIs it crazy to think about speech.. ing praise for the right to be how even our online actions According to the State Action have consequences? Doctrine, the First Amendment (or the Constitution in general) is in place for the protection of citizens against the infringement of government, not private actors. Fordham is a business — they want new students to improve their rankings and they want to avoid bad publicity. Tong’s actions are counterintuitive to Fordham’s reputation as a business, and as such, he should be metaphorically “fired” from his position as a member of the Fordham community. Freedom of speech is a highly contested amendment in educational settings. In 2015, Yale University urged students to avoid cultural Halloween costumes that have the chance of offending others. One Yale lecturer remarked the university was limiting students’ expression and even asked if students were no longer allowed to make mistakes and be offensive. Conversely, students understood the task from the administration not as censorship, but as a reminder to respect their peers. Can we not ask the same of our community? In the past five years, GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY MATEO SOLIS-PRADA/THE OBSERVER I have been in two
The Crisis in Yemen and How to Help GABRIEL GARCIA Staff Writer
Yemen is currently facing the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. For the past five years, there has been a civil war in Yemen between the government and a faction called the Houthis over religious sectarianism and control of the country. This conflict has been ruthless to Yemen’s quality of life as schools and hospitals are destroyed, making access to clean water and medicine scarce. As of April 2020, 24 million people, which is 80% of Yemen’s population, depend on aid to survive. To make matters worse, Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen and supports the Yemeni government in the conflict, has a blockade surrounding the country that prevents aid from coming in. Saudi Arabia is not the only country exacerbating the conflict. Several other nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom, provide assistance through weapons deals and air raids, leading to claims that the U.S. is allegedly committing war crimes in Yemen. The instability caused by the conflict in addition to interference and aid prevention by powerful countries put Yemen especially at risk of a deadly coronavirus outbreak. Fordham students have addressed the Yemeni crisis in the past through the Muslim Student Association (MSA). The MSA at Fordham Lincoln Center has held several events about
Yemen, including a gala event raising awareness of Yemen and the need for aid in February, which I attended. Students of the neighboring John Jay College were also in attendance, and the gala had several eloquent guest speakers and graphic yet motivating videos. Many of the participants of this event and I were moved by the speakers and videos presented despite our various backgrounds. The memories I have of that gala offer an important perspective on the atrocities going on in Yemen. Due to the current pandemic, 2020 has made many people long to “go back to normal” and to have relatively comfortable lives again. While that is understandable given how dire things are at the moment, that “normal” also featured a great amount of needless death, and the Yemen crisis is just one example of such atrocities. Suffering is caused by more than pandemics, so Yemen reminds us that our material comfort in America and other industrialized countries comes at a price. Some Fordham students tried to spread word about the Yemen crisis off-campus as well. Cassie Kim, Fordham College at Lincoln Center ’24, was a part of her high school’s Asian Culture Club and did a week’s worth of posts on Yemen, culminating in a presentation on the country and what it’s facing via Zoom on Friday, June 19. Unlike some others who addressed the Yemen crisis, Kim also shared the history and the culture of the country, as it is worth remembering there is
more depth to Yemen than its suffering. When asking about her inspiration for the presentation, Kim said she knew that “the Yemen crisis was so severe and yet not enough people were aware of the many dimensions of it. It’s not just a humanitarian crisis fueled by disease, famine, etc. It’s exacerbated by human rights violations enforced by military and diplomacy, too, and it’s nowhere close to a new issue.” One of the more illuminating facts Kim learned while doing research on Yemen was the cost of a cholera vaccine; the delivery fee ranges from $0.36 to $6.32
and the procurement fee ranges from $0.29 to $29.70 USD. Kim added that “this kind of money for a cholera outbreak seems like nothing to us, but that’s the outbreak that played such a huge part in the Yemen crisis. It really puts into perspective just how much we as Americans have — and people in the West as a whole have — so much privilege that we take for granted.” Kim told her friend Denyce, who also worked on the presentation, that if a few people paid for vaccines to be sent to Yemen, it would make a difference. Denyce responded by mentioning that the current blockade on Yemen
prevents a lot of aid from coming through, making action even harder. Organizations like the International Rescue Committee or Doctors Without Borders still have done work in the country. Kim said that it’s “very easy to be discouraged by horrific instances in the world and feel useless in the greater scheme of things.” However, she also said that “everything counts for something,” no matter how big or small. There are several ways that people can help Yemen, should they choose to do so, including signing petitions, sharing posts and watching videos that donate money to aid organizations.
TIM DENNELL VIA FLICKR
A rally to support Yemen, which is facing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. As of April 2020, 24 million people, or 80% of Yemen’s population, depend on aid to survive.
