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October 14, 2020 VOLUME XL, ISSUE 17 Online-Only Edition
Students Advocate for Voting in New Sunrise Movement Hub By JOE KOTTKE News Editor
COURTESY OF @SUNRISEFORDHAM VIA INSTAGRAM
The Fordham hub of the Sunrise Movement, an environmental advocacy group, was created by Hannah Davies to bring both campuses together in the fight against climate change.
Zoom Class Misgendering Needs to Stop VICKY CARMENATE Asst. Arts & Culture Editor
Over quarantine, I had a plethora of time to think, think and then think again. In my childhood bedroom, I thought about who I was and who I wanted to be. Eventually, right before the school year started, I came out as nonbinary. It felt (and still does feel) freeing to be my true, authentic
identity. But school was approaching rapidly, and even asking my closest friends to use my correct pronouns was scary, let alone a bunch of people I didn’t know over Zoom. My transition didn’t include a name change, but it did include a whole new set of pronouns (they/ them). In every class, my syllabus had the mandatory statement regarding the chosen name policy, but there was nothing about respecting pronouns.
To not explicitly see in the syllabus that my pronouns would be respected in the syllabus should have been a warning sign, but I still had hope. Some professors made it a point to teach students how to add their pronouns on Zoom. When I saw professors doing this, I was hopeful that many students would participate. Sadly, that’s not the case. see PRONOUNS page 15
1,500 Alumni Support ASILI’s Calls for Fordham to Take Anti-Racist Actions
see SUNRISE page 6
Argo Goes Dark: Evening Employees Let Go By JILL RICE Copy Editor
During a normal semester, if you walked down to the Garden Lounge around 8:30 p.m. on a weekday, you’d find most tables filled with students studying, hanging out or eating, and a line of people in front of Argo Tea. Behind the till were Fordham favorites Grace Sabater and Jacqueline Rosario, providing much-needed snacks, caffeine and general life advice for students.
This semester, nights in the 140 West 62nd Street Building’s basement look different from the way they’ve always been to most upperclassmen. Visits to the Garden Lounge in afternoons, such as the 15-minute break between classes, are lonely, whereas in a normal semester, there might be 10 people lined up to get coffee or cookies. In September, there were likely fewer than a dozen customers on any given night between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. see ARGO page 4
The Fordham Alumni Anti-Racist Collective (FAAC) conducted a survey affirming that a majority of Black students have experienced discrimination by faculty and Public Safety officials at Fordham. The findings support the testimonies of Black students who have petitioned for changes to Fordham’s handling of race relations on campus. The results of FAAC’s survey also showed that 42% of Black respondents experienced dis-
crimination by Fordham’s Public Safety officers, compared to only 10% of white respondents. FAAC began collecting data in late June, and by the conclusion of the survey, there were over 2,000 responses. Danielle Rowe, Fordham College at Rose Hill ’16 and one of the founders of FAAC, explained that the survey was aimed at alumni and that 6% of the respondents identified as Black, which is representative of Fordham’s racial demographics. During the spring 2020 semester, about 4% of undergraduate students at Fordham identified as
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Students may have to pay for on-campus COVID-19 tests
How to counteract the negative effects of prolonged sitting
Ensuring the political disaster doesn't happen again
Fordham’s first entirely virtual mainstage production
Juilliard composer brings new composition to Lincoln Center
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By KATRINA LAMBERT News Editor
Black or African American, and about 55% identified as white. Rowe, who was president of ASILI, the Black Student Alliance at Rose Hill, during her time at Fordham, co-founded FAAC alongside other Fordham alumni to help raise the issues that have been present since she was on campus. Rowe hopes to use the data collected from the survey to illuminate the disparities between Black and white students that have been ignored by the university so far.
The beginning of fall in New York City is usually marked by the annual Global Climate Strike, where thousands gather to demand action on impending climate change crises. The coronavirus pandemic has pushed the majority of events online this year, prompting people to try alternative methods of activism. Hannah Davies, Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center ’21, began the Sunrise Movement Fordham hub to create a space for Fordham students from both campuses to engage in environmental political action and form a united front against climate change and racial injustice — both at the local and national level. The Sunrise Movement is youth-led and advocates for environmental justice — including national endorsement of the Green New Deal and other policies that combat climate change. The movement is devised of hubs, which are local chapters that anyone can organize. Fordham’s hub is one of over 400 hubs nationwide.
see FAAC page 5
New Rounds of Testing Don't Sit on This Advice Fixing the Debate
JILL RICE/THE OBSERVER
The lines in front of Argo Tea used to be a familiar sight to Fordham students; however, there have been far fewer customers this semester.
‘Men on Boats’ Page 20
The Student Voice of Fordham Lincoln Center
Music Returns Page 23
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October 14, 2020 THE OBSERVER
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Fordham Angel Fund Paves Way for Student Entrepreneurs By SAMANTHA MATTHEWS Features Editor
“As a student at Fordham, I was so passionate about startups, and venture capital innovation, but I had no idea what to do about that. I was always thinking about business plans and new ideas; however, I had zero idea how to fundraise,” said Vipin Chamakkala, Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill ’10, director at Sequoia Capital and member of the investment committee (IC) at the Fordham Angel Fund (FAF). At Fordham University’s Foundry, the FAF is responding to the needs of students like Chamakkala through their recently founded program. The FAF has created a new opportunity for student entrepreneurs to apply for $25,000 through the investment process of a venture capital fund. The FAF was founded in 2019, and according to Bronson Lingamfelter, co-founder and managing partner at Whitelabel Venture Capital, and a member of the IC. He explained, “Fordham is pioneering a unique model to offer (experiential) learning for students who are learning entrepreneurship, and those who want to learn what it is like to be an investor.”
“ This is the best way
we can pay it forward, by training the next generation of investors. ”
Jerome Wong, member of the FAF investment committee
Venture capital can be described as “funding in the form of an equity investment to entrepreneurs for early stage companies,” explained Jerome Wong, program director of the masters of science in global finance at the Gabelli School of Business, co-founder of Angelus Funding and a member of the IC at the FAF. Different groups of people all work together to promote successful entrepreneurship at the FAF. The FAF founders are students who are applying for funding. The FAF fellows are a team of undergraduate and graduate Fordham students who review applications and work with the founders to address any risks their businesses may have. However, the FAF does not view businesses having risks as an issue. Instead, the FAF “believes that being aware of problems is one of the keys to the success of any business. Not facing these risks creates a larger issue
COURTESY OF TEYMUR GULIYEV
Now checking in via Zoom, the FAF fellows meet once a week to discuss applications for the possibility of a $25,000 investment.
than confronting them early on in the life of the business.” Finally, the fellows present the founder’s ideas to the IC, a group of venture capital professionals who advise the fellows throughout the reviewing process and recommend whether a business should receive funding or not. Teymur Guliyev, Fordham College at Lincoln Center ’21 and business editor emeritus for The Observer, is a fellow at the FAF and the director of business development. In his role, he manages the six Lincoln Center fellows and makes sure that the student body is aware of the opportunity the FAF offers so that the fellows have a sufficient amount of applications to go through. The FAF has a detailed fivestep investment process that they go through in order to determine if a business is developed enough. The first step begins when the fellows receive an application through a Google Form. The FAF fellows meet every week via Zoom to discuss applications. Then, a fellow, such as Akshath Umesh, Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center ’22, will be assigned to work with the applicant. Umesh, like every fellow, is responsible for “working with the founding team and doing due diligence for the companies I am assigned,” according to Umesh. Due diligence is defined as a series of questions that determine whether the business has potential in terms of scalability and survival. The fellow then
pitches anew to fellow FAF team members. The fellow will then schedule a follow-up meeting with the founder and relay any questions the team members had during the pitch. At this point, the fellow can decide whether the business has the potential to continue to step three, which is the request for a minimum viable product (MVP). An MVP is a demo of the main product or service the business is offering. According to Guliyev, the company will then create an account on the investment logging platform Gust, which creates a profile with information such as “business description, financial information, market data, and more.” If the FAF fellow team is comfortable with the information they have received, they will prepare to pitch the business to the IC in step four. The fellows present to the IC once a month via Zoom. Chamakkala recalls his favorite memory from working with the FAF that occurred during this step. “I could tell pitching to the IC was definitely a new muscle that this student was exercising so afterwards I got on a call with him, and I just let him know that the criticism we brought in as an IC is completely normal. I know that it was an uncomfortable experience, but it's an amazing learning experience to be in the hot seat,” he said. Wong said he works with the FAF fellows because “We want
to create an entrepreneurial eco-system at Fordham where students have the support and resources to bring their startup ideas to fruition ... this is the best way we can pay it forward, by training the next generation of investors.”
“ There is no substitute for doing. If you think you want to be an entrepreneur at any point in your life, take advantage of the opportunity. ”
Bronson Lingamfelter, member of the FAF investment committee
The IC will then return with one of three possible decisions: No interest in pursuing this investment; the company is not ready for an investment, but please follow up with them to assess progress against the following; or please schedule the company to meet with the IC next month. The fifth and final step is where the founders themselves prepare a presentation and present to the IC — a decision on funding is finally made here. Umesh revealed that so far, no businesses have been adequate enough to reach step five. However, he notes, “Don’t let this dis-
courage you. Who knows? Your company might be the first to get funding.” “In venture capital, it is known that you have to go through hundreds of applications before you find a venture that is fundable,” Guliyev said. For the applications that are not developed enough to be invested in, the FAF keeps the founders within its consulting network. The FAF can provide legal services and mentorship through the experienced IC members even if the founders do not receive an investment. According to Lingamfelter, working with the FAF is a great way to start out and gain firsthand experience in the entrepreneurial world. “There is no substitute for doing. If you think you want to be an entrepreneur at any point in your life, take advantage of the opportunity to try it now while you have the support of the university and your fellow students.” The FAF is currently accepting applications on a rolling basis and is open to all students who “are ready and willing to expand their business and hope to see it reach the next level,” Guliyev said. Even though the process may appear daunting to some, it could be the first step in establishing a dream business. Guliyev feels that “For entrepreneurs, sacrificing, working long days, taking risks, and putting your entire heart into something you believe in, is a normal practice.”
Changes to Spring 2021 Calendar Announced By GRACE GETMAN and GILLIAN RUSSO Social Media and Newsletter Editor and Online Editor
ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER
The schedule for the spring semester will look different this year, including a delayed start and abbreviated breaks. The updated calendar is available on Fordham’s website.
On Oct. 8, the 2020-21 academic calendar was updated to reflect a delayed start date for the spring semester. Undergraduate classes will begin on Monday, Feb. 1, two weeks later than the original Jan. 19 start date. Students will still have the option to attend classes in person or online, as was the case this semester. Those coming from New York-designated states or countries will still be required to quarantine for 14 days prior to their arrival on campus. In a change from the fall 2020 semester, however, residential students who quarantine off-campus from Feb. 1 to Feb. 14 will receive pro-rated room and board charges.
In addition, the 2021 spring break will be canceled, and Easter recess will be shortened. There will be no class on Friday, April 2, whereas the break normally extends from the Thursday to Monday surrounding Easter weekend. The only other two holidays to be observed with class cancellations will be Presidents Day on Feb. 15 and a “mid-semester break day” on March 10. The decision was first shared in an Oct. 7 meeting with the faculty and the Office of the Provost. In an email to the Fordham community at approximately 6 p.m. on Oct. 8, Dennis Jacobs, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said, “I hope that the following information will be helpful in your planning for the upcoming semester.”
Faculty are choosing which modality they would like to teach their classes (in person, online, hybrid), as they did for the fall 2020 semester. Students will have the choice to declare their preferred method of learning for the spring as well. Keith Eldredge, dean of students at Lincoln Center, said that students will retain their guaranteed housing for the following semester, even if they do not enroll in housing for the spring. The decision is in line with other schools to modify their spring 2021 calendars and cancel their spring recess such as Yale University, Syracuse University and the University of Michigan. According to Jacobs, Fordham made the decision in order to “reduce the risk of viral spread during the winter season.”
www.fordhamobserver.com
THE OBSERVER October 14, 2020
New Rounds of COVID-19 Testing
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Fordham director of University Health Services clarifies who gets tests and who pays By STEPHEN BRAGALE Staff Writer
Director of University Health Services (UHS) Maureen Keown announced a new monthly COVID-19 screening test requirement for the fall 2020 semester in an Oct. 1 email. All on-campus students and faculty must complete their third screening test by Oct. 23, and a fourth test by Nov. 20. The new policy announcement comes within days of Instagram posts from the account @letstalkaboutitfordham that show anonymous messages claiming inconsistent testing policies and attempting to clarify testing policies. These social
media posts have raised concerns about the spread of misinformation at Fordham.