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The Best Football Isn’t American ETHAN COUGHLIN Arts & Culture Editor
Growing up, I would watch Navy and Ravens football with my dad and occasionally head into Baltimore with my mom to catch an Orioles game. While I consider any sport fun to watch live, I could never get as into watching sports on television as my father and friends did — even ice hockey, the sport I loved playing so much. Every week, I would spend hours on the ice at practice, but was always left out of the locker room NHL talks as I could seldom get myself to watch an entire Capitals game. American sports have so many commercials and, besides the ad breaks, a general stop-and-start nature to them. Despite the average NFL game lasting over three hours, the ball is in motion for a mere 11 minutes! Right when I accepted that watching sports just wasn’t for me and I would never enjoy it as much as my father or friends, I traveled to Europe. My best friends and I visited Belgium right before the start of the 2018 World Cup. Outside our hostel in Antwerp, a bar had set up multiple televisions and hundreds of chairs for a pre-tournament friendly — the soccer equivalent of an organized scrimmage — between the Belgian Red Devils and Egypt’s national team. My friends and I decided to order some beers and watch the game, and we immediately got swept up in the passion. Despite the game essentially meaning nothing, the fans were more into it than any U.S. sports fan I had ever seen. When Antwerp local Romelu Lukaku scored at the end of the first half, the Belgian fans went so crazy that you’d have thought they just put a man on the moon. When I got back to the U.S., I watched every game of the World Cup that I could and completely fell in love with the sport. Following the tournament, I adopted Manchester United (partly because that’s the club that Romelu Lukaku was at at the time), and since then my love and appreciation for the sport as a whole has
only grown. Learning about the history of the sport, watching the different styles that are played across the world, following the drama of the politics of soccer — it’s all just so engrossing. As American sports leagues struggle to make plans to safely return or struggle to implement any plans for the future, European soccer has been back for weeks now. Only the French Ligue 1 and Dutch Eredivisie were forced to end their season early by their respective governments. Every other major national league in Europe has returned and the Champions and Europa leagues will also make their return this August. With all that being said, now I’m going to try to convince the American sports fan to give the most popular sport on the planet a chance. Uninterrupted Gameplay As I mentioned before, American sports have so many commercials! The average NFL game has 63 minutes of commercials and the average NBA game has 45 minutes. That doesn’t include all the time when the ball is dead or out of bounds, team timeouts, video reviews and all the other ways the game is slowed down. I feel like I’m watching commercials interspersed with players walking around. The most annoying is when they return from four minutes of commercials for the kick off, just to cut to another commercial break. Soccer is completely different. The game is played in two 45minute halves with zero — I repeat, zero — commercial breaks during the halves. The only commercials for the entire game come during the 15- to 20-minute halftime. While there is still some stopping for balls hit out of bounds, free kicks, injuries and video reviews, that time lost is then tacked onto the end of each half so you end up with a true 90 minutes of action every game. Promotion and Relegation Amercians sports leagues operate with a closed league system. This means that every single year the same teams play in the league and the only way
for a new team to make it in is to enter as an expansion franchise. For the most part, the good teams stay at the top and the bad teams stay at the bottom. The only way to break the system is to hope you get lucky and draft a generational talent who can turn your franchise around. Most soccer leagues around the world are not closed leagues. For example, England has eight tiers of league football and many other tiers of non-league football. Below that are hundreds of clubs all trying to make it to the top tier, the Premier League. At the end of every season, the top three teams from one league are promoted to the league above and the bottom three teams are relegated to the league below. This means that every season the league has a different set of teams and competition always stays strong as teams are constantly vying for the right to play in a top league. Unlike American sports, where teams will often intentionally lose games to secure better draft picks, soccer teams will never throw, as it can be detrimental to their clubs. Even in the top leagues, teams have to fight to earn positions at the head of the table to qualify for international competitions. In Europe, the top teams from each league compete in the Champions and Europa leagues, and in South America, the top teams compete for the coveted Copa Libertadores. Even if you can’t win your league, it is still worth it to try and fight for a top spot, as qualifying for one of those competitions brings in more TV revenue and makes your club more attractive to players looking to transfer. This brings me to my next point. Multiple Competitions The New England Patriots only want to win the Super Bowl every year. The LA Lakers only want to win the NBA Finals. The Yankees only want to win the World Series, and the Colorado Avalanche, you guessed it, only want to win the Stanley Cup. Besides the fact that those are the most prestigious awards for each league, they are the only reward that every team can chase within their sport.
Soccer clubs compete for a number of different trophies every year. A team like Bayern Munich or Real Madrid will simultaneously be competing to win their respective national league, additional national cup competitions like the Copa del Ray and DFB Pokal, and the Champions League trophy. Despite the fact that Manchester United have lost out on the Premier League trophy to Liverpool, United can’t slow down because they are still in contention for the FA Cup and Europa League Final. Between the club football seasons, every summer the players return to their national teams to compete for international trophies in events like the Olympics, Euros, CONCACAF Gold Cup and, the most prestigious football tournament of all, the World Cup. Throughout the club seasons, there are multiple breaks to allow players to train with their national teams to ensure there is some team chemistry built for those competitions. Diversity Soccer is the most played and watched sport internationally. This creates an incredible diversity in both the nationality of players as well as the styles of the game played. Soccer teams are made up of players from just about every corner of the world. The Tottenham Hotspurs may be from London, but Hugo Lloris is from France, Serge Aurier is from Côte D’Ivoire, Son Heung-Min is from South Korea and Lucas Moura is from Brazil, and those are just a few examples. As soccer is based on a number of similar sports that independently developed across the world, there is an extremely interesting array of styles of play based on different countries. Italians value a rigid defense, while the English focus on speedy counterattacks based on long passes from the back. Spanish teams work with short passes to slowly move the ball up the field, and the Dutch’s brand of “Total Football” is about generating and utilizing space to create chances. Despite the effects of globalization, a game from the German
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Bundesliga still looks entirely different than one from the Spanish La Liga. Final Points I could go on and on about the reasons why I love soccer, but I’ll end by addressing some of the biggest complaints that I hear from American sports fans about soccer: the clock counts up, games can end in a tie, there’s not physicality and, most notably, the flopping. First, the clock counting up. The clock counts up so that additional time can be added to the end of each half to make up for stoppage time throughout the halves. If you know how much time is in a half, 45 minutes, and the referees tell you how much stoppage time there is, why is the fact that it counts up even a big deal? Americans like to act like it is wrong, but I hate to break it to you: The English set rules to soccer way before the Americans ever set rules to our sports, so if anyone is wrong, it is us. Next is the fact that games can end in a tie, or, as they call it in soccer, a draw. Most soccer leagues do not have playoffs, and, instead, the team with the most points at the end of a season wins the title. Teams get three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for losing. Unlike American sports where the entire season is only valuable for postseason seeding, every game in soccer matters immensely to the clubs. In knock-out competitions like the World Cup or Champions League, where games cannot end in a draw, they do have overtime rules. Games will either go into a penalty shootout, golden goal where the first team to score wins or, most commonly, two additional halves of 15 minutes each. The idea that there is no physicality in soccer is just absurd and only spread by people who’ve clearly never watched a game before. Soccer players run around 7 miles every game and clash in aerial battles for headers and slam into each other for tackles. Obviously, there isn’t as much slamming as American football or ice hockey, but soccer players are world-class athletes putting their bodies through hell every game just like any other athletes. Finally, the flopping. Flopping, or diving, is when a player will dramatically throw themselves to the ground to try and draw a foul or penalty. I will admit, the flopping is annoying and unfortunately part of the game to some degree. Rules against it have cut the practice down somewhat, but you will still see some every game. While it may not be as common, if you think that there is no flopping in the average American football or basketball game, then you are lying to yourself. I should add that until you actually watch the sport, you will think there is more flopping than there actually is. While it may look like a dive in real time, when slowed down, it is easy to see that one foot across your ankle when you’re barreling down the field with a ball at your feet can easily throw you off. I hope that I have convinced you to at least check out some soccer, if not only for the fact that it is on and going at full force. Even when the NBA is back, many of the best players will be sitting out, making the rest of the season a shell of what it should be. In contrast, all the stars that you know, probably only Ronaldo and Messi, and the stars you don’t yet are playing at the highest level as we speak. Finally, one last thing: Glory Glory Man United!
Arts & Culture
Arts & Culture Editor Ethan Coughlin - ecoughlin7@fordham.edu
July 29, 2020
THE OBSERVER
Playmaking in a Pandemic: Zoom Theater Competition
Cathleen Freedman wrote, cast and virtually performed a play for the Here We Go Theatre Company’s 24-hour competition By BRIELLE CAYER Staff Writer
A social media unfollowing ceremony, a reality dating show and a family birthday party-turned-tragedy — these aren’t your average Zoom call topics. During Here We Go’s 24 Hour Zoom Festival, playwrights were challenged to write a play in 12 hours for Zoom. In these plays, the average is the unordinary and the plots embraced the new normal of the COVID-19 quarantine. On July 12, the Zoom Festival featured three plays, one of which was written by rising junior Cathleen Freedman, Fordham College at Lincoln Center ’22. In just 12 hours, Freedman devised, wrote, cast and presented her short play titled “Unfollowed But Not Forgotten” to the Here We Go Facebook audience, available to stream.
“ You have this
opportunity to write a short play for a Zoom festival, so I didn’t want to write something that I could write for any other time.”
Cathleen Freedman, FCLC ’22
Freedman, double majoring in film and television and political science, is not new to dramatic writing. She studied creative writing at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas. Her short plays have been produced Off-Broadway at the Kennedy Center and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. “I’ve done festivals before, but I’ve never done a 24-hour festival,” she said. Even more, Freedman had never taken part in a Zoom festival. Due to the increased accessibility of the Zoom platform, Here We Go’s July Zoom Festival featured participants from five different countries. “It really makes for such an interesting group of artists involved in this project,” she said. “I met these people that I didn’t know before and we worked together and made something really cool without ever being in the same city.” Here We Go is well-known within the New York theater world for its accessible, site-specific performance pieces that are written and developed by up-and-coming artists. According to its website, the nonprofit organization aims to “present authentic, multidisciplinary and original content, as well as build a networking platform for emerging artists.” Freedman also mentioned that the organization often uses its platform to support imperative causes; its July festival donated 20% of raised funds to Black Trans Femmes in the Arts. “It’s such a cool organization and I think what they’re doing is fantastic,” Freedman said. “I knew about it because there are some theater people I know that have talked about Here We Go.” Usually known for its biannual site-specific festival, Here We Go developed a special quarantine-edition Zoom festival open to all playwrights; the virtual event challenged writers with a time restraint of 12 hours to create a short play that is site-specific to the Zoom platform.
Freedman said, “You have this opportunity to write a short play for a Zoom festival, so I didn’t want to write something that I could write for any other time.” However, Freedman couldn’t do much additional story preparation since the playwrights weren’t told their cast size or demographics until the festival began. “It really was collaborative and so of-the-moment because you didn’t know who you were writing for,” she said. “What essentially happens is they normally have three to five playwrights, the same amount of directors, and then a ton of actors,” Freedman said. “There’s an initial Zoom meeting where the heads of the program meet the playwrights, directors and actors. They go over the rules of the festival and then we’re randomly paired with our actors and directors.” At the top of the 24-hour time period, Freedman was assigned three actresses to write for and cast. They held a meeting to introduce themselves and discuss their thoughts about their work. “You get a sense of what kind of work they like, a sense of who they are, which is really helpful,” said Freedman. “I remember being so glad when I met all of them and they all said they preferred comedies; I thought, ‘Oh, thank goodness!’ Going into this, I knew that out of all the genres you could do, the best premise would probably be a comedy for a Zoom setting play. That’s just the one that would make the most sense to me, especially given that you only have a couple of hours to write something.” Following the meeting, Freedman spent the next few hours writing her short play. “Having to cast the actresses that I only met for a couple of minutes and write characters specifically for them was really fun and interesting,” she said. Freedman’s piece follows two girls who are attending an online quarantine birthday party for an old friend. The Zoom call takes a surprising turn when the girls learn that they’re actually attending a social media ‘Unfollowing Ceremony.’ After emailing her completed draft to the group, Freedman remembered, “I kept refreshing the page. I was just so convinced that somebody was going to reply back ‘What is that?’” On the contrary, the director and actresses replied via emails brimming with excitement, as well as questions and suggestions regarding lines, props and Zoom-specific actions. “What’s really cool about playwriting is that it can be such an interactive process between the director, the playwright and the actors,” Freedman said. “In lieu of that, for this it was me sending them emails and them replying back and forth.” Despite the strange circumstances, Freedman felt that she was able to collaborate smoothly with her team, saying, “Everybody’s job wasn’t necessarily impacted negatively because of the platform we were on.” The next morning, Freedman met with the actresses and director on Zoom for a two-hour rehearsal. “It was just so fun,” she said. “I turned my camera off because I wanted to let the director and the actors feel like I wasn’t ready to be like, ‘That’s not how it’s supposed to go!’” She added, “I was so impressed by the director; he had such fantastic notes.” After hours of rehearsal, Freedman joined the large group of festival participants in presenting their virtual creations on Here We Go’s Facebook page for public viewing.
COURTESY OF CATHLEEN FREEDMAN
Cathleen Freedman, FCLC ‘22, had only 24 hours to write her play, so she relied heavily on her previous creative writing experience from high school and other festivals.
ZOOM
All the plays were produced through Zoom — Freedman said the online experience allowed people around the world to collaborate.
Over the next hour, three plays created in 24 hours were livestreamed, followed by a Q&A session with the creative teams. “It was really cool to see what the other playwrights did because the only thing our plays had in common was that they took place
over Zoom. The amount of characters (was) different, the genres were different,” Freedman said. “I’m really impressed by theater specifically for doing this,” Freedman said. As a student with hopes to continue dramatic writing in the future, she greatly values the art
form. “This current situation definitely has changed the way people think about theater. I’m really impressed how they’ve pivoted and can still do what they love to do and take advantage of the current situation. I think it’ll make us appreciate this media even more.”