Sick students who take diagnostic tests through UHS will have to pay for their tests, and be reimbursed by their insurance company later. Cam Dasher, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’22, said she heard about students being turned away from testing sites. “I
heard people were getting rejected because they got tested seven days before,” Dasher said. “I’ve been tested three times and was not rejected, so I think it depends who is working the registration table in the testing center.” When asked to clarify Fordham’s testing policy outside of monthly screenings, Keown said that the university is currently “focused on getting students into the next round of testing; and on diagnostic testing, and testing in cases of possible exposure.” “While Fordham has not officially capped nor limited testing at any number,” Keown said, “we are currently not accommodating weekly nor on-demand testing, as we are running at or above our
ANDREW DRESSNER/THE OBSERVER
University Health Services has announced a new testing policy in which all on-campus students must be tested once per month.
weekly testing capacity.” Elizabeth Cini, FCLC ’21, said that her confidence in Fordham’s testing program is “in the middle,” but that it’s the conduct of her fellow students that makes her feel safe on campus. “Checking everyone once a month is pretty good,” Cini said. “A lot of my confidence is more in the student body. Like, knowing that my peers take this seriously and are practicing safe socialization and behavior.” Keown said that the university covers the cost of screening and surveillance tests, but there are some cases in which students may have to pay for their own test. Sick students who take diagnostic tests through UHS will have to pay for their tests, and be reimbursed by their insurance company later. “There are other rapid tests that UHS has on hand for individuals who are sick,” Keown said. “There is a charge for these tests and the student can print a receipt and submit to their insurance. We may also use Labcorp and Quest for symptomatic students on weekends and holidays and these tests are sent to the laboratory and billed to the insurance from the laboratory.” In a call on Oct. 11, UHS workers said they were unable to give a specific price for the rapid tests for sick students. However, in a follow-up call on Oct. 13, another UHS worker said that the rapid tests cost $35, billed to the student’s bursar account. No-cost testing can also be obtained by using one of the sites listed on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website. On-campus students aren’t the only ones monitoring the testing situation. Jordan Arnold, FCLC ’22, who lives off-campus and takes all of her classes remotely, said that she is “concerned” about having her ID card deactivated. Students without two tests on file had their
student ID cards deactivated as of Sept. 23, limiting their access to campus. Keown said that untested students “would need one test prior to coming back to campus and to be signed up with Vital Check. They would then follow up with surveillance testing after returning to campus.” Arnold’s concerns go beyond her ID card. “I am worried that Fordham is mishandling COVID testing,” she said. “I think they are being very lax about it.”
“ Together we are
making this work. We are wearing masks, washing our hands and practicing social distancing which helps to prevent spread of the COVID-19 virus. ”
Maureen Keown, director of UHS
When asked about her plans for the upcoming spring semester, Arnold said, “I’m thinking about sticking with online classes while at my house. I’ll definitely consider Fordham’s guidelines for when we get back, the overall conditions of the COVID situation, the housing situation and the formats that classes are available in.” Keown echoed that faith in the Fordham community. “I think that we have been successful so far because of the hard work and dedication of all members of the Fordham community,” she said. “Together we are making this work. We are wearing masks, washing our hands and practicing social distancing which helps to prevent spread of the COVID-19 virus.”
Campus Dining Favorites Close and Cut Hours for the Semester By CHLOE ZELCH Staff Writer
The first month of the fall semester has brought unexpected dining changes to Fordham Lincoln Center, specifically the temporary closing of the Schmeltzer Dining Room and significant cuts to the selections and operational hours of Ram Café and Argo Tea. Deming Yaun, the university dining contract liaison, explained that the plan from the start of the semester was to cut back on dining. “We knew we were going to have less (business),” Yaun said. Meal plans last year totaled 577, but there were only 312 this year. Yaun attributed this drastic change to online learning. “We opened the semester with as many hours and as many options as we could, with the strategy that we would watch and see where people went and then cut back to somewhere,” Yuan said. Because the dining hall is self-supporting, “We certainly knew we couldn’t responsibly maintain all of that at what is going to be a negative drain on the university budget.” Signs placed in dining areas on Sept. 29 indicated that Schmeltzer would be closed starting Sept. 30 for the remainder of the semester. Signs also announced that the Ram Café would only be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday for grab-and-go food. Previously, the Ram Café was open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5
p.m. on Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, and closed on Sunday. This announcement came as a surprise to students. “I wish Fordham had given us some semblance of a warning before closing everything down,” Lily Carlisle, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’24, said. “Some people had built their schedules around these places and hours and had to deal with the sudden closing along with the stress of midterms and other responsibilities.”
“ Late night Argo trips were a staple with me and my friends. ”
Gracey Downer, FCLC ’24
Around 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 29, a sign was posted indicating that Argo Tea would be closing at 4 p.m. on weekdays and would not open on weekends. “Late night Argo trips were a staple with me and my friends,” Gracey Downer, FCLC ’24, said. “Cutting the hours at Argo is very disheartening for me because it was such an amazing way to fuel study sessions.” Downer, among other students, also expressed her concern for the employees who lost their jobs or had their hours cut as a result of the dining changes. Yaun said that of the 300 dining employees, a “significant portion” are being affected. This
is a large change from a statement Yaun made on Sept. 5, when Yaun said they had not experienced significant layoffs yet. He also assured that “Aramark has some terrific ways of transitioning people to other options that they hope are short term.” Yaun explained that they initially thought to close Argo, but as they studied where students tended to go, Argo was preferred to the Ram Café. “I personally enjoy Argo more than the Ram Café, not only because it is more convenient but I also enjoy what they offer more than the Ram Café.” said Downer. Yaun said he believes that students will still be offered the variety and options they used to access through the Ram Café and Schmeltzer. “They have access to the same or many similar options they had access to before during the same operating hours. I think we can make that more apparent to them when they walk through the door.” To account for these cuts, the Community Dining Hall is now open from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Yaun said that the dining hall has not “risen to the occasion since the change in hours, and there is opportunity for it to do so,” explaining that it needs to do a better job of displaying fresh options that are already offered throughout the day. As for the spring semester, Yaun said, “I am convinced that we cannot open spring semester with the hours we have settled on,” but it is uncertain if dining will return to normal hours and offerings.
PHOTOS BY JILL RICE/THE OBSERVER
Argo Tea will now be operating on limited hours due to decreased business. On weekdays, Argo will close at 4 p.m., and it will not be open on weekends.
The Ram Café will have grab-and-go options available from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday through Friday.
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October 14, 2020 THE OBSERVER
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Goodbyes to Good Brews: Students Pay Homage to Argo Employees ARGO from page 1
Bea Mendoza, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’22, first expressed disbelief that Sabater and Rosario were no longer at Argo Tea. “Grace (Sabater) and Jackie (Rosario) were so important to my first year at Fordham!” As one of many students taking classes from home this semester, Mendoza’s last opportunity to see Sabater and Rosario was in March, and no one believed that goodbye would be final.
“ They made freshman year bearable, and they just made me feel tethered. ”
Sofia Anjum, FCLC ’22
Stella Pandis, FCLC ’21, said, “It was really sad to find out Jackie (Rosario) and grace (Sabater) were fired. They were a part of the family unit Fordham lc (Lincoln Center) always talks about.” Sabater worked with Fordham since Sodexo was the dining service, before Aramark took over as Fordham’s dining provider in 2016. Both Sabater and Rosario declined to comment. Severance packages often encourage employees to keep information confidential. “Why couldn’t Aramark do the same so no one would have to get fired?” Gabby Rivera, FCLC ’21, said in reference to the hiring and salary freeze that Fordham instituted to keep more faculty from being laid off. Aramark’s workers are in a similar situation to Fordham employees in terms of uncertainty of employment.
“It was unfortunate that they were fired with little to no warning,” given that they were told on Sept. 29 that their last day was Sept. 30, Pandis said. After only a month on campus, Nandini Tandon, FCLC ’24, noted, “I know it’s a really important place for a lot of people,” and Sabater and Rosario are the ones who make Argo Tea such an important place. From their life advice to their secret menu suggestions, Sabater and Rosario were a staple of Lincoln Center students’ lives. “They made freshman year bearable, and they just made me feel tethered,” Sofia Anjum, FCLC ’22, said. She was not alone — Mendoza agreed with their significance to her time at Fordham as well and said, “I’d go to Argo right before closing for a late night pickme-up, we’d make nice small talk and Grace (Sabater) would always recommend a cool concoction.” Mendoza’s favorite drink was something Sabater made herself — “No one else would get it right,” she remarked.
“ I can speak for most people at Fordham that we love all our Argo ladies from the bottom of our hearts. ”
Stella Pandis, FCLC ’21
Many students saw Sabater and Rosario as more than baristas; they were also supportive shoulders to lean on. Anjum remembered that “they always teased me about my drink order when I seemed a little upset to make me smile.” On her Instagram, Sabater refers to the Fordham students
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER
Grace Sabater and Jacqueline Rosario were more than just baristas at Argo Tea. They brought smiles to the Fordham community and developed connections with students.
she once served as her “Fordham babies,” labeling herself “Mama Argo.” Pandis, who visited Argo on Sabater and Rosario’s last night, also felt the close connection. “I came to know them and become friends with them. I would always talk about my family and hear about their families to the point I came to know their families very well just from stories,” she said. Both Anjum and Cathleen Freedman, FCLC ’22, described Sabater and Rosario as “kind ladies.” Summarizing the thoughts of most students who have spent time with Sabater and Rosario, Pandis said, “I can speak for
most people at Fordham that we love all our Argo ladies from the bottom of our hearts.” But students, especially firstyears, did not even know that Argo Tea was open; they could not meet the women who left a mark on everyone's years at Fordham. The Campus Dining website showed the cafe as “closed,” meaning that someone who didn’t usually go to the Garden Lounge had no clue it was even serving food. It is now open from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. “The only reason I knew it was open was because I’m a curious freshman exploring campus,” Tandon said.
Even orientation leaders did not know what to tell first-year students when they came to campus. “We told them about Argo, now it’s closing,” Rivera said. Orientation leaders could only use their prior knowledge of what has been available; they weren’t given any new information about how dining services would be altered due to the pandemic. No one knows how next semester will play out with dining availability, but Pandis is optimistic that the evening shift can return to Argo Tea. “I hope we can get them back when Fordham reopens with a new plan in the spring,” she said.
Reopening in a Hotspot: Fordham's COVID-19 Response Compared to other NYC Schools By The NEWS DESK News Editor Emeritus
New York City’s coronavirus hospitalizations are on the rise again after a period of low infection rates this summer, raising concerns of a “second wave.” Schools in the city now have to make decisions about the upcoming spring semester under the possibility of a resurgence of the virus, while continuing to grapple with testing difficulties and a challenging online workload during the current semester. On Oct. 8, University Provost Dennis C. Jacobs announced that Fordham students would be return-
ing to campus for the spring semester and following a modified schedule “in anticipation of a national resurgence of the COVID pandemic this winter.” College campuses are at the forefront of the conversation about safely operating amid the pandemic. According to The New York Times, there have been over 170,000 cases reported at more than 1,400 colleges nationwide. In September, “We Rate Covid Dashboards,” a site created by medical professors that grades colleges around the country, gave Fordham an F, the lowest grade possible, for communication of coronavirus information to its community.
Since the original posting, Fordham’s coronavirus dashboard grade has been increased to a B-. Columbia University earned a B+, and New York University (NYU) received a B, both ranking higher than Fordham. Over the past two weeks, 10 Fordham students have tested positive for the virus — nine at Rose Hill and one at Lincoln Center, according to Fordham’s testing dashboard. Fordham’s infection rate is currently 0.3%, higher than both NYU’s most recent infection rate at 0.16% and Columbia’s at 0.06%. Aiming to administer around 300 tests per day, Fordham has reported 30 total cases on campus
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS AND MADDIE SANDHOLM/THE OBSERVER
out of roughly 13,000 undergraduate students. In comparison, NYU has reported 294 COVID-19 cases out of roughly 58,500 students enrolled. Of those, 20 were confirmed in the last week. Unlike NYU, Fordham does not report its total infections to date on its website and only offers biweekly numbers.
Two out of three colleges hosting in-person classes either have no testing plan or only test students who are showing symptoms NYU students living in the residence halls are required to undergo testing every week. Fordham’s mandatory testing is less frequent, with a total of four rounds across the entire fall semester. Although Columbia does not specify the frequency of mandatory testing on its website, a random sample of community members is contacted every week to undergo a repeat test. In September, NYU suspended more than 20 students for breaking the school’s coronavirus policies. Fordham has not reported any disciplinary action taken against students for violating its COVID-19 policies, which are listed in the Ram Pledge. Similar to the Ram Pledge, Columbia students had to sign the Columbia Community Health Com-
pact before returning to campus. NYU does not have a contract for students to sign but does have a daily COVID-19 screener, similar to Fordham’s VitalCheck system. Reports of parties hosted by Fordham students have also been circulating on social media — an anonymous submission Instagram account, @letstalkaboutitfordham, published two submissions on Oct. 13 highlighting Public Safety’s inefficiency in de-escalating and preventing parties hosted by members of the Fordham community, including Fordham sports teams. Another Instagram account, @fordhamaccountability, was specifically created to hold students accountable for not wearing masks and properly social distancing. With only a few weeks left until universities send students home in preparation for the spring semester, a report analyzed by NPR finds that two out of three colleges hosting in-person classes either have no testing plan or only test students who are showing symptoms. According to Vivek Murthy, former U.S. surgeon general, the pandemic will most likely continue into 2022, indicating a need for more intentional planning. Experts have reported that up to 40% of people infected with the coronavirus do not show symptoms. It is suspected that the data colleges are reporting is not representative of the total number of cases on campus; the actual number of infected students may be higher than the published number.
www.fordhamobserver.com
THE OBSERVER October 14, 2020
Finding Space for Sexuality on a Jesuit Campus
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The LGBTQ+ Committee hosted a Digital Dialogue to discuss the intersection of religion and sexuality By KAT EHRING Contributing Writer
“What does it mean to be gay on God’s campus?” Tyler Raciti, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’21, asked the participants of the “Digital Dialogue” event. For LGBTQ+ History Month, the planning committee hosted an event on Oct. 8 for students and professors to engage in a discussion on the intersection of religion and sexuality. The panel consisted of three student leaders and one professor. The panelists and attendees shared their experiences and opinions about where and how religion and sexuality collide, the contradictions between the two, and if it is possible for the two to coexist.