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The Joie de Vivre of Denise Jefferson Lives O By ROXANNE CUBERO Social Media Editor
A portrait of a Black woman hangs next to the elevators on the 12th floor of McKeon Hall. The concise description underneath informs the reader that the portrait depicts Denise Jefferson, the founder of the Fordham/Ailey BFA program. Jefferson passed away on July 17, 2010. To a freshman — especially one not involved in Fordham’s dance program — she is simply the woman by the elevators. However, Jefferson and her idiosyncratic life have a message for everyone — not just dancers. Jefferson was born in Chicago on Nov. 4, 1944. She began studying ballet at the age of eight under Edna McRae, a renowned ballet dancer and teacher, who recognized her talent but also told her that she would have to struggle and to work a lot harder than her white counterparts. Discouraged by the lack of ballerinas of color, Jefferson did not pursue a career in ballet at the time; instead, she pursued a bachelor’s degree in French from Wheaton College and a master’s in the same subject from New York University. Jefferson rediscovered her love for dance as she continued to train in New York and real-
ized that it was her calling. She received a scholarship to the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance and began her professional dance career as a member of the Pearl Lang Dance Company. This exposure to modern dance in addition to the skills obtained from her academic career proved a powerful combination when she joined The Ailey School faculty in 1974. She was appointed as the director of the school 10 years later by Alvin Ailey himself.
“ She was like, we’re dancing, we’re alive, this is great! ”
Francesca Harper, daughter of Denise Jefferson
In partnership with history professor and then-Dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center Edward Bristow, Ph.D., Jefferson created a unique joint program that allowed dancers to benefit from a rigorous con-
CHRIS CALLIS VIA AILEY PRESSROOM
Jefferson (left) pictured with Matthew Rushing (center) and Renee Robertson (right) in 2003. As director, she strived to make a difference for young people, women and people of color.
Jefferson, pictured in the center wearing a light-colored shirt, is photographed with Ana Marie Forsythe and the Fordham/Ailey BFA Class of 2010. This would be the last class Jefferson would direct before her p
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Arts & Culture
19
On 10 Years Later “ I was lucky to have a woman that was like,
you believe in yourself. Go do it. Fight for it. Do the work and you’ll get it. And she was right.”
Francesca Harper, daughter of Denise Jefferson
servatory-like dance program as well as a varied liberal arts curriculum. She was inspired by how beneficial her own academic career was to her later career as a dancer and a dance educator and sought to give young dancers the opportunity to cultivate not only their technique, but also their artistry and intellect. Jefferson held the position of director of both The Ailey School and the Fordham/Ailey BFA program until her death. She is survived by her sister, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Margo Jefferson, and her daughter, Francesca Harper. Harper is widely influenced by her mother and currently works as a multi-faceted artist and artistic director of The Francesca Harper Project, a non-profit dance company whose works are rooted in “artistic expression, empowerment, and social justice.” The two words Harper uses to describe her mother are “ferocious” and “fun.” Inspired
passing on July 16, 2010.
by modern dance pioneer Martha Graham and the feminist movement, Jefferson was able to “take anger and depression and morph it into medicine.” She strived to make a difference for young people, women and people of color throughout her life. She remembers her mother as a “disciplinarian” that was “deeply principled.” Harper recalled gifting her mother a sign that called her “The Warden” because of her strictness and dedication to the rules she set as director of The Ailey School. Yet it was because of these rigid principles that made her successful — and more importantly happy — in her role. She saw the larger picture not only for herself but also her students. She knew that creating these rules and ensuring her students followed them would set them towards success. Desmond Richardson, Troy Powell and Clifton Brown are only a handful of her many students that have gone
ANDREW ECCLES VIA AILEY PRESSROOM
Denise Jefferson directed The Ailey School from 1984 to 2010 and led the creation of the Fordham/Ailey BFA program.
EDUARDO PATINO VIA AILEY PRESSROOM
on to have successful careers. Amid her busy schedule, she always promised to come to watch her students progress in their classes and never failed to keep that promise. She may have been The Warden, but her office was always open to students, with Jefferson understanding that the key to cultivating a strong student was to make them feel welcome. According to Harper, she was just as funny as she was strict; Jefferson was known as “Lucille Ball” in her family. She further recalled that “it felt like a celebration living with her.” Every day, through good and bad, “She was like, we’re dancing, we’re alive, this is great!” Though Jefferson never pursued a career in ballet, her daughter did. Harper trained at the School of American Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet School in addition to The Ailey School. She joined Dance Theater of Harlem, the first Black classical ballet company, where she performed soloist roles. Harper’s mother encouraged her to be a trailblazer as a Black ballerina: “I was lucky to have a woman that was like, you believe in yourself. Go do it. Fight for it. Do the work and you’ll get it. And she was right. I think that it was really being Black and being a woman kind of fueled us to even prove ourselves in a different way.” Harper later joined Ballet Frankfurt under William Forsythe, who, in her words, “is a visionary in terms of inclusivity in ballet.” During her eight years — where she was quickly promoted to principal dancer — she performed in works that questioned gender roles and racial standards in the dance world. In 2014, Harper created “The Look of Feeling,” a one-woman dance theater piece in which she retells her mother’s life
story through dance, song and spoken word. She emulates her mother’s dynamic and effervescent attitude towards life: “There’s nothing like the feeling of a deep contraction — I should know, I was in labor for 36 hours.” For Harper, the piece was a “rite of passage” after her mother passed, to remind herself that though she was no longer physically with her, she still carried “her lessons in her life as inspiration moving forward.” Harper currently teaches Forsythe-based improvisation to first-year students in the BFA program. In every class of students, she sees what her mother knew education could do: “They’re able to bridge all that they’re learning from their studies in the studio ... I think that it’s remarkable how much the BFA program can provide a human being.” Through both her work with The Francesca Harper Project and her classes with her students, Harper keeps her mother’s memory and legacy alive. In Jefferson’s time, dancers often joined companies at a young age without a degree in higher education. Because of programs like the Fordham/ Ailey BFA program, many dancers now enter their professional careers with degrees. Many professional dancers simultaneously take higher education courses during their careers, like Courtney Celeste Spears, who recently graduated from Harvard Business School’s Crossover Into Business Program. Harper herself is going back to graduate school. What message, then, should that passing freshman take from the portrait by the 12th floor McKeon elevators? “Perseverance,” Harper said. “Total perseverance. Even if it takes a little bit longer, it usually happens because, you know, you’re willing to put in the work.”