“ I feel that religion is
so important in people's lives and I wish that it could be a part of mine. How could I be a part of that if they have direct doctrines that are directly against who I am as a person? ”
Tyler Raciti, FCRH ’21
George Kite, FCRH ’22, opened up about how growing up Catholic delayed his coming out to friends and family. He feared the perceived contradiction of “being gay and being Catholic.” Since coming out, he says that his relationship to Christianity has become less centered
around the Church and more about his personal relationship with Jesus, although he does still consider himself a Catholic. Unlike Kite, Raciti explained that through the process of reconciling religion and his sexuality, he realized that faith could not fit into his life. He said coming to Fordham prompted him to consider how he fits into Catholicism. “I feel that religion is so important in people's lives and I wish that it could be a part of mine,” he said. “How could I be a part of that if they have direct doctrines that are directly against who I am as a person?” The tone of the conversation shifted when Christine Puri, FCRH ’21 and one of the dialogue’s hosts, asked about positive or hopeful experiences when religion and sexuality intersected. Orit Avishai, professor of sociology at Rose Hill, discussed her research with queer Orthodox Jews in Israel. She explained that her original interest in this topic stemmed from working at a Catholic school, where she saw rifts between sexuality and religion on a daily basis. Many of the activists Avishai talked to have either walked away from the religion or tried to find reconciliation. One of the positive experiences she’s witnessed is the creation of “new spaces within the orthodox tradition.” Avishai said this practice is called “making space” for the people who fall under the category of both Orthodox and LGBTQ+. Jack McClatchy, FCRH ’21, opened up about how in his experience with the intersection of faith and sexuality, he was able to reconcile the two by using faith as a “guiding principle for reaching toward social justice.” For him, the two don’t conflict as long as social justice comes
first in his religious practices. This could be seen as another form of the “making space” Avishai mentioned earlier in the dialogue. However, the question remains whether that space can be found universally in religious institutions such as Fordham. The Office of Multicultural Affairs at Fordham provides resources to LGBTQ+ students, such as events or programs that are intended to help these students feel comfortable within the Fordham community. Some of these programs are collaborative with Campus Ministry, for example, the PRISM retreat, which offers LGBTQ+ students a way to explore their relationship with spirituality. However, Fordham rarely advertises these resources or encourages non-LGBTQ+ students to participate in ally programs. A Fordham student who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the topic said that they felt Fordham has an obligation to advertise itself as a safe place for LGBTQ+ folk.
“ There is something
uniquely challenging with having such a connection with an identity that fundamentally cannot be yours. ”
Anonymous
“Fordham is a Jesuit institution affiliated with the Catholic church which is historically and currently homophobic,” the anonymous student said. In a College Confidential forum from 2009 regarding gay
COURTESY OF THE LGBTQ+ COMMITTEE
The virtual discussion hosted by the LGBTQ+ History Month Committee created a space for conversations about how religion and sexuality intersect, hoping to leave participants with a deeper understanding of their own identities.
life on Fordham’s campus, the participants generally stated that Fordham’s campus is accepting of LGBTQ+ students. Responses particularly mentioned that on Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus, many gay or queer students do not experience any direct discrimination for their sexuality. However, this is contrary to homophobic incidents reported by The Observer in the past. In 2012, a homophobic slur was written on the wall of a stairwell in McMahon Hall on the Lincoln Center campus. The anonymous student said recognition of acceptance to-
ward the LGBTQ+ community is currently missing in Fordham’s message because of its religious affiliation. “There is something uniquely challenging with having such a connection with an identity that fundamentally cannot be yours,” another anonymous speaker, who severed ties with the church after coming out, said. The LGBTQ+ History Month Committee stated that its goal is to continue hosting conversations like this one in the future to help students learn how to resolve conflicts between spirituality and sexuality.
FAAC Survey Supports Testimonies of Racism
Over half of Black Fordham respondents experienced discrimination compared to white students FAAC from page 1
“The incredible silence and inaction from administration with regard to directly addressing ASILI’s demands just proves to me that combating anti-black racism on campus isn’t a priority right now,” she said. With over 1,500 alumni on the mailing list, the FAAC is committed to fighting anti-Blackness at Fordham University by using its resources as graduates with skill sets and professional networks to aid current students. “I think it’s easier to dismiss current students because the university has a lot more tools to be able to keep students from actually vocalizing their discontent,” Rowe said.
This disparity in Black and white experiences supports ASILI’s call to “acknowledge and unpack Public Safety’s ties to police.” “As alumni, we aren’t beholden to rules and regulations imposed by the university, and so we feel a bit more empowered to take necessary action.” Fordham student organizations, such as ASILI, released
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS BY MADDIE SANDHOLM/THE OBSERVER
16 demands on Aug. 31, calling for the reform of public safety officers, appointment of more people of color to administrative positions, incorporation of implicit-bias education into the core curriculum and separation from Aramark — a company that has a history of prison abuse and racism. In response to the first set of demands ASILI released at the start of the summer, Fordham administrators devised an action plan “for confronting racism and educating for justice.”
In the action plan, Fordham accepted three out of 16 of ASILI’s demands: designating a physical safe space for students of color on campus, implementing an employee implicit-bias training program and making a written commitment to combat anti-Blackness on campus. ASILI and FAAC acknowledged Fordham’s efforts in accepting some demands but believe there is still more work to be done, particularly regarding the demand to provide racial-bias training to public safety officers.
When asked whether students felt comfortable calling Fordham Public Safety when an issue arose, white respondents were twice as likely (48%) as Black respondents (24%) to feel comfortable. This disparity in Black and white experiences supports ASILI’s call to “acknowledge and unpack Public Safety’s ties to police.” Fordham’s campus security has a close relationship with the NYPD, and many of the Public Safety officials are retired NYPD officers. These ties, as well as experiences of discrimination from Public Safety officials, are why Black students feel less safe with a Public Safety presence than white students. Rowe spoke to her own experiences as a Black student leader at Fordham. During her senior year, one Black student at Rose Hill had the N-word scratched into his dorm room door. Public Safety released its report on the incident and called it a “bias incident” instead of condemning it as a hate crime. John Carroll, associate vice president of Public Safety, rationalized this phrasing, stating, “It’s wrong to jump to conclusions before the investigation concludes. To start by saying this is a hate crime, while it may very well be a hate crime is wrong. The investigation will determine whether it is.” The student responsible was never held accountable, Rowe said. She described a few other incidents she was aware of that
happened that year and the dissatisfaction Black students felt with campus security’s response to these issues. “We certainly weren’t treated as though we were victims, is the short way of putting it,” she said.
“ At the very least,
the university should be having serious conversations with ASILI. ”
Danielle Rowe, FCRH ’16 and founder of FAAC
The demands ASILI is currently calling for are not very different from the demands that ASILI during Rowe’s time had voiced, she said. The action plan that the university sent out in June is the only public response to ASILI’s demands so far. “At the very least, the university should be having serious conversations with ASILI — reviewing their demands, reviewing their data FAAC has collected, and determining what is feasible in the short term and the long term,” Rowe said. “It’s not simply enough to put forth an action plan that is vague, and which only addresses 3/16 of ASILI’s demands; it has to be very intentional.”
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October 14, 2020 THE OBSERVER
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A New Hub Rises for Fordham Environmental Activists
Combating climate change opponents, students create the Sunrise Movement for localized initiatives SUNRISE from page 1
“The whole thing is basically just meant to be an outlet where people can find out about opportunities for political action, or potentially learn about local politics,” Davies said. The hub plans to participate in local climate initiatives, phonebank to advocate for environmental issues and create networks for passionate students. Davies said that there are both in-person and virtual opportunities for students. On Oct. 3, the hub hosted a postcard initiative at Van Cortlandt Park to write to voters in Pennsylvania. More than 20 students attended the event, producing more than 300 postcards encouraging people to vote. “The goal of this initiative was to encourage voters not necessarily to vote for Joe Biden but simply A. to vote and B. to not vote for Donald Trump,” Davies said. “While Joe Biden doesn’t have a particularly progressive envi-
ronmental campaign, Trump actively destroys the already-weak infrastructure protecting our environment and has no plan to turn that around.”
“ It is future generations who will deal with the catastrophic impact of climate change. ”
Elisa Crespo, candidate for the New York City Council
Davies said the event was “super successful.” “I wanted to go because I know PA is an important state and I wanted to do something to help encourage voter turnout,” Corina Fuentes, FCLC ’21, and an attendant of the event said. “It was a really great event and it was just a nice way to spend an afternoon in the city.”
Dane Westerlund, FCLC ’21, also attended the event and said that the postcards were directed to young voters, telling them that “Trump is not a president for us as he’s destroying the environment and splitting up the American people.” Elisa Crespo, a candidate for the New York City Council, spoke at the event. Crespo’s designated district, District 15, includes the Rose Hill campus. Davies said that they hope to collaborate with Crespo more often to do community work around Rose Hill. “Environmental justice work is crucial for the survival of our planet and to the borough of the Bronx, which for decades has suffered from environmental racism,” Crespo said. “It is future generations who will deal with the catastrophic impact of climate change.” Crespo said she will always be a “partner in this fight” with the Fordham Sunrise Movement hub. The event was in collaboration with another Sunrise Move-
The Danskammer protest was a joint effort with other Sunrise Movement hubs, showing how smaller localized groups can work together to create larger movements.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF @ SUNRISEFORDHAM VIA INSTAGRAM
The Fordham Sunrise Movement hub hosted an event where participants wrote over 300 postcards encouraging people to vote with the environment in mind.
ment hub centered in the Bronx and southern Westchester. Davies said mobilizing the community by working with other hubs is essential to its goals. Other New York schools such as New York University and Columbia University also have their own Sunrise Movement hubs. “The whole idea is to create localized movements that have a national effect when working together,” Davies said. “While hosting our own events is great, attending and spreading information about events other hubs are hosting is fundamental to what we do.” According to Davies, the Sunrise Movement filing process for a new hub was easy and included an introductory course on running
a hub. She also said that the Sunrise Movement has been helpful by continually checking in with her and offering more ways to help. The hub is not officially recognized as a Fordham club, but Davies said that they “aren’t particularly interested” in recognition. “First, we want a movement that spans both campuses, not an LC or RH based club,” Davies said. “Additionally, we’re not doing things for or through Fordham, we’re doing things as a like-minded community of Fordham students rather than as an extension of the University. Our main focus is on activities occurring outside of Fordham that involve NYC/state politics and US politics in general.”
Fordham Theatre Introduces Intimacy Training By OLIVIA STERN Asst. Layout Editor
The Fordham Theatre program is strongly encouraging its students, faculty and staff to attend their newly offered theatrical intimacy training this fall semester. According to the description, the training includes learning strategies for handling “physically and emotionally challenging material in rehearsal and performance.” This could include scenes relating to sexual
and/or emotional intimacy or violence. This training was announced soon after multiple allegations of misconduct toward theatre professor Matthew Maguire, the current chair of the acting program, were posted on the Instagram page @letstalkaboutitfordham. A connection between the allegations and the training was not explicitly stated. The BIPOC Theatre Alliance of Fordham also released a list of 10 demands on Aug. 28, with their final demand requiring the
department to “commit to instituting intersectional structures dedicated to the physical safety and mental health of all students.” Specifically, the students demanded a theatre-specific counselor or intimacy director to be hired, as Fordham’s Counseling and Psychological Services is not able to sufficiently meet these needs. Fordham faculty acknowledged the list of demands on Sept. 3, and the announcement of the training came exactly two weeks later.
Director Glynis Rigsby, assistant professor and program director for the BFA in dramatic arts at The New School, will teach these intimacy training sessions over Zoom. Each class will be taught separately and the sessions span from Oct. 8 to Nov. 5.
“ I think that oftentimes we go into rehearsals dealing with sensitive subject matters and don’t take the time to understand how to approach it and each other. ”
Katie Curran, FCLC ’23
COURTESY OF FORDHAM THEATRE
Without proper guidance, intimate or sensitive scenes can be hard to navigate as an actor. Fordham Theatre's intimacy training is designed to make the rehearsal space feel safer and more comfortable.
The training is not mandatory, but theatre students are strongly encouraged to attend and to participate in the live sessions. If they are unable to attend, they will be able to access the recorded meetings at their own convenience. Theatre major Katie Curran, Fordham College at Lincoln Center ’23, expressed her eagerness to attend the training. “I think that oftentimes we go into rehearsals dealing with sensitive subject matters and don’t take the time to understand how to approach it and each other,” she said. She explained that in a professional setting, the theater would provide an intimacy director in
order to assist the actors and production team in scenes of love or hatred in a safe manner. At Fordham, this is not provided, so the training will equip everyone with knowledge about how to use safe strategies while rehearsing. After the sophomore training session on Thursday, Curran clarified that students were not taught to be substitutes for these intimacy directors but rather instructed to “foster a culture of consent in our rehearsal and production spaces.” With their peers, students focused on the language relating to asking and giving consent. They also learned that important practices include pausing rehearsal to ensure everyone’s level of comfort and to confirm that the rehearsal was still a healthy and safe environment. “We talked about the importance of leaving it be when the answer to asking to touch someone is ‘no,’” Curran continued. “We don’t and shouldn’t need an explanation as to why someone does not want their shoulder to be touched.” Curran said the training was very helpful for Fordham programs going forward and for students’ careers. She is hoping to work as a stage manager, and she said the training taught her to ensure actors have a safe rehearsal space and that everyone is being open about their comfort levels. Juniors will attend their training session Oct. 22, first-years on Oct. 26 during their Collaboration class, faculty and staff on Oct. 28, and seniors on Nov. 5.
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THE OBSERVER October 14, 2020
News
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City Pets Congregate for Annual Blessing of the Animals The annual Blessing of the Animals ceremony took place on Oct. 4 at St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist Church located on West 86th St. in the Upper West Side. Oct. 4 is the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, and a day of celebration and blessing for two- or four-legged friends around the world. Parishioners gathered outside the church in order to have pastors bless their pets on this day. The event began with a 15-minute service and afterward the pets took to the sidewalk to wait their turn at one of the social distanced blessing stations. Puppies and priests populate the pictures below, as pets receive blessings, treats and toys. PHOTOS BY ANDREW DRESSNER/THE OBSERVER
Sports & Health By RAHUL SUKESH Staff Writer
Sports & Health Editors Aiza Bhuiyan - ebhuiyan@fordham.edu Patrick Moquin - pmoquin@fordham.edu October 14, 2020
THE OBSERVER
Preparing for the Flu Season in a ‘Twindemic’
Hearing that this year is unlike any other has become extremely common. As of Oct. 5, there have been nearly 7.5 million coronavirus cases and over 200,000 deaths in the U.S. alone. Now, the country must prepare for a flu season unlike any other. The COVID-19 situation has been constantly evolving, and this change will extend into flu season. While there’s no telling whether COVID-19 will continue spreading later this fall and winter, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicts that COVID-19 and the flu will spread simultaneously around this time. The flu and COVID-19 are both respiratory illnesses caused by different viruses. Considering the 35 million Americans who were infected by the flu and the 34,200 deaths resulting from it during the 2018-19 flu season, there’s good reason to be concerned. How is the flu different from COVID-19? Both COVID-19 and the flu have similar symptoms, making it hard to tell them apart without a medical diagnosis. Some symptoms indicative of both illnesses include fever, fatigue, coughing, sore throat, runny nose, muscle aches, headaches, vomiting and diarrhea. So how can you tell the difference? As far as health experts know,
there aren’t very many distinctive symptoms corresponding to the two viruses; however, one symptom unique to COVID-19 is a loss of taste or smell. Additionally, COVID-19 symptoms might take weeks to show themselves, if at all, and someone with COVID-19 is contagious for a longer period of time. Be aware that it is possible to contract both COVID-19 and the flu at the same time. Should I get a flu shot?
Aside from staying up to date on current information, the best thing you can do to protect yourself and others from the flu is to get vaccinated. The CDC recommends getting vaccinated for the flu — especially if COVID-19 is spreading in your community — to help prevent avoidable medical visits and hospitalization. Fordham students can visit any local pharmacy, such as CVS or Duane Reade, for a vaccination. In a bad flu season, unnecessary hospitalizations and doctors’ visits are common. With COVID-19 already taking a huge toll on our health care system, additional strain from the flu may be more damaging than usual. Getting vaccinated will not only allow you to protect yourself and those around you, but it will also help prevent added burdens on our health care system. In addition to the normal precautions, schedule your appointment ahead of time to limit contact with other people.
ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER
While a flu shot won’t necessarily immunize you against COVID-19, getting vaccinated will protect you from lung damage and vulnerability to potentially severe infection, should you contract the coronavirus.
Do we still have to follow normal COVID-19 protocols? Now is definitely not the time to get lazy with COVID-19 protocols. Preventative measures include wearing a mask, wiping down surfaces, washing your hands and keeping 6 feet between yourself and others. Additionally, restricting visits outside of the home to less busy hours and refraining
from touching your eyes, nose and mouth will add an extra layer of protection. I got vaccinated and regularly follow COVID-19 health guidelines. What else can I do? Since there is currently no Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccine for COVID-19 and because we are still learning about the dis-
ease itself, there is limited information about other preventative measures to take. By getting a flu shot, practicing social distancing, quarantining and adhering to all other safety protocols, you can minimize your risk of contracting both COVID-19 and the flu. Getting sufficient sleep, drinking water, eating balanced meals and staying in shape will also help protect you and those around you.
Indoor Dining Reopens in NYC, but Many Remain Hesitant By GUS DUPREE Asst. Sports & Health Editor
For the first time in seven months, restaurants are able to serve customers indoors again. On Sept. 30, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo allowed restaurants to reopen their doors for limited indoor dining. Since COVID-19 lockdowns were enacted in New York City on March 16, restaurants have been forced to offer solely takeout and, since June 22, outdoor dining, if feasible. But with cases reemerging in the city, indoor dining has very quickly become a point of concern as customers and restaurant owners are forced to learn how to navigate going back indoors safely after months of being told to stay outside. Further, with winter quickly approaching and the city getting colder, restaurants are facing mounting pressure to allow patrons inside. Indoor dining, like all indoor activities, has been tightly regulated during the COVID-19 pandemic as there is an increased risk of infection indoors. Airborne viruses like COVID-19 are spread through tiny droplets when an infected individual coughs or sneezes. These virus-laden droplets can linger in the air from minutes to hours, depending on how ventilated the space is. Health experts recommend dining outdoors because droplets containing the coronavirus are easily dispersed by wind outside and are far less likely to end up being inadvertently breathed in. Studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highly encourage people to ensure that the restaurant they’re going to is following preventative guidelines and to eat
outside if possible. In Phase 4 of reopening, restaurants are able to open their indoor spaces to customers, provided they don’t exceed 25% of their total capacity, which will vary depending on the indoor space. NYC is also requiring restaurants to check each customer’s temperature before entry, to keep contact information from at least one customer per table to allow for contract tracing, and to have staff and customers stay 6 feet away from each other and wear masks. Other rules require restaurants to keep bar tops closed for seating and ensure that tables have adequate space between each other. Some restaurants have redesigned their seating plans or added Plexiglas between tables to accommodate the new guidelines. While restaurants are doing their best to serve people safely indoors, many are still hesitant about eating inside. Bryan Hutcheson, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’22, said he won’t be dining indoors anytime soon. “Even if restaurants are operating at reduced capacity, it only takes a single infected person to spread COVID-19,” said Hutcheson, who has been ordering food to go when he’s not preparing his own meals. If restaurants were to distance indoor seating by more than 6 feet, Hutcheson said he would feel more comfortable. “But I’m not even considering it yet,” he said. New York isn’t immune to COVID-19 infections, despite being in Phase 4. Clusters of COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported in New York City over
ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER
Restaurants in New York have been allowed to serve customers indoors since Sept. 30 at 25% seating capacity.
the last several weeks, specifically in neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. These neighborhoods have been designated one of three color codes: yellow, orange or red. Each designation provides more stringent guidelines and may initiate lockdowns. For instance, a neighborhood in a yellow zone can still provide outdoor dining and open schools. In comparison, in a red zone, neighborhoods are forced to shutter all non-essential businesses, with only takeout from restaurants — no indoor or outdoor dining. The guidelines also state that indoor dining may shut down again if the city reaches an infection rate of 2%, meaning at least 2% of COVID-19 tests given in a day are positive. In spite of the many risk factors that come into play with virus transmission, health experts agree that the best way to avoid getting sick in the first place is to remain 6 feet away from others,
Establishments with indoor dining are required to check each customer’s forehead temperature and to record information for contact tracing.
to wear a mask and to wash your hands. The World Health Organization has warned against the “three C’s” in particular: closed, crowded and close-contact environments. Restaurants are among the industries most heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 2,800 small businesses being forced to close indefinitely
since March, of which at least a third were restaurants. Outdoor dining has proven to be a lifeline for many struggling restaurants, and Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to extend the program at least through the rest of the year. Although restaurants may now offer indoor dining, whether or not customers feel safe eating indoors is another matter entirely.
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By MAGGIE MCNAMARA Asst. Sports & Health Editor
Working from home has probably had several noticeable effects on your mind and body. One change that might have flown under your radar is the result of sitting for increased periods of time. Even if you feel like you’ve been moving the same amount, chances are small differences in the way your day works have bumped up the total time you spend sitting. Instead of climbing a couple flights of stairs in Lowenstein in between classes, this semester’s in-between class activity has probably turned into a quick run to the bathroom before parking yourself back down in front of your computer for your next Zoom class. The short stroll to Argo Tea has turned into a meager few steps into your kitchen for a drink.
Individuals who sit for over eight hours a day with no physical activity have an increased risk of dying comparable to that of individuals who smoke.
Megan Ferreira, Fordham College at Lincoln Center ’23, is currently taking five online classes and one hybrid class. “I find myself sitting a lot more
THE OBSERVER October 14, 2020
Is Sitting Really That Bad?
during and especially after online classes, while during regular classes I would be walking between buildings or changing location to do work,” said Ferreira. But how does this negatively impact your body? Ferreira stated that she had to add more stretching into her routine because of stiffness from sitting in front of a computer for so long. She also purchased blue light glasses to help with the migraines she has experienced from increased screen time. Sitting burns less energy than moving or even just standing. MayoClinic recently reported that sitting for long stretches of time can raise blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels. It also cited a study analysis stating that individuals who sit for over eight hours a day with no physical activity have an increased risk of dying comparable to that of individuals who smoke. OrthoExpress also notes soreness or stiffness in certain body parts due to sitting. A stiff neck and shoulders can be caused by hunching over your computer or phone. Sitting also compresses the spine and shortens the hip flexor muscles, which can cause back pain and tightness in the hips. Leg muscles can also weaken due to decreased activity. While research in this field is relatively underdeveloped and more information is needed before fully definitive conclusions about the health effects incurred by lengthy periods spent sitting can be made, we can still conclude that the effects of sit-
Sports & Health
MAGGIE MCNAMARA/THE OBSERVER
Sitting for long periods of time can lead to an increased risk for high blood pressure, as well as stiffness, back pain and weakened leg muscles.
ting may be severe. Luckily, they can be avoided using a few simple fixes. The MayoClinic report cited an analysis that found that exercising at a moderate to intense level for 60 to 75 minutes a day negated the consequences of sitting too much. It also recommends breaking up your sitting every half hour, whether this be by standing up, walking around a bit or taking a stretch break. An easy way to increase your standing time is to become more intentional about which
tasks you perform in which way. For example, talking on the phone is easy to do standing up. If you work at a desk, switching to an adjustable standing desk can also help reduce sitting time. However, this can be a pricey option: StandDesk states that a manually adjustable standing desk starts at $180, while electrically adjustable standing desks can run you anywhere from $480 to $2,000. These certainly aren’t necessary for maintaining one’s health,
and a more cost-efficient swap may be finding a higher surface, such as a high counter, that offers a height at which you can stand while working. Although the consequences that come along with sitting too much can seem pretty scary, your work-from-home setup doesn’t have to change much to keep your body in good health. Stand up for a bit every 30 minutes, exercise regularly, look for a high surface that can function as a standing desk and just keep powering through.
Navigating Mental Health Amid a Pandemic
By ANUSHA IMRAN Contributing Writer
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic recession have negatively impacted people’s mental health and well-being around the world. Oct. 11 marked World Mental Health Day, a holiday bringing awareness to and educating people about the importance of mental health, especially during a pandemic.
Suicidal ideation has reached a record high among college students, who are especially at risk of anxiety, depression and suicide. Suicide is the second most common cause of death among college students, with approximately 1,100 students dying by suicide every year. The American College Health Association found that the suicide rate of young adults ages 15-24 has tripled since the 1950s.
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Compared to normal times, college students are more stressed now due to online school, the upcoming presidential election and the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement, all of which are occurring during a pandemic. The pandemic is putting students at a greater risk of becoming suicidal, depressed or anxious as people may be experiencing feelings of hopelessness, grief and social disconnection more than usual.
GRAPHIC BY ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER
Over the years, college students have expressed their hesitation to seek help; there are many self-reported barriers and fears due to the stigma around mental health. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, some of the reported barriers to receiving assistance include the perception that treatment is not needed, a lack of time, trusting in one’s ability to self-manage and social stigma. Dr. Jeffrey Ng, director of Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS), emphasized that having a platform where students can share their experiences is very important because “it normalizes vulnerability and help-seeking and combating stigma, social disconnection and helplessness/ hopelessness.” During the pandemic, it is especially important to be aware of the warning signs of suicidal ideation in order to promote a more cognizant world for those impacted by stressors. World Mental Health Day is meant to raise awareness about this issue, and an even more pointed effort was made just last month. In honor of National Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month, which took place during September, CPS conducted a social media campaign on Instagram for the community to share reasons for living as a way of standing in solidarity with one another. This campaign was managed by undergraduate wellness promotion interns at the office. They received about 35 responses through the question feature on Instagram. The responses included “my family,” “the people that surround me,” “to support my friends and family and see them grow,” “to have hope that better
things are coming” and “to have a story to tell.” Additionally, CPS held a moment of silence through Zoom in remembrance of college students who died by suicide this year. Under normal circumstances, this campaign would have occurred in person through tabling efforts on both campuses. Ng noted other CPS-sponsored efforts to provide students with mental health support. CPS offers regular workshops addressing different student stressors like managing impostor syndrome, handling stress and anxiety during the pandemic, maximizing student-family communications, and providing support for international and law school students. The vulnerabilities that students usually experience due to the sociopolitical climate, social media and identity-based stress are further exacerbated by the pandemic and the resulting lack of in-person interaction. Neural networks that are activated with in-person contact are not activated through a screen, which can hinder well-being, wellness, happiness and compassion. This gives rise to anxiety as students lose their means of social contact and intimacy. From social isolation to political pressures, the current climate provides a perfect storm of factors that intensify mental health issues. Events like World Mental Health Day and the series offered by CPS during Suicide Awareness Month aim to equip students with healthy coping mechanisms. While this is a step in the right direction, the work to normalize mental health issues should never be relegated to a day, month or time of crisis. It’s a constant, ongoing effort toward acceptance and unwavering support.
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Sports & Health
October 14, 2020 THE OBSERVER
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What is Body Neutrality and Why Is It Important?