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Rewriting Fiction: How a Fordham Alum Is Redefining the Genre
FICTION WRITER from page 1
and fostering the other. He described himself as an introvert with an ability to see and feel as others do. While speaking, he interjected my name as a vocative expression into some of his usually long sentences. His voice was affable and friendly, and he laughed occasionally. He sounded pleased when I mentioned the story, which I tend to overuse, of Samuel Beckett’s choice to write in French as a means to be ill-equipped. We talked about how the limited human condition may offer a way forward. “Always look to see how you can give more,” he said. “I think generosity of spirit is a great way to learn.” At some point during the conversation, because I had mentioned, almost en passant, that I also write fiction, he tells me that I can use anything he has said. The Observer (O): Your fiction is filled with figures that seem to come from your own life: oriental scholars, novelists, classics professors, theologians, Jesuits, characters with ties to Harvard … Do you consciously engage in an exercise of autofiction? To what extent do you use fiction in the service of a search for self? Joseph Roccasalvo (JR): I think people want to be told stories. While it is true the characters explore aspects of my experience, I think — as a former teacher and as a current mentor — I have always wanted to instruct and entertain, and I think my way to do that is to engage aspects of my personality; if in the process I disclose who I am or come to terms with myself, that’s terrific. But I don’t write exclusively to get at myself. I am very eager to communicate. I like to think that the people who read me are entertained and come away with a deeper sense of what life is about and how to be a better person. But at the same time, I try to characterize a particular situation or create a character that in some sense is struggling in a way similar to what I am struggling with. I feel by using fiction that I am to some degree solacing myself. It doesn’t always work that way, but
there is no question that if I am trying to help my audience, I am also trying to help myself. I think that every artist does that as they create physical images: As a sculptor, as a painter, they are all trying to produce something outside themselves that collapses the world within and they are trying to colonize it. And I think after this they arrive at some kind of resolution. I usually say that most of my characters arrive at a “muted Alleluia.”
with shadows and light ... putting together those two opposite, even conflicted forms of visualization. In “The Portrait of a Woman,” Phillip and Mother Ambrose are in actual time speaking, meanwhile he is able to connect with her aural incarnations from her past; any given day can be a reminder of some past experience or even about something that you hope will happen. The shadows make the brightness greater. Another of my characters is a skier who becomes a paralytic, and she mentors young kids. Her disability becomes an enablement, an “enabling disablement” or a “disabling enablement,” if you will. Sometimes it takes someone who experiences some limits in their personality to reach another person. I think this cult of perfection that they had in the 20th century is wrong, maybe it has something to do with a desire for full power. We are limited in every way, shape and form. The question is how to deal with it.
“ There comes a time
where the most precious thing that a writer has is his own imaginative and emotional freedom. ”
Joseph Roccasalvo, FCRH ’64
O: In “The Mansion of Limbo,” you seem to be playing with a priori elements: What the reader knows is implausible turns into an arguable, and later incontestable, truth. Are you depicting here some form of revelation or transformation? JR: Yes, there is something about starting off with almost an impossible premise. For instance, a Pope who has to transfer a heart from a young boy and then starts acting innocently. Or a professor who turns his emotional and erotic attention to a beautiful goldfish. The premises are beyond the limits. What I try to do is to see whether something the reader wouldn’t believe could be believed; and because I create it as a story, using the strength of my imagination to argue for it, the reader would have to sit back and be entertained. Because I have imagined it to some degree, it has a kind of reality. O: I am under the impression that your fiction contains several sets of opposites or conflicting elements: limbo and heaven, the sacred and the profane, present and
COURTESY OF JOSEPH ROCCASALVO
“I like to think that the people who read me are entertained and come away with a deeper sense of what life is about and how to be a better person,” said Roccasalvo.
past, east and west. How do you use this arrangement of elements and to what effect? JR: The essence of good writing, especially fiction writing, is conflict. Fiction rhymes with friction. However, I believe the goal of life is to arrive at a person’s harmony in which every area of the lives that we live somehow are playing together as an orchestra. For instance, in “The Island of the Assassin,” you get a conflict with two forms of secrecy: One is the secrecy that is held by a CIA agent in which he cannot disclose what he plans to do, and then you have the confession to a priest in which any type of disclosure is considered to be a violation of the seal. You get the mental, the spiritual and the emotional. In the stories I write, the conflict might be between religion and morality, a physical disability and a mental gift, and so forth. The story usually introduces the con-
flict, heightens it and tries to arrive at some form of resolution. I think human beings have more than one personality. Another image I use is that people have a number of rooms inside of them: mental, emotional, physical and sexual rooms, and we have to visit all of these rooms in a given day, and we need to open up the windows in each room. O: Your characters are always divided in time and space. In the case of “The Portrait of a Woman,” we have the main plot divided into three subplots coveringyouth, adulthood and the old age of the woman to which the title refers. Paradoxically, in this divided structure, each fragment illuminates the others. Why do you use a structure of this kind? And what is it that that draws you toward fragmented heroes and heroines? JR: One of my favorite painters is Caravaggio because he paints
O: We have the figure of Proust in the collective imagination as a reclusive writer working in a corklined bedroom. However, you seem to be the opposite in terms of always looking to connect with society. Should the writer be an active member of his community? JR: I’m currently mentoring two Russian students. One of them is an actor, and I am helping him acquire as closely as possible an American accent because he does not want just to be picked for parts that are Slavic. So my experience as a mentor involves my being socially engaged and I have learned a great deal from that. But I must tell you, I am a bit of an urban monk. I live in an apartment by myself and cook and shop by myself. I am quite a social introvert. I know how to zigzag, but at the same time I hustle back to my apartment as if to a monk’s cell. I am a bit of a mix. But I also try to be as fully engaged as possible. It is important to always look at how you can give more. There comes a time where the most precious thing that a writer has is his own imaginative and emotional freedom.