By MAGGIE MCNAMARA Asst. Sports & Health Editor
It’s just a normal Tuesday. You pass by a mirror on your way to your fourth Zoom meeting of the day when what you see stops you in your tracks. “Does my stomach really look like that?” you wonder as you unhappily fixate on the body part in question. It’s just a normal Tuesday, but, as you continue on your way to your desk, you’re left feeling a bit more unhappy, a little dissatisfied and a lot more insecure. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. According to a 2017 survey by Psychology Today, unhappiness with body image is on the rise. Obviously, no one enjoys feeling uncomfortable in their own skin, and numerous social movements have arisen out of a desire to accept all body types as attractive. You’ve probably heard about the body positivity movement, but body neutrality, a comparatively new social movement, might not yet be on your radar. Body neutrality focuses on appreciation for one’s body based on what it is able to accomplish. On the other hand, the body positivity movement largely focuses on inclusivity of different bodies within mass media. It first entered the US in the ’60s as a means of raising public consciousness of social discrimination that fat people face and led to a reclaiming of the word “fat” as a simple adjective rather than an insult. It morphed into a push to include people with larger bodies in widespread modeling campaigns, but it quickly drove people of color, people with disabilities and trans people to the background in favor of what au-
thor, activist and content creator Stephanie Yeboah calls “acceptably fat - size 16 and under, or white or very pretty.” While body positivity has brought increased representation of different body types into the public sphere, what started as a movement for inclusivity became exclusive. Additionally, the tall order of loving one’s body all the time can seem daunting and downright impossible for many people struggling with body image. That’s where body neutrality comes in. First noted online in 2015, body neutrality is a relatively new way of thinking about body acceptance — and it has nothing to do with appearance at all. Instead of focusing on aesthetics, HuffPost defines the term as a simple acknowledgement of what one’s body does, such as its ability to talk, move or give someone a hug. For example, body neutrality in practice may look like: “My body allowed me to get out of bed today,” or “Thanks to my body, I am able to have a conversation with someone that I love.” Rather than thinking “I don’t like how my body looks so I’m going to exercise,” body neutrality advocates for thoughts along the lines of “My body allows me to move in ways that bring me joy.” There are several benefits to thinking of one’s body in this way. For one, it’s pretty unrealistic to expect to love all of your body all of the time. For example, when a person striving for body acceptance gives in to negative thoughts about their body the feeling of failure can add an extra layer of guilt on top of the discomfort already felt.
Psychotherapist Alison Stone told HuffPost that this mindset offers a middle ground between the two strict binaries of either loving or hating your body. The term has been getting a lot of buzz on social media recently, with the hashtag #bodyneutrality clocking in at almost 76,000 posts on Instagram alone. Celebrities such as Jameela Jamil and Taylor Swift have expressed support. In an interview with Vogue, Lizzo spoke about her qualms with body positivity. “It’s lazy for me to just say I’m body positive at this point. It’s easy. I would like to be body-normative. I want to normalize my body,” she said. As body neutrality becomes more widespread, it seems to resonate with more and more people. Many have expressed that the idea feels more helpful to them than that of body positivity. Grace Thomas, Fordham College at Lincoln Center ’23, has had long-term struggles with body image. She was recently introduced to the principle of body neutrality and said that she loves the fact that “it doesn’t focus on appearance.” The need for body positivity comes from the constant talk of appearance and bodies, so I think that if we started with body neutrality, hopefully body positivity as something we need to enforce would become less necessary,” Thomas said. “If I condensed all the time that I’ve spent wondering what I look like, I could probably just sit and write a novel or do something useful with my life,” Thomas said about the constant appearance-based rhetoric in society today.
GRAPHIC BY ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER
Body neutrality is much more inclusive of people with disabilities, people of color and gender-nonconforming or nonbinary individuals. If appreciation for one’s body occurs completely outside of the aesthetic realm, then bodies are no longer subject to ableist, racist and cisnormative ideas of beauty. While the term is a step in the right direction, it isn’t perfect. Simply changing our terminology doesn’t actively dismantle systems of power that uphold body-based oppression, as body neutrality focuses mainly on changing the personal percep-
tions of bodies rather than largescale changes to discrimination stemming from typical views of beauty. However, its recent popularity may speak to shifting cultural sentiments about what exactly is valuable about a body. Additionally, it can also still be a helpful mechanism to deal with negative effects of societal beauty standards. While it’s certainly not a cureall, for people trying to improve their relationship with their body, the idea of body neutrality might be a good place to start.
Club and Intramural Sports Canceled for Fall Semester Amid Health Concern
By PATRICK MOQUIN Sports & Health Editor
For the second straight semester, the Fordham Athletic Department has canceled all club and intramural sports on campus due to the ongoing pandemic. This decision affects a mixture of competitive teams and recreational leagues, but regardless of their affiliation, hundreds of students are set to lose
yet another typical activity due to major world events far outside of their control. Interim Athletic Director Ed Kull made the announcement via email on Oct. 2. “The uncertainty of the virus and the inability to adequately monitor Covid-19 symptoms, including cardiovascular concerns, for all Intramural and Club student-athletes began to raise challenges. Ensuring your health and safety is
COURTESY OF FORDHAM SAILING
This fall, Eddie Harrison, GSBRH ’22, and the rest of the sailing team will miss their second straight season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
our number one priority,” Kull wrote. Kull’s explanation for the cancellation seems to lack a single motive or reason, and the scheduled return of men’s and women’s basketball to Rose Hill further undermined the general message of caution. However, the decision regarding club sports is independent of any other in the athletic department for a variety of reasons. The first is the sheer size of the club sports and intramural programs, and this is what Kull was referring to when he was discussing the ability of the university to “adequately monitor” all athletes. The club sports program serves a large group of athletes who don’t belong to a varsity sport, either because their sport isn’t supported by Fordham or because they were not recruited to play. Meanwhile, the intramural program serves many students looking for more casual fun on campus with their peers. In order for two basketball teams to compete, a total of 32 student-athletes would have to be tested. These players would be traveling together in two groups, a relatively controlled environment for the university to oversee. However, for the club sports and intramural programs to continue, hundreds of students would have to be tested before any competition could commence. For many club sports teams, this logistical nightmare would be compounded by travel to specific events. For intramural events, Fordham students would
mostly compete against one another but would violate social distancing guidelines in the process. They’re far less manageable organizations than varsity sports. The inherent risks of carrying on with the season were immediately apparent to club soccer player Kelly Mahaney, Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill (GSBRH) ’22. After hearing news of the cancellations, she said, “Our team was certainly very upset… however we do all think that it was the right decision for right now. We would rather be able to take classes and be on campus with restrictions and cancellations, than be sent home because of relaxed rules and an outbreak.” With the health of students in question, financial factors aren’t likely to have played a major part in the athletic department’s decision but certainly play their part in the larger picture. While certain programs, like men’s and women’s basketball, are major revenue sources for Fordham, club sports often cost money instead. In order for many of these teams to continue, they have to raise their own money. Ensuring regimented testing protocols, safe travel and housing, as well as hosting events for something that doesn’t bring in funds would be an unnecessary strain on the university in an already trying time. The realities of this decision are clear and unavoidable, as has been the case in so many instances over the past eight months. Regardless, the fallout
from this difficult decision will take its toll on a community of passionate and enthusiastic Fordham students. For the sailing team, it will be their second straight semester away from the water. Eddie Harrison, GSBRH ’22 and one of the top sailors at Fordham, hasn’t been able to compete for Fordham since March. Speaking for himself and the team, Harrison said, “We’re all pretty upset and frustrated. Sailing is a big part of my Fordham experience, so it’s disappointing to not be out on the water enjoying myself.” The sailing team is one of many that have been affected but is one of the few to have lost two seasons consecutively. Nearly an entire year of competition has been taken away from these Fordham students, and if solutions to the problem were insufficient months ago, then it’s unlikely that matters will ever be fully rectified now. It’s doubtful that students would readily accept the health-conscious decision over the opportunity to compete, regardless of how serious that competition is. Some of these students play on a national stage, while others play with their friends on free nights. Now, all athletic outlets beyond the varsity stage have been closed off — another opportunity taken away by a seemingly uncontrollable world event. However, for a university in an uncertain landscape, the well-being of its student body must be the first priority, and in that sense, the athletic department’s tough decision becomes an obvious one.
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THE OBSERVER October 14, 2020
Sports & Health
Fordham to Host Iona Gaels in Home Opener
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The return of Fordham basketball, an old New York rivalry and a coaching icon By PATRICK MOQUIN Sports & Health Editor
Fordham Athletics has officially scheduled the home opener for the Fordham men’s basketball team, bringing Division I sports back to the Bronx. On Nov. 25, the Rams will face Rick Pitino’s Iona College Gaels in the Rose Hill Gymnasium for the first time since 2006, reviving an old rivalry to celebrate a tepid step toward normalcy. In the midst of a pandemic, the return of an Empire State showdown could not be better timed. With restricted travel and rigid testing protocols, a bus trip for the Gaels is much more convenient and safe than a plane ride from some other part of the country, especially for Fordham’s first home game. Beyond a long-awaited return to Division I Athletics, this game will also be important from a historical perspective. Before ending their working relationship 14 years ago, the Rams faced off against the Gaels on Dec. 3, 2006, for the 63rd and final time. With the help of a 20-point performance from Sebastian Greene, Fordham College at Rose Hill ’08, Fordham won 70-54, making its all-time win-loss record against Iona 32-31. For over a decade, Iona has been one victory short of evening the score with its old rivals, but their conference affiliations have kept them apart. This 2020 home opener will be the first of four home-and-home games scheduled over the next four years, giving both schools plenty of time to settle past disputes. Much like St. John’s University and Manhattan College, Fordham’s old rivalry with Iona was local, which always made for a scintillating contest in non-conference play. The results weren’t nearly as important as the Rams’ games against Atlantic 10 opponents, but the narrative of New
York supremacy often enticed fans to attend a game that would have otherwise had low stakes. Games like this one are a valuable addition to the schedule.
The first game next month will represent a small triumph over the pandemic, the continuation of a longlost rivalry and the potential redemption of one of college basketball’s most divisive figures.
There is another story connected to this year’s home opener, one that will likely attract national attention. However, Fordham will be incidental beneficiaries of this attention, as they have nothing to do with it. For the first time in over three years, new Iona coach Rick Pitino will be returning to college basketball. When Pitino enters the Rose Hill Gymnasium on Nov. 25, he’ll be a giant among children. He coached the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics in the NBA. He led the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville to national championships in 1996 and 2013, respectively. He’s appeared in the NCAA Final Four seven times. One of those Final Four appearances came in 1987 when he transformed the University of Providence from perennial losers into a powerhouse underdog in three years’ time. Comparisons simply don’t exist between Pitino and Fordham Coach Jeff Neubauer. The accomplishments of the former are un-
PHOTOS COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS
The Fordham men’s basketball team is scheduled to open the season against Iona College on Nov. 25. This will be the first time the Rams have played the Gaels in 14 years.
Coach Tom Penders and the Fordham men’s basketball team celebrate when Fordham beat Iona College in the 1982 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game.
fathomable and incomprehensible in relation to the meek gains of Fordham men’s basketball in recent years. For those poorly read in sports news, his mere presence at this game should raise questions, but Pitino is at Iona for a reason. For any basketball legend to make an appearance at Rose Hill these days, they’re either competing against the women, or they’ve suffered a calamitous fall from grace. In 2017, federal prosecutors launched an investigation into Pitino and the University of Louisville after receiving reports that the coach paid players during the recruitment process, violating the NCAA’s amateur athlete guidelines. A month later, he was fired with cause by the university and a lengthy court battle ensued. In that time, Pitino moved to Greece to coach in the EuroLeague. In March of this year, Iona announced that it had hired Pitino as its new coach, giving him his first position in college basketball since the scandal. With one summer of efficient recruiting under his belt, he’ll be making his coaching debut with the Gaels when they face off against the Rams next month. His presence alone would attract fans in droves, which makes the timing of the game poor for fans and ticket collectors alike. For the home opener and foreseeable future, spectators will be barred from attending games at the Rose Hill Gymnasium, as Fordham is still following New York state’s phased reopening guidelines. However, to recover lost revenue or, as Fordham Athletics put it, to “help the Fordham men’s and women’s basketball programs
pack the venue,” the university is introducing the Virtual Sellout program. Essentially a fundraiser, fans can buy a virtual ticket starting at a $25 base donation and may donate up to $2,500 for additional gifts from the university. These include a basketball signed by the teams, a personal thank-you message from coaches Stephanie Gaitley and Jeff Neubauer, a Fordham water bottle and other perks. The $1,000 donation necessary to attain a drawstring bag will doubtlessly raise morale on the bench. Those uninterested in virtually filling the Rose Hill Gymnasium will still be able to watch the game on ESPN+, where they’ll see a mix of new and old faces courtside. Yame Butler, Julian Dozier and Albe Evans, three Fordham firstyears, will be taking the floor for the first time in the Bronx. Meanwhile, as Pitino makes his coaching debut for Iona, Neubauer will be entering his final contracted season with the Rams. In his five years as head coach, Neubauer has one winning season and a 60-94 overall record. For this long-awaited season, spectators may not be able to attend and the conditions allowing competition are volatile. Fans can only take solace in the fact that basketball is finally returning. The first game next month will represent a small triumph over the pandemic, the continuation of a long-lost rivalry and the potential redemption of one of college basketball’s most divisive figures. In a rare moment for such a sporting event, the final score will not be nearly as important as the tip-off.
CREATIVES Under QUARANTINE Amid a global crisis, Fordham’s creatives are still finding ways to express themselves
By KEVIN STOLL Staff Writer
While a daily ritual of Netflix can leave most Fordham students content, for others, the urge to create something is the only option to get by during the COVID-19 pandemic. For many of these “creatives,” the art that they create, whether by pencil, palette or camera, is especially priceless in a time where the creative spirit can be easily discouraged. For some creatives, the drive to produce something can even relieve the stress and anxiety they’re currently facing with their (unreasonably) substantial coursework. Even when it seemed like the rest of the world remained in confinement, these creatives used their free time to stretch their imaginations against both personal and physical limitations. COURTESY OF GABRIELA WILSON
Camera in hand, shooting without a plan: Gabriela Wilson, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’21, despite her background in film and video production, began to develop more of an interest in film photography during the beginning of the fall semester. A lack of available resources in many respects hasn’t hindered her artistic ambition in the slightest. “I’m normally very structured, planning every little detail of a project out before I move to execute it. In the pandemic, without any access to the normal resources I used to have, such as rental equip-
ment and peers to assist/collaborate with me, all of that kind of went out the window. It felt like a very liminal time, with every structure thrown out the window, and my way of working similarly became more fluid and less focused on the ‘rules.’ As I’ve transitioned more to film photography as the semester has started up, I think I’ve carried this way of working with me; I’m less worried about planning what I will shoot and more willing to go with the flow of an area and shoot compositions that simply move or interest me. Photography also allows me to venture out of my own ‘bubble,’ which is a huge perk in such an isolating time.”
“ It felt like a very liminal time, with every
structure thrown out the window, and my way of working similarly became more fluid and less focused on the ‘rules.’ ”
Gabriela Wilson, FCLC ’21
COURTESY OF ENRIQUE CABALLERO
New York, New York, it’s a hell of a (ghost) town: During the pandemic, Enrique Caballero, FCLC ’22, has been posting 35mm photos to his Instagram account, @_enrique_film. Through his photos, which depict a barren New York City, Caballero challenges viewers to reflect on the year so far
and all the misfortunes it has brought along the way. “People often bash 2020 and blame the year for all the troubles, when in fact it’s a manifestation of different broken structures and institutions, and these events throughout the year have only shed light on it. Earlier in the year, alums from my old high school and I were asked to create a commencement speech video for
the 2020 graduating class. My old high school is a film high school, so a video was a good call. The main message we conveyed was building a sense of community and strength at a time of both physical separation and political polarization. I know the students pretty well, and I know they’re all activists ready to shake the status quo, but coming together is the most important part.”
COURTESY OF ENRIQUE CABALLERO
COURTESY OF GABRIELA WILSON
“ In a time where it can feel like the whole
world is falling apart, I think the goofy campiness of the videos I was making with my friends feels honest in regards to how I felt about them.”
Dakota Vooys, FCLC ’22
COURTESY OF DAKOTA VOOYS
Eccentric comedy by way of personal honesty: “Goofy” filmmaker Dakota Vooys, FCLC ’22, has been especially productive during the pandemic. Over the summer break, he wrote and directed 41 comedic short films with his friends and family from Hartford, Connecticut. From his perspective, creativity isn’t always as simple as waking up and spontaneously deciding to make a film; for him, it’s about remaining genuine in your approach and putting everything
COURTESY OF GABRIELA WILSON
Moving forward with a driving passion: In addition to his skills both behind the camera and in the editing room, Slav Velkov, FCLC ’23, has also developed an eye for painting and graphic design, even going as far as to design a poster for his short film “The Thief,” which was originally produced with the help of the Fordham Filmmaking Club. Velkov shares a simi-
COURTESY OF SLAV VELKOV
you have into the final product. “Creativity takes a lot out of a person: It eats up time, it eats up energy, it eats up thought, and it’s just a lot to worry about. But for some people (and I am one of these people), being creative — whether it’s writing, filming, photography, painting — is just something that you actually need to do to survive. If a person needs to be making something then they will, but I think, more than anything else, what can make a creative person regret making something or step away from something would be that
it doesn’t feel genuine to them. It might sound weird that somebody who just made a bunch of goofy videos over the summer is saying ‘be honest,’ but honesty can be goofy. In a time where it can feel like the whole world is falling apart, I think the goofy campiness of the videos I was making with my friends feels honest in regards to how I felt about them. Sometimes, honesty is having fun, other times honesty is struggling with inner turmoil. Just don’t be afraid to follow your instincts no matter what they are telling you.”
COURTESY OF DAKOTA VOOYS
lar sentiment to Vooys when it comes to having the perseverance to tell the story that you want to tell. “In my experience, there is always a way to create art. Even if I have only my phone as a camera and myself as an actor, that is enough to create something great. The quality of my work depends on how passionate I am for an idea, how hard I work and whether I am lucky to present it in the right place at the right time. That being said, my advice is to do what you are passionate about no matter the circumstances. Even if your friends and family say it’s not worth it, even if your teacher doesn’t like it, even if the world is in a lockdown, you should go out and realize your vision.”
Each of these four creatives share the desire to pursue their respective passions, regardless of the difficulties presented by current circumstances. Art is so much more than just a picture that’s been captured or a painting that’s been painted; art is a reflection of both the artist’s creative intentions and their perspective of the world around them. To quote revered psychologist Carl Rogers, “What is the most personal is the most universal.”
COURTESY OF SLAV VELKOV
Opinions Editors Emily Ellis - eellis14@fordham.edu Haley Smullen - hsmullen@fordham.edu
Opinions
F
FORDHAM’S TREATMENT OF LAID-OFF DINING STAFF IS DISRESPECTFUL short notice, especially after Fordham closed its doors for months without business, is inconsiderate. This decision comes at the fault of both the Fordham administration and Aramark, which could both benefit from increased communication and transparency between each other and their employees.
During this time of economic struggle, Fordham has a moral obligation to see what resources it can extend to these laidoff workers. As an Aramark contractor, Fordham cannot hire these workers back. Fordham also can’t force students to come back to campus to necessitate full employment of the laid-off workers. But does this mean that Fordham should be a passive bystander and not do anything to help these invaluable members of our community? Of course not. During this time of economic struggle, Fordham has a moral obligation to see what resources it can extend to these laid-off workers. This includes giving them access to the Office of Career Services, the digital library and Campus Ministry resources.
Observer the
STAFF EDITORIAL
oodservice workers have always played an unassuming yet vital role in keeping universities — and the country at large — running. They put their lives at risk to serve us food, and, at the very least, they deserve our respect. Yet the foodservice workers at Fordham have not been treated with respect. Employees of two of the most beloved dining spaces at Fordham Lincoln Center, Argo Tea and the Ram Café, were recently laid off with only a day’s notice. Though layoffs have been happening since the onset of the pandemic in March, these employees were hired back in August under the impression that they would keep their jobs through the end of the semester. They were let go again a month later. Even if the layoffs were not anticipated, Fordham, or Aramark, the food service provider Fordham has a contract with, should have had a plan to support these essential workers. Fordham Dining issued 312 meal plans compared to last year’s 577; they should have predicted that business would decrease. This information was readily available to them at the beginning of the semester. We understand that Fordham as an institution is struggling, but as an employer, it should be transparent with its employees. Allowing Aramark to lay off Ram Café and Argo Tea workers with such
October 14, 2020 THE OBSERVER
In an interview with The Observer on Sept. 5, after being asked whether Fordham was planning to lower the number of employees and by how much, Deming Yaun, university dining contract liaison, replied, “All dining related expenses will have to be evaluated once all the data is reviewed. Services and the cost of them will have to be adjusted based on income the department has to work with for the semester.” The layoffs were likely a planned decision, despite claims from University President the Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., in a University Update on May 5, 2020, that Fordham was “staving off layoffs.” In order for Fordham to truly show that it cares about its employees, it needs to hold itself accountable. For an institution to hold itself accountable, there are two steps: identifying what went wrong and following up with actions to show that it has learned. It is not enough for Fordham’s administration to come out with a statement saying how sorry they are. Fordham needs to provide adequate resources to these employees to make up for it. It is irresponsible of Fordham to treat these employees and their personal lives as disposable during a pandemic. At the end of the day, the Ram Café and Argo staff are a part of the Ramily, and right now Fordham is not treating them as such.
Photo Feature: A Quiet Commute
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POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
ANDREW DRESSNER (LEFT) AND ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS (RIGHT)/THE OBSERVER
New York City and Fordham University are both in the process of reopening, but subways and hallways alike often appear quite empty.
• Letters to the Editor should be typed and sent to The Observer, Fordham University, 140 West 62nd Street, Room G32, New York, NY 10023, or emailed to fordhamobserver@gmail.com. Length should not exceed 200 words. All letters must be signed and include contact information, official titles and year of graduation (if applicable) for verification. • If submitters fail to include this information, the editorial board will do so at its own discretion. • The Observer has the right to withhold any submissions from publication and will not consider more than two letters from the same individual on one topic. The Observer reserves the right to edit all letters and submissions for content, clarity and length. • Opinions articles and commentaries represent the view of their authors. These articles are in no way the views held by the editorial board of The Observer or Fordham University. • The Editorial is the opinion held by a majority of The Observer’s editorial board. The Editorial does not reflect the views held by Fordham University.
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THE OBSERVER October 14, 2020
Opinions
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Stop Assuming My Gender On Zoom The struggles of learning online as a nonbinary student PRONOUNS from page 1
In one of my classes, my trans friend, the professor and I are some of the only folks to do it. This raises my first problem. It is not up to trans and queer students to lead the way in making our environments accessible. It is not easy to state your pronouns when your physical appearance does not match the societal standard of who people are. By adding pronouns to their Zoom names, cisgendered students can help set an example for their other peers and eventually help normalize pronoun displays in the classroom. Cisgendered students need to do better — and that means standing in solidarity with their trans and queer peers. Easy ways for cisgendered students to make the classroom more inclusive is by simply putting their pronouns in their Zoom name and actively correcting those who misgender others in the class — all it takes is a private message on Zoom to make sure someone is aware of others’ pronouns. The responsibility to respect others does not end at the cisgendered students. Professors need to be held accountable, too. At the beginning of the semester, I made it a point to slap my pronouns on every “getting to know you” syllabus assignment, even when the professor didn’t ask for it. In some cases, they did ask —
but flash forward to now, and I am getting misgendered in my classes almost every day. Professors, I ask you this: What happened? Where are your notes that state my pronouns? Where is your effort? The solution is beyond simple: Professors need to print out the attendance sheet and write
everyone’s pronouns and chosen names down, regardless if they are cisgender or transgender. Again, it’s not up to the students to teach professors how to make their classrooms inclusive — that is simply a part of the prerequisite in being a professor. I understand that times are changing rapidly and that profes-
sors who did not grow up in the same environment as students will have a harder time adapting to these changes. However, right now, the effort to be inclusive is not enough. As we all know, learning takes time and effort and there should be zero reasons that professors and students alike came into this school year
ZOOM
Publicly stating one’s pronouns on Zoom is a simple way students can show support for their fellow transgender and nonbinary students.
unaware of how to be inclusive in the classroom — all it takes is a Google search. Zoom has become a place where it’s harder to confront issues seen in the classroom. For example, my science class taught us that the sex chromosome reveals a person’s gender and not their sex. If we had been in person, maybe it would’ve been easier to say something to my professor, but instead, I sat in my room mulling over the words I just read. Being online and not having a physical connection with students and professors makes it scarier to say these things because there’s no telling their reaction. Zoom has now become a platform where students and professors can freely assume someone’s gender instead of simply asking. Being online, folks can’t see how I express my gender, so they assume despite not having the facts. Gender has no limits, and basing someone’s gender off what they look like is disrespectful. If you don’t know somebody’s pronouns, just ask them. I urge cisgendered students and professors to put in the work. Learn about trans and nonbinary lives so you can be aware of these uncomfortable situations we are placed in. It is not up to trans and nonbinary students to keep ourselves safe; it’s up to the Fordham community to keep us safe.
No, You’re Not Too Sensitive. Professors Should Give Trigger Warnings JESSICA YU Staff Writer
Trigger warning: eating disorder, abuse, sexual assault, racial violence For the past year or so, I’ve heard the word “trigger” and the phrase “trigger warning” passed around carelessly and sometimes even mockingly. No matter who is using it or how it’s being used, there’s always this implicit idea of oversensitivity — that people who get triggered are too dramatic. With that comes a dismissive attitude toward the emotional turmoil that is caused by being triggered, an emotional turmoil that is very much real and very much valid. So, what even is a trigger? It is anything that reminds your brain of past trauma, putting your mind in a state of perceived threat. Often, someone who has been triggered will feel like they’re reliving a traumatic experience all over again. Some people have panic attacks. Some relapse into an eating disorder. Others may feel physical pain. Each person’s experience may be different, and just because you cannot see their reaction does not mean it’s not there. In all honesty, I didn’t understand the full scope of being triggered until it happened to me. Two months ago, I swallowed my pride in order to be publicly vocal about my past experiences with abuse during my time as an athlete. Following the release of Athlete A on Netflix and #gymnastalliance on social media, I spoke up against abuse of athletes by coaches in the hopes of sparking change in athletic culture. Even so, I’m still discovering the extent to which this trauma can affect me. There are indeed
things that will take me back to bad memories, causing me anxiety and sometimes bringing me back to disordered eating habits. A few weeks into this semester, an assigned reading included a paragraph that described details of physical abuse. It came out of nowhere and, subsequently, so did the painful memories. Thoughts floated through my mind: The professor should have given a trigger warning, right? Or am I being too sensitive? But I knew that I am far from the only person who has experienced this, so I wondered if professors should be required to give trigger warnings. When I reached out to Fordham students about their opinions on this question, the answer was, overwhelmingly, yes. Describing what they called “probably the very worst academic
experience of my entire life,” a Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) student who would like to remain anonymous said that during class, a professor showed “a scene with a graphic depiction of not only r*pe, but incestuous r*pe of a son against his mother” with “absolutely no warning.” The student said: “I had to leave the class because it was an extremely intense and painful trigger and caused me to spend the rest of the night in a very panicked state and in a lot of pain.” Adah Unachukwu, FCLC ’23, believes “trigger warnings are not just a courtesy, they are essential.” “In my freshman Theology class, the teacher showed some awful pictures of lynching that affected me and two of the other black students in the class,” Unachukwu wrote. “Not only did it affect me adversely, but I spent
the rest of my time that semester worried that he would show us similar pictures once again which obviously affected my performance in class.” Maggie McNamara, FCLC ’23 and assistant sports & health editor for The Observer, is in recovery from an eating disorder and said that trigger warnings are important for her health. “Topics surrounding food, exercise, weight, diet rhetoric, etc have been extremely triggering,” McNamara wrote. “It would be nice to have a warning just so I could have a little time to prepare myself and build up the mental strength to be around these topics. Hearing about trigger subjects can create a lot more harm when they’re sprung on you unexpectedly.” It’s true that learning can cause discomfort sometimes. Coming to college means con-
fronting difficult topics that put you out of your comfort zone, having your beliefs challenged and engaging in discussions with people you don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye with. However, asking professors for trigger warnings is not the same as asking them to make college campuses ideologically safe. It is not asking professors to walk on eggshells around us, because triggers don’t happen when someone disagrees with the professor’s point of view or another classmate’s argument in a discussion. What happens is more than just trivial “discomfort” — triggers can do real damage. Sure, what triggered me was, indeed, only one paragraph. But that turned into one extra hour of my afternoon, one panic attack and one bulimic episode, and that is one too many.