‘Palm Springs’ Under the Stars The Lonely Island-produced rom-com comes to both TVs and drive-in screens
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY LARA FOLEY/THE OBSERVER
By KEVIN STOLL Staff Writer
With the majority of Americans struggling to pass the time during the pandemic, it comes as no surprise that most people have begun to amuse themselves through passé forms of entertainment. Drive-in theaters, once considered an American pastime, are no different, as their resurgence in popularity has led many to believe that, despite theaters being closed, moviegoing is still as relevant as it ever was. Even with state legislatures strongly encouraging people to avoid large gatherings, the demand for something that doesn’t involve staying indoors is simply too high to ignore. Outdoor screens are not
only being projected with recent Hollywood hits and cult favorites from the 1980s and ’90s, but new releases that would have otherwise only gone straight to digital platforms. Such is the case with Max Barbakow’s “Palm Springs,” the indie rom-com with a science-fiction twist. With a record-breaking $22 million price tag, Barbakow’s directorial debut was a hot ticket item when it was picked up by Hulu and Neon after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival back in January. For a purchase this notable, followers of the festival would expect a film that delivers on that publicity (“a tour de force of cinema,” if you will). Instead, we have a film that feels more at home with
studio-driven comedies rather than offbeat Sundance favorites (i.e. “Clerks,” “Napoleon Dynamite,” “Sorry to Bother You,” etc.). On the day of her sister’s wedding, maid of honor Sarah (Cristin Milioti) couldn’t be less invested During her inebriated appearance at the reception, she stumbles across party boy Nyles (Andy Samberg), who accidentally leads her inside a nearby cavern radiating an ominous orange glow. As a result, Sarah wakes up the next morning to find herself stuck in an infinite time loop, always relieving her sister’s wedding day along with Nyles, who has been stuck in the loop for longer than she has. What begins as a simple pleasure for Sarah to relieve the same day over and over again transpires into an eventual realization regarding her relationship with her sister (Camila Mendes) and, in particular, her sister’s fiancé (Tyler Hoechlin). From there, Sarah is left to her own devices in order to escape the time loop, while Nyles has to decide if he’s willing to return to the life he once had before. Out of the gate, Barbakow immediately sets the tone by telling us that “Palm Springs” is first and foremost a comedy, one that quickly finds its footing within the chem-
istry between Milioti and Samberg. Editor Matthew Friedman also cleverly shifts between the perspectives of both characters, essentially showing each character’s individual actions and how they affect the course of each day. Yet “Palm Springs” never really feels like it’s doing anything different than what other “Groundhog Day”-esque films have done before it. By no means was I expecting a game changer for the genre as a whole, but rather, a refreshing change of pace from comedies that play it too safe. Unfortunately, that “sheer absurdity” is all you really get. “Cinematic comfort food” might be the best way to describe the film, and while that’s not a derogatory label, it’s not necessarily high praise either. And in talking about the drivein experience, one might say that there is no substitute for watching a film from the comfort of your own vehicle. But even when acknowledging that, the argument still arises that the experience is more of a once-in-a-while attraction than a mainstay method of moviegoing. Because for cinephiles, the content on screen can be more than enough, so distractions only serve to diminish their entertainment. Whether it be a limited viewpoint
because of where the vehicle is parked in relation to the screen or the unwanted presence of various insects if you choose to watch outside, not everything will be perfect. The need to stay socially distant can also raise some concerns, as some viewers may not feel comfortable enough to go to the bathroom or purchase their concessions, let alone stay there to enjoy the movie. Not to mention, there’s also an almost overwhelming sense of paranoia that the car’s battery will become fully drained on the drive home after leaving the radio or air conditioning on for hours on end. But the experience is still an attraction nonetheless, one that’s meant to be fun in the moment. Although it may not be ideal for most cinephiles, given the less-than-slim chance that every theater in America will immediately reopen for a blockbuster like “Tenet,” this is the closest they’ll have to recapturing that feeling. For ordinary patrons, it’s arguably a night well spent. For cinephiles, it’s an experience that comes with its fair share of sacrifices. But for a popcorn comedy like “Palm Springs,” moviegoing by way of a windshield is certainly one way to pass the time.
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Ram Jams: ‘folklore’
Marielle “folklore” in three words: “Sad Beautiful Tragic.” Taylor Swift returned to her “RED” roots. Rolling Stone described “folklore” as “sound(ing) like she figured she wasn’t going to be touring these songs live anyway, so she gave up on doing anything for the radio, anything rah-rah or stadium-friendly.” However, as a Swiftie since ’09, I can see Swift singing “betty” to a sold-out stadium with just her guitar or “the 1” sitting at her piano à la “All Too Well.” And Swift’s strippeddown, acoustic concert performances are the ones where the
A stream of consciousness by six Swiftie editors “In isolation my imagination has run wild and this album is the result, a collection of songs and stories that flowed like a stream of consciousness.” - Taylor Swift Exactly one year since the release of “Archer” from the “Lover” album, Taylor Swift surprise-dropped her eighth studio album, “folklore.” Dubbed “TS8,” the newest album from Swift wasn’t expected until at least 2021, since “Lover” was released less than a year ago. On July 23, Swifties woke up to black-and-white cottage-core photos of Swift in the woods and an announcement that a music video and new songs would be dropped at midnight. When Billboard’s Artist of the Decade releases unexpected new music, people listen. With a record-shattering music career of over a decade, our generation has literally grown up with Swift’s songs as our life’s soundtrack. “Love Story” played at our middle school dances, “Welcome to New York” greeted us when we first toured Fordham, “Cruel Summer” blasted in our office when we produced our first fall issue a year ago, and “folkore” has arrived to guide us through quarantine. On July 24, The Observer’s Swifties woke up with puffy eyes and tons of thoughts.
Andrew B.
REPUBLIC
Less than a year after the release of “Lover,” Taylor Swift is back, and her newest album has old and new fans reeling.
The album absolutely feels like a product of quarantine, as if the experience of spending an unusual amount of time alone with your thoughts was captured by a top-notch lyricist — because it has been with “folklore.” While I admit I was hoping for at least one song to dance to, what I got instead definitely captured the tone of an era of isolation in its somber and haunting reflectivity. The album is very cohesive in that tone, and listening from start to finish feels like going in and out of various dream worlds, in part because of Swift’s ability to inhabit different characters like a kind of musical medium; it is otherworldly.
lot of stellar tracks on this album, I’ve narrowed it down to two that stuck with me the most. “exile” is an incredibly powerful and melodically beautiful depiction of the ending of a relationship. The metaphor of a person as home is striking, as too are the overlapping voices that build in intensity. Meanwhile, “august,” though perhaps more up-tempo than some of the other songs on the album, is wistful and sorrowful in theme. I found it to be a really accurate emotional characterization of the way the end of a summer feels, regardless of whether the listener relates to the specific lyrics. The chorus is both catchy and poetic, and the “slipped away” / “sipped away” combination is so well-crafted.
Favorites: While it’s impossible to pick a definitive favorite, and there are a
Honorable Mentions: While this list is basically the entire rest of the album, “the 1”
Lara
(2008). I love the way she is able to create intricate storylines within three minutes, such as on “august” or “cardigan,” about love, loss or the in-between, and manages to make these little worlds feel extremely personal and yet still completely relatable. The simplicity and unanticipated sophistication of “this is me trying” seems to mirror Swift’s own growth as an artist, after having faced so many years of backlash and finding her footing in the crowd again: a beautiful union
of harmony and unapologetic honesty, if you will. The piano on “hoax” is what ultimately broke me. This song encapsulates the delicacy and tenuousness of loving someone who might crumble in your hands if you loved them too hard.
with “folklore.” I have played it, in order and on shuffle, a minimum of 10 times by now, and the album just gets better each time. It is an active adventure rather than a passive experience: Listen a few times, and you’ll notice repeated lyrics and imagery among its songs. You’ll catch references to her previous music. You’ll search for more. Speaking from experience, you’ll catch a new lyric along the way each time that hits you squarely in the heart. I listened to “this is me trying” three times before I actually heard “Pulled the car off the road to the lookout / Could’ve followed my fears all the way down,” and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. “invisible string” was my least favorite on
first listen, but it’s growing on me now that I’ve caught onto how incredibly sweet the lyrics are. However, the simultaneously tender and tear-jerking “peace” sits firmly in my number one spot. “Give you my wild, give you a child / Give you the silence that only comes when two people understand each other / … I’d give you my sunshine, give you my best” are just some of the many lyrics from that song that need to be talked about more.
Esmé
Being someone who was a major Swiftie back in middle school, I wasn’t expecting to drool over “folklore” after having been absent from her more recent work ... but I can’t help it. Swift’s lyrics and melodies are more mature and stronger than ever, and yet each song reminds me of a very particular nostalgia I feel when listening to older songs of hers, like “Enchanted” (2010), “Last Kiss” (2010) and “The Best Day”
Gillian Simply put, “folklore” satisfied my craving for Swift’s “old” complex, moving lyricism in a way that nothing since 2012’s “All Too Well” has. The album’s ethereal, melancholy sound is distinct from the rest of her discography, but it’s nothing less than near-perfectly cohesive and poignant. It’s a testament to Swift that she achieves the same level of artistry and skill in her various forms of experimentation (plural in reference to “folklore” and “reputation,” arguably her other greatest departure from her norm and a favorite Swift album of mine) as we’ve come to expect from her “usual” sound. You’ll get that on the first listen, but one listen isn’t enough
is a beautifully written picture of reflection, regret and the difficulty of letting go. “cardigan” tells a whole story in the imagery of something as seemingly simple and innocuous as an old sweater. “mirrorball” has been very stuck in my head, but I don’t mind whatsoever. “invisible string” is a rare uplifting song on the album, and the lyrics are touching, while “mad woman” is a haunting kind of hurt and anger put to music. “peace” is lyrically brilliant. The harmonica in “betty” gives it a distinctive flavor, and the melody is catchy. Least Favorites: I didn’t dislike a single song on “folklore,” but the two that stuck with me the least were “illicit affairs” and “epiphany.” Neither is bad, but I found them to be less memorable and striking than the others.
Favorites: “mirrorball,” “hoax,” “this is me trying” Honorable mentions: “the 1,” “illicit affairs,”
“august,” “betty”
Favorite: “peace” Honorable Mentions: “betty,” “my tears ricochet,” others vary by day depending on my mood Least favorites: “epiphany,” “mirrorball”
Just when I finally thought I was over my crush on Taylor Swift, she releases “folklore” and proves me wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I did listen to “Lover” countless times and of course I’ve seen “Miss Americana,” but the crowd-pleasing pop anthems were starting to lose my attention. It’s not that I didn’t like them, and they certainly have their place, but it just wasn’t the type of music that really fits the morning-commute-to-class vibe. Not to mention, all the songs about finding true love weren’t exactly uplifting for those of us not in Swift’s position. When I first opened the album to listen and saw that Apple Music categorized it as alternative, I was a bit confused. An alternative Taylor Swift album? Must be some unnoticed glitch since it was just released. Then I hit play on “the 1” and heard the piano playing and I realized maybe this really isn’t the album I fully expected it to be. By the time I heard “exile” I had already decided this very well may be my favorite TS album yet. Though Jon Caramanica seems to disagree, I think Swift’s vocal talents often get lost in the heavily produced pop. This stripped-down album allows her abilities to really shine. Take “illicit affairs” for example, where her occasional high-pitched notes grab your attention and convey the conflicted yearning and anguish of an extramarital relation-
Evan The sum total of my previous experience with Taylor Swift was “You Belong With Me” blaring on repeat at my sister’s dance recitals, so listening to “folklore” was like jumping into the deep end of a pool. I walked in expecting 16 teenage love ballads and walked out feeling like she had whacked me in the face with a baseball bat 16 times in a row. I’ve never been a fan of pop music’s radio-friendly choruses and formulaic melodies, so the stripped-down, alternative flair on “folklore” meant there was nothing holding the lyrics back — and what lyrics they are. It’s a mark of an incredible songwriter when their songs can not only make you feel nostalgic for heartaches you’ve never had, but also surprise you with a new emotional punch even several listens later, and Swift easily accomplishes both on every single song. Favorites: I was immediately captivated by the one-two punch of the first songs on the album. “I’m doing good, I’m on some new shit,” the first lyric on “the 1,” seemed tailor-made to shatter the expectations I walked in with, and with every refrain of the clever-yet-poignant “in my defense, I have none” she drove another
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audience sings along the loudest. “folklore” has the slow, raw, wistful songs that we missed during the “1989” era. “TS8” will probably never win my number-one album spot because of the lack of bops for when I’m in a happy mood. “folklore” is 16 straight “sops” (sad bops). Good thing she has seven other albums for every mood. Favorites: “mirrorball” (the libra anthem), “august,” “the last great american dynasty” Cry fest: “exile,” “invisible string” Least favorites: “epiphany,” “peace” ship. Or listen to the tear-inducing back and forth of “exile,” where Taylor’s voice is the perfect complement to Bon Iver’s deep tones. Taylor’s venture into stories that aren’t autobiographical - or at least not obviously so - was an experiment gone right. The three part story of a love triangle is told across “cardigan,” “august” and “betty,” each presenting a different perspective in a tale where there are no winners. Each song has its own feel that skillfully matches the character whom it portrays, from the soft-spoken heartbreak of the victim in “cardigan” to the hopeless longing of the other girl in “august” to the boyish harmonica of the regretful cheater in “betty.” Easily one of the best songs on the album, “the last great american dynasty” is a masterful mix of Bob Dylan-esque storytelling with her own life, as she tells the story of Holiday House, a Rhode Island mansion she purchased in 2013. The story of a widow disrupting life in an idyllic coastal town in the very house she now lives in draws clear parallels to Swift’s own life as she challenges the good girl persona she was told to have for so long. With this album, she proves that her ability to write songs her listeners can relate to extends far beyond her own experiences. Favorites: “the last great american dynasty,” “illicit affairs,” “betty” Cry fest: “exile”
nail in the coffin of the mechanically-peppy chart-toppers I was used to hearing from her. This was immediately followed by the instant classic “cardigan,” a song somehow deeply familiar even on first listen, in which her crooning of “I felt like I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed” manages to perfectly evoke the gentle, warm sense-memory of such a garment. I was also struck by the tragic, heady and intoxicating “illicit affairs,” at turns evoking Imogen Heap with sudden high notes, and managing to perfectly capture the guilty romantics of the “clandestine meetings / and longing stares” she sings about. Least Favorites: I was least impressed with “exile,” and some of the other slow songs like “seven” and “august.” I found that “folklore” was at its best when its warm melancholy was backed by a little bite, and though these songs are in no way objectionable, they weren’t as memorable to me as similarly-styled songs by contributors Bon Iver and The National. Honorable mentions: The inevitably nostalgic “betty,” the succession of gut punches that is “this is me trying,” and the plot-twisting, relentless “the last great american dynasty.”