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY BECKETT SCHIAPARELLI/THE OBSERVER
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October 14, 2020 THE OBSERVER
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‘A Culture of Life’: The Catholic Church Has Never Advocated for the Death Penalty JILL RICE Copy Editor
The Catholic Church’s mission is all about a culture of life. It supports life from conception to natural death, no matter the person, their circumstances, their problems or their way of living. No one deserves to die. That’s always been a central tenet of most moralities and especially of the Judeo-Christian worldview — “You shall not kill” is the fifth commandment for a reason. Although the Catholic Church had not previously condemned the death penalty on the whole, its prior stance was in no way in support of it. In his article “Why the Death Penalty Is Immoral and Un-American,” Riley Moore, Fordham College at Lincoln Center ’23, argues for just that: The death penalty goes against early America’s core values and beliefs, and he cites many early thinkers who argue for why capital punishment is wrong. As a Catholic, I agree with much of what he says. But at the end, he wrote, “Christians walk around with a symbolized machine of death around their neck, foolishly believing it a sign of love and forgiveness.” Catholics believe in the saving redemption of the Crucifixion, but no Christian idealizes the thought of dying, killing or being killed. This “machine of death” is a symbol of love and forgiveness because Jesus offered himself in order that humanity not die forever. On the death penalty, the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2267 before 2018
read, “The traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude, presupposing full ascertainment of the identity and responsibility of the offender, recourse to the death penalty, when this is the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor.” The death penalty was only acceptable if there was no other option, like if the person being killed is sure to be the criminal and if the person is a risk to others. It’s never been the church’s first, or even 10th, solution. In 2018, Pope Francis edited this paragraph to read, in part, that “there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes.” In this modern age, “more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.” The Church teaches that “‘the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,’ and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide,” as stated in the current paragraph 2267. This directly supports the Dignity of the Human Person, one of seven Catholic social teachings that’s extremely popular today, in its want for life for everyone. In his most recent encyclical “Fratelli Tutti,” Pope Francis yet again provides proof that even some in the early Church were “clearly opposed to capital punishment.”
The Church has also historically been looking out for people’s souls. It’s the first goal in the Baltimore Catechism: “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.” The effective systems of detention, such as life in prison, both ensure the protection of citizens — the Church’s old fear — and also give the criminal the opportunity to repent — the Church’s main goal of the salvation of souls. It kills two birds with one stone, if you pardon the death metaphor. This isn’t a change to Catholic doctrine. This is an elaboration that fits with the times. We have means of allowing people to live and keeping them safely away from others (medieval jail cells are much easier to get out of than today’s prison cells, I would assume), and the Church’s teaching now reflects that fact. It’s not anti-Catholic to be anti-death penalty. If the Church supports life from conception to natural death, and if the Church’s goal is the salvation of souls and repentance, then there’s no reason that the death penalty should be a moral issue for Catholics. This is where a lot of conservative Catholics differ from general conservative thought; we believe that life is an inalienable right — to use Thomas Jefferson’s words — no matter what crimes a person has committed. They are always deserving of forgiveness and mercy, no matter what the crime, even if our human minds cannot fathom forgiving them.
Even if we wanted to follow the rules as they were, Catholics don’t follow many rules from the Middle Ages. Just because some arbitrary rule has been around for a long time doesn’t mean it can’t be changed or modernized in some way. For instance: We can eat meat on Fridays during the year. Mass is said in the common language. The church I go to has an LGBTQ+ ministry group. These are just a few things that prove that yes, indeed, the Church can change. With the advent of modern technology and ways of tracking
people, keeping someone in prison for life is just as safe for society as sentencing them to death, and it’s actually cheaper to keep people in prison than to kill them. I agree with Moore that we shouldn’t bring in Christian dogma to support capital punishment. I, too, don’t support capital punishment because I, as a Catholic, have always supported a culture of life through all stages and for all people. The Catholic Church has never fought to keep the death penalty, nor will it support capital punishment at all today.
MARIORDO (MARIO ROBERTO DURÁN ORTIZ) VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Pope Francis edited the Catechism in 2018 to reaffirm the Church’s stance that even those who have committed serious crimes are still worthy of dignity as humans.
Everything That Went Wrong in the First Presidential Debate and How We Can Fix It PATRICK RIZZI Staff Writer
The first presidential debate between former Vice President Joe Biden (D) and President Donald Trump (R) for the 2020 election was on Sept. 29. Many viewers, including myself, were hoping that it would contain even moderately substantive discourse about the grave challenges affecting this country. We were sorely mistaken. As is typical for anything related to this election cycle, the debate was stuffed to the brim with a rancid mix of falsehoods, dog-whistles and ugly personal attacks. The disaster that was the first presidential debate has raised an interesting question: How could presidential debates be improved in the future? Chris Wallace, the moderator of the first debate, has been praised in the past for being one of the few non-ideologues remaining on Fox News. Yet even he was completely unable to tamper down such an unruly spectacle, and he failed to hold Trump accountable for his repeated attempts to evade questions. Clear rules should be set on not talking over another candidate or personally attacking them. Compliance could be nearly guaranteed by using microphones that mute when the voice of another microphone is detected, though it would be hopelessly naive to think that Trump would agree to this rule. The Sept. 29 debate consisted of six discussion segments that
were supposed to be 15 minutes each: “The Trump and Biden Records,” “The Supreme Court,” “COVID-19,” “The Economy,” “Race and Violence in our Cities” and “The Integrity of the Election.” Each of these issues are important, despite the inherently problematic framing of referring to protests for social justice as “Race and Violence.” The said questions should not have wording that explicitly or implicitly discriminates against a minority group. Yet these topics were too broad and should have been broken down into multiple shorter and more specific segments.
Even more concerning was the lack of a planned segment on climate change, though the recent wildfire season on the West Coast was eventually brought up late in the debate. This is deeply unfortunate given the undeniable and pressing urgency of the need to immediately address climate change before it is too late. With the number of problems facing America at the moment, we need more and shorter sections in future presidential debates. Even more pressing is the inherent need to promote facts and the truth during presidential debates. Television networks should also put a bar
at the bottom of the screen providing fact checking in real time for false or erroneous information said by candidates during presidential debates. This is especially important because of Trump’s pervasive lying and distortion of the truth. Wallace was unable to accurately fact-check Trump in real time by rebutting his incorrect answers to debate questions; however, Biden tried his best to call out Trump for blatantly lying. The job of calling out false information should not lie only on the shoulders of the other presidential candidate. While the first presidential debate this year was an unmitigat-
ed disaster, unfortunately, it will likely not change anyone’s mind leading into Election Day, given the bitterly polarized nature of the country. Yet there are still lessons to be learned from this disastrous time in American politics in hopes that future presidential debates will be more informative, thorough and truthful. Political disagreements will always remain, but the extreme ugliness and callous disregard for basic facts can hopefully end after this debate if more Americans recognize that our democracy is in danger.
GAGE SKIDMORE (LEFT) AND NASA:BILL INGALLS (RIGHT) VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
After what was widely regarded as a disastrous debate on Sept. 29, the question of how future presidential debates can be improved arises.
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An Original Interpretation of Amy Coney Barrett Why we and the Supreme Court should not look at America’s laws through ‘dead’ eyes ALYSSA MACALUSO Copy Editor
AVA PEABODY Contributing Writer
Life or death, alive or dead: These phrases are commonly used in situations associated with issues of health, war or hyperbolized middle school drama, but many Americans don’t recognize that they also apply to the laws that govern our daily lives. One situation that is certainly on the scale of “life or death” is the judges’ interpretation of the Constitution and American laws. With the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Sept. 9 and the subsequent nomination of Federal Appellate Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on Sept. 26, the topic of Constitutional interpretation has become front-and-center in America. Barrett views the Constitution and other laws as “dead” documents, meaning they should be understood according to the intentions of the original authors. She has maintained that she will “care about what people understood words to mean at the time that the law was enacted because those people had the authority to make law.” This view threatens the progress our democracy has made towards recognizing the rights of groups excluded in the initial drafting of our Constitution and foundational laws. One crucial example is the right of women to have legal access to abortion, an issue defined by the historic case of Roe v. Wade and one whose future may depend on Barrett’s method of interpreting the Constitution. Those who interpret the Constitution and laws as “dead” documents are referred to as originalists. Originalism is one method of analyzing laws that is often used in conjunction with textualism, or interpreting the law strictly according to the denoted meaning of the words on the page. Barrett is both an originalist and a textualist. Nonoriginalists, or those who interpret the Constitution as a “living” document, use its framework to adapt the meaning of the law to fit with the values and goals of contemporary society. Originalists, however, believe that “the meaning of the constitutional text is fixed at the time of its ratification” and that “the historical meaning of the text ‘has legal significance and is authoritative in most circumstances.’” The nonoriginalist method of interpreting the law is how we make progress; if we continued to interpret the law according to the
original writers’ intentions, then women might be still largely confined to domestic duties and Black people might still be enslaved. In a law review argument, Barrett defines originalists as conservative, in the sense that they are reluctant or resistant to change, and nonoriginalists as more progressive, in that they are responsive to “social justice” initiatives and “contemporary values.” As students at a Jesuit institution, we are taught to fight for social justice and adopt contemporary values. Jesuits, an order within the Catholic Church, are generally more progressive than their fellow Catholic counterparts, who tend to be more traditional and conservative. But Fordham also recognizes its ties to the Church and dedicates “special attention to the study of the living tradition of Catholicism.” Again, we see the juxtaposition of living and dead — except, in this case, it’s the interpretation of the Catholic faith. The living tradition of Catholicism, also referred to as the sacred Tradition, describes how Catholics make sense of biblical teachings in modern-day times. Essentially, sacred Tradition encompasses not only the literal text of the Bible (Scripture) but also the traditions, teachings and writings of members of the faith that were incorporated into Church doctrine as the institution evolved; this is where the “living” part comes in. As one Catholic priest popular on YouTube put it, “There are things, questions that you and I experience on a daily basis, ... that the Bible never even imagined were going to be asked.” While the Bible is used as the source of guiding principles, modern questions of interpretation are guided by an ever-growing body of knowledge on and about the Catholic faith. A similar argument can be made for how we should interpret the laws in America: We should rely on the Constitution and written laws to guide our principles but use the body of knowledge available to us beyond the words of the laws themselves, such as judicial precedents and court opinions, to interpret the law according to our modern context. Even Thomas Jefferson argued in favor of a nonoriginalist interpretation of the new American laws.
He wrote that “No society can make a perpetual constitution, or even a perpetual law. The earth belongs always to the living generation ... The constitution and the laws of their predecessors extinguished then in their natural course, with those who gave them being.” Jefferson concluded that “If it (the Constitution) be enforced longer, it is an act of force, & not of right.” It is clear that Jefferson thought a constant reevaluation of America’s guiding principles was necessary. He highlighted the underlying truth about laws: They must change with each generation, because every generation has new values, priorities and tools that previous generations couldn’t have possibly imagined, much less planned for. A 2018 Pew Research Center poll found that contemporary Americans largely agree with this logic.
There is no reason to hold our current society to antiquated standards that were determined by a famously exclusionary group of white, wealthy men. Therefore, the Constitution should be viewed as a living document interpreted in terms of the common law, or the law established by customs and judicial precedent, and the decisions made in previous cases upheld by a standard called stare decisis. This approach allows for a current interpretation of the law, based in both past decisions and statutory law. It respects the law’s original goals but reinterprets them in the context of modern society, allowing for America to grow and change without constantly amending its written laws, a difficult task.