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Fun & Games Editor Esmé Bleecker-Adams - ebleeckeradams@fordham.edu
July 29, 2020 THE OBSERVER
Crossword: Great Divides
JILL RICE ACROSS 1. fourth musical note 4. grp. for those living off-campus 7. member of the Royal Family: Abbr. 10. wander 13. mimic 14. energy molecule: Abbr.
15. letters to buy on “Wheel of Fortune” 16. Grande or de Janeiro 17. news company founded in 2014 18. Eastern/Western divider in 1054 21. valley in Israel where David killed Goliath 23. driver for a plane 24. West African fruit
25. grp. with country club access based in Woodburn 26. noodle soup originating in Southeast Asia 27. could be mini or Ram 28. fruit divider in myth? 31. ancient unit of weight and value 32. shout in Barcelona 33. school always advertising its online degree programs: Abbr. 36. rhododendrons, often pink or purple 39. lockjaw, preventable by vaccine 41. Fresh Prince of ___ Air 42. network connection between two computers: Abbr. 43. François’ “other” 44. road divider, first popularized in the 1940s 48. type of shells Sally sells 50. M.D. after the ambulance arrives 51. after Mar. 52. use a crystal ball 53. scrambled word, often with a bow 54. café au ____ 56. American divider completed in 1914 59. dir. from Reno to San Jose 60. Lou Gehrig’s disease: Abbr. 61. “___ Be Home for Christmas” 62. Clean Air Act govt. grp. 63. important peg for members of 25 Across 64. museum on 5th Ave., with “the” 65. beer ranging in shade from pale to dark 66. sailor’s delight nighttime sky color 67. poem “on a Grecian Urn”
DOWN 1. preference, slangily, first used in 1938 2. be sorry 3. like a stop sign 4. hat for a bottle, say 5. affix 6. ancient Roman Way 7. area above the head (2 Wds.) 8. 5 Down, again 9. diaphragm inhalation 10. model and singer Costell 11. He Is ___: Easter exclamation 12. city with a country within 19. ___ Seltzer 20. own 22. ___ cart with lamb and rice, falafel,and more 29. John of tractor fame 30. the state, to Amélie 31. fairy queen in “Romeo and Juliet” 33. appetizer 34. appalled 35. utilize 37. trade name for ADHD prescription medication 38. external respiratory hole in an insect 40. auditory 44. people who built Chichen Itza 45. Ethiopian victory against Italy securing its sovereignty 46. midday meeting in a boardroom or bedroom 47. scratch 48. climb up 49. Joni ___, senator from Iowa 52. canned meat 55. sweet or quaint, in Britain 57. princess of Genovia, in film 58. Scots boy
Crossword: On the House ACROSS 1. 25th Bachelor James 5. responder to a health crisis: Abbr. 8. pale brown color 13. ___ vera 14. rapper responsible for “Bleached” 16. having bristles, of a plant 17. story arc 18. child horror actress Wilson 19. soccer player and coach McCarthy 20. lift up the ceiling? 23. pajama pattern, perhaps 26. therefore 27. actress Zhao of “My Fair Princess” 28. art form involving the cultivation of tiny trees 30. hand signaling used in financial trading, for short 31. first, second or third 32. dairy alternative 33. total output value, for a country: Abbr. 35. like Mike Wazowski 37. strike the side of a room? with 38 Across 38. see 37 Across 39. sound heard in a traffic jam (2 Wds.) 42. bite 43. statistic elevated when a player gets home: Abbr. 46. singer Lee of “Mission Bell” 47. river in Belarus 49. one who holds court 51. ___ tac 52. “however”s, in text speak 54. military blockade 55. steal the ground? 59. city in the Decapolis near the present-day border of Jordan and Syria
60. singer Redding 61. actress Swenson of “The Miracle Worker” 65. “he is,” in French (2 Wds.) 66. city in southeastern France where Matisse and Chekhov have lived 67. 12:00 p.m. 68. small harp-like instruments 69. estrogen medication used in birth control and prostate cancer treatment: Abbr. 70. small fly that is often part of a swarm DOWN 1. geographic diagram 2. once and for ___ 3. overly 4. game with falling blocks 5. personification of old age, in Norse mythology 6. cat food 7. outer layer of the eyeball 8. pig who herds sheep, in film 9. large jug or pitcher 10. not at all (3 Wds.) 11. belonging to the capital city of the Liguria region of Italy 12. instructed or improved 15. too small, of clothes 21. with a slow tempo 22. reinforcement in boot soles 23. channel made possible by viewers like you: Abbr. 24. bathroom, informally 25. ___ moment now; soon 29. honestly (2 Wds.) 31. ___ Air, Los Angeles
ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS 34. group of gods 36. westernmost county in Texas 37. department that includes the FDA 39. reed found in wetlands 40. in a friendly way 41. having more stones 43. grain sometimes used in whiskey 44. sit up on the hind legs expectantly, as a dog 45. anger
48. sentimental person 50. circuitry 53. pizza unit 56. otherwise 57. ink designs on the skin, for short 58. sugar suffixes 62. negative prefix 63. Indian state on the Arabian Sea 64. fire or carpenter, for example