The United States Constitution was drafted with immense care, with the lofty ideals of freedom, equality and justice in mind. However, it was also drafted by slave-owning white men who failed to acknowledge or resolve a multitude of injustices within the emerging American society. Their bigotry inevitably left large swaths of the population without rights. We have made significant progress since the Constitution was written, but that progress would not have been possible without amending the Constitution and reinterpreting for whom exactly the framers intended their “Blessings of Liberty.” Following this logic, there is no reason to hold our current society to antiquated standards that were determined by a famously exclusionary group of white, wealthy men. It has taken this country an astonishingly long time to recognize women as full members of society, but now that we’re here, it would be unjust to ignore that progress in favor of reading a document just because we have decided that its words can only exist in the context of the 18th century. If we have accumulated knowledge over time which suggests that our governing principles do not serve all members of our current society, then the American people reserve the right to adjust them. Applying our experience would not be “destroying the systems that have governed us since 1789”; it would be part of the process of updating those systems to include members of the population who were intentionally left out. This brings us back to Amy Coney Barrett. Barrett’s commitment to originalist interpretation puts rights — like access to abortion, health care, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration, environmental protections and many more — at risk because she will likely overturn legal precedents. In 2013, Barrett wrote, “I tend to agree with those who say that a justice’s duty is to the Constitution and that it is thus more legitimate for her to enforce her best understanding of the Constitution rather
than a precedent she thinks clearly in conflict with it.” Barrett upholds traditional values in both her practice of Catholicism and her interpretation of the Constitution, which means she also subscribes to traditional Catholic beliefs, such as the immorality of the practice of abortion. Barrett has clearly demonstrated her strong anti-abortion views and has a history of allowing her personal beliefs to influence her judicial decisions. Though Barrett has promised that her faith will not interfere with her legal decisions, her strong views and her actions taken to protest abortion raise questions about her ability to keep the two separate. One of the cases with the highest risk of being revised, if not overturned entirely, is the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision to legalize and protect access to abortion. Over time, many other cases have been decided on the precedent set by Roe v. Wade, creating protections for many practices that we recognize as rights. But confirming Barrett as a Supreme Court justice would mean that there would be a majority of originalist judges on the Court, possibly leading to important precedents like the one set by Roe v. Wade being overturned. The approaches our Supreme Court justices take to constitutional interpretation have a myriad of impacts on our lives. At the beginning of October, on the first day of the Court’s new term, Justices Alito and Thomas expressed concern that Obergefell v. Hobbes, the 2015 case that established the right to same-sex marriage, was not only unconstitutional but encroaching upon the right of Americans to exercise their religious freedoms. Throughout his administration, and persisting through the pandemic, President Trump has prioritized the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act. A solidly conservative Court might be more likely to block broad legislative efforts to curtail environmental collapse. The outcomes of these and many other issues lie in the hands of the Supreme Court, highlighting the importance of understanding our judges and how they feel a document from two centuries ago should govern our society. It is crucial that we acknowledge and prepare for the potential impacts of an Amy Coney Barrett confirmation on American society. Much of the progress the country has made in recent decades toward bringing justice to historically marginalized groups could be put in jeopardy by her arrival to the Supreme Court.
JAREK TUSZYŃSKI VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s adherence to an originalist interpretation of the Constitution poses a threat to individual rights, environmental protections and the ability of the nation to grow and change.
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Why I Really Deleted TikTok How dancing on an app robs me of a professional future SOPHIA ORTEGA Contributing Writer
Believe me, I completely understand why TikTok has 800 million users. The short video format, the hilarious trends and the popular dances are addicting. But the last is what drove me to delete the app at the start of 2020, being a dancer myself. Dance is a performative art, usually serving as live entertainment or an escape for the audience. When the pandemic hit in March, TikTok quickly became an escape from the reality of closed theaters. Most people had ample amounts of down time, leading TikTok to hit the most downloads ever recorded in a single quarter: 315 million. Short, choreographed dances blew up as more users learned, replicated and then shared them to their own platforms, becoming a staple of quarantine entertainment. I, too, downloaded TikTok and engaged in the seemingly harmless way to stay busy. At first, I thought TikTok dances could be beneficial to the dance community. With more 15-second dances blowing up, maybe people would start giving dance the attention it deserves. However, I quickly realized that users with large platforms were doing what I have worked for my whole life:
getting paid to dance. I’ve been dancing for 16 years, pursuing my passion for ballet since age four. Now as I am earning my BFA degree in dance in New York City, I would argue that I am dedicating my life to the artform, spending up to 30 hours in the studio per week. My goal is to become a professional dancer — a career path usually looked down upon by conventional job markets. In multiple conversations, I’ve felt the need to defend my major while people mutter how being a dancer is “not a real job.” But now, the career I have had to defend ever since declaring my major is suddenly the most popular and profitable choice. In July of this year, TikTok announced its own Creator Fund, a pool of $200 million to pay successful creators on the app. Users older than 18 with a following of at least 10,000 can now perform dances and get paid for it, over and over, with each new trend. Besides this new fund, brand deals and sponsorships made professional dancing a trendy job that required a simple “woah” and wink. I understand that TikTok content is meant to be lighthearted, but the top percent of “dancers” are making an undeniably large amount of money from the app. These TikTok dancers quickly transitioned into choreographers, too.
As I’ve always been told, dancers are the instruments, and choreographers are the composers. What makes a good choreographer is subjective to everyone, but the ones I’ve worked with aim to connect with the audience in an emotional way. On TikTok, movement is used purely as a distraction from emotion instead of producing an emotion, diminishing the creative process. People want to see a satisfying dance just to scroll to another one, a cycle that will continue for hours until they can snap out of TikTok’s alternate universe. On the other hand, I did notice that some choreography was at least attempting to elicit an emotion. With an abundance of air-humping and an uncomfortable amount of lip-biting, certain dances were clearly more sexual, which would not be a problem if teenage girls didn’t make up a third of the user base. Girls around ages 13 and 14 are the ones recreating these steps and idolizing the TikTok creators popularizing them. The TikTokers choreographing these overtly sexual dances need to be more responsible with their platform and understand how young girls now glorify these suggestive moves. Until TikTok starts promoting hip-hop or colloquial dances that are more appropriate for their
underage target audience, you won’t find that app back on my phone anytime soon. Downloading an app does not make you a professional dancer. The hours, days and years spent perfecting an artform make you a professional dancer. Hours spent at the ballet barre learning how to sew pointe shoes. Days spent learning a time step in tap shoes and how to do a jazz square. Years spent exploring how to be an artist and tell a story with only your body. The professional part will feel earned knowing that I have put
so much effort into my passion. So, yes, I deleted TikTok, but only because I refuse to support a platform that simplifies an artform that I have spent 16 years studying. A mere 15 seconds is not nearly enough time to fully grasp a choreographic concept meant to be performed live. So if you decide to consume dance on a screen, at least virtually tune in to a performance that features artists who need the support instead of mindlessly monetizing mediocre choreography.
ANDREW DRESSNER/THE OBSERVER
Viral dances on TikTok are giving untrained dancers new opportunities and financial benefits while aspiring professionals are left behind.
Let People Read What They Enjoy In an overwhelming world, the books you read should be the last thing you should worry about CLARA GERLACH Staff Writer
For most of my childhood, my family passed judgment on the literature I chose to read. When my mom saw my New York Public Library tote filled with Nancy Drew novels or “The Mysterious Benedict Society,” she would sigh and promptly let me know I should be reading classics. “Classics” was such an ominous term, and it stuck with me for ages. To her, my young adult (YA) novels were trash, and reading them was a waste of time. After all, I was in middle school, and when she was my age, she read way more important pieces of literature. I say this not to expose my mom, who only wanted the best for me, or to call her an elitist, but to say that she isn’t the only one. I see this sort of elitism in literature, even at Fordham, and I cannot stand for it. As an avid reader, I have read many classics, much to my mom’s delight, as well as books of all kinds, and I’m lucky to thoroughly enjoy reading nonfiction more than any other genre. I do, however, find myself drawn occasionally to other genres, and I still catch myself feeling self-conscious about reading certain books. The thing is, I shouldn’t be. People should be able to read what they enjoy without feeling embarrassed about consuming it. We don’t need to read to feel smart; we should be able to read for pleasure without the appended guilt for consuming a “subpar” book. A Hierarchy of Worthiness We live in a world where books that aren’t seen as academic in nature are instantly frowned upon. Why is it that “Pride and Prejudice” is allowed, but when it
comes to “Normal People” readers are more hesitant? Both novels are great, delicate romances, and only time and style of writing differentiates them. People are so quick to turn up their noses at modern literature while praising books of the past. The worst part is that “Normal People” is still respected in the book community. Books that are even less academic in style or substance don’t even have a chance of being considered. It’s the same thing as chastising someone for watching “The Bachelor.” Why is it that people aren’t allowed to watch or read something mindless? What authority does one have to judge what other people consume? Enjoyment should not be predicated on the need for an inflated sense of self-worth. People can read because they want to read. It doesn’t have to be an academic endeavor. In general, why does one have to justify what they enjoy? This sort of elitism is found in the books we read, the movies we enjoy and the music we listen to. I believe that we have deluded ourselves in agreeing to a hierarchy of taste, where a chick flick is a guilty pleasure and a Wes Anderson film is a work of art. Why are chick flicks guilty pleasures? Why can’t we enjoy “About Time” or “(500) Days of Summer” without feeling guilty? Why can’t we enjoy “Mean Girls” just as much as “Eighth Grade”? Elitism is embedded in these industries. We see this is less prevalent in books, but it’s the same hierarchy as the one found in film. For example, Martin Scorcese proudly defends his opinion that Marvel films aren’t cinema, saying that the films aren’t “art.” That statement further feeds into this hierarchical system where those who watch indie or international films suddenly feel that they have
a right to feel superior to Marvel fans. It resembles the argument of those who think that certain books aren’t any good because they are printed for the mass market; however, the same publishers that print for the mass market are the ones publishing the books found at the top of the cultural hierarchy. Additionally, it is worth noting that many of the books that are put down have a primarily female demographic. When it comes to movies or TV, chick flicks and reality shows are seen as something to feel guilty about, and books that mostly women and girls read are not spared from this treatment. YA or romance novels are quickly put onto the list of books that are not worth consumption, when, in reality, they may very well present themes and ideas better than other formats. “The Hunger Games,” often dismissed as a YA dystopian novel, was modeled after the world we live in today. After working in the entertainment industry, author Suzanne Collins wrote about creating glamorous shells and heroes out of abused kids and the glorification of violent media as well as what she called “the moral right to wage war.” She crafted a veiled (and sometimes not-so-veiled) social commentary that had strong themes of anti-authoritarianism and classism. In any other format, these themes and concepts would have been respected or even lauded, but because the main consumers were young girls, it was brushed off in any sort of academic sense, cast away to the bottom of the hierarchy. It was promptly put right next to “Twilight” when it should have been placed next to “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
A Final Word This isn’t about art or taste; there are undeniable factors that allow us to see the difference when it comes to quality in writing or plotline in a book or screenplay. The point is that we shouldn’t feel guilty or ashamed for reading something that’s mindless or less academic in nature. Many of us have grown up in schools that may have made us feel less incentivized to read by providing summer reading lists with books we had no interest in. I know people who no longer read books for pleasure and associate the boring books they read in school with the entire experience of reading. In reality, there are so many different kinds of books, and one could easily find something they would enjoy. It doesn’t have to necessarily be a mass-market publication — we all have our niche. There shouldn’t be any barrier
keeping people from enjoying a book when they find one they like. In a time of so much information and overwhelming stress, we should be allowed to shut our brains off for a second and enjoy whatever book we would like to. It is so refreshing to be able to sit down with a book and immerse yourself in a new world or learn something new after hours of working, and it shouldn’t come with the caveat of guilt. If you’re guilty of judging others for how they enjoy themselves, reevaluate that choice. Catch yourself when you scoff internally at the sophomore still reading YA in college or the senior reading “Star Wars.” Don’t feed into the narrative that one book is better than another. Reading in any form is good for us, and people are allowed to enjoy what they want. College is hard enough without people being judgemental about the books you read.
ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER
Literature worth reading doesn’t begin and end with the classics. Modern literature, especially YA and romance books, are often dismissed as frivolous, but it shouldn’t be.
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Skip Trader Joe’s and Visit Your Local Fruit Stand Instead MADELINE KATZ Contributing Writer
It’s 11 a.m. on a Wednesday morning. I begin my outing to Trader Joe’s in the hopes of securing fruit and my vice of choice, dark chocolate peanut butter cups. First order of business, if you haven’t tried the peanut butter cups, I implore you to pause whatever you’re doing, go grab some and then come back. You will not regret it. I thought my early-hour, midweek trip was timed just right to avoid the chaotic evening rush at the Trader Joe’s marketplace on 72nd Street. Wrong! The line at Trader Joe’s has always been egregiously long, but now with social distancing practices in place, the line quite literally wraps around the outside of the store and onto the next block. As I approach the entrance, a feeling of horror descends upon me as I realize that this is Trader Joe’s purgatory. It’s a line going nowhere fast, and I must quickly think of alternatives or else be condemned to wait for my fruit for an eternity. I spot the fruit stand across the street and before I know it, I’m already halfway there. This leads me to the heart of my story and the heart of this city: Our neighborhood produce stands and the lovely people who run them. We walk by the stands every day. Rain or shine, they are always fully stocked with delicious, ripe fruit and vegetables at affordable prices. These stands are so ingrained in our neighborhoods that we sometimes don’t even notice them as we rush by. But we should. During the midst of the pandemic, these dedicated vendors
continue to show up for their communities and persevere through the dramatic loss of sales and risk of the coronavirus. Street vendors are a part of one of the most vulnerable populations in NYC, as they cannot work remotely and they often do not meet the stringent requirements needed to obtain government aid. Advocacy organizations like the Street Vendor Project have called for more comprehensive and supportive policies for street vendors. However, more still needs to be done to include vendors within relief programs for small businesses and to offer them the protection they deserve. Much of the discussion surrounding reopening in NYC was centered around the restaurant and bar scene, leaving little room for street vendors to receive the same type of support. While the restaurant and bar scene is vital to New York’s economy and offers livelihoods to many, street vendors should not be overlooked. In particular, produce stands play a vital role in bringing fresh produce to neighborhoods that have poor access to fresh fruit and vegetables. They stand by their communities in the bleakest of times, and the least we can do now is show up for them in the same way. Supporting your local produce stand can be as simple as picking up a peach during your daily walk or as elaborate as shopping for a romantic, exclusively fruit-themed picnic. Personally, I would choose the latter, as fruit is all the rage, now and forever, and you can never go wrong by wooing your crush with a perfectly designed fruit platter. If you’re feeling especially inspired, you could even
make a fruit sculpture — now that is a power move. You know what else is a power move? Supporting small, local businesses. If you typically shop at the Trader Joe’s on 72nd Street, then I would
highly recommend stopping by the fruit stand across the street on 73rd. The man who runs this stand has an eye for selecting the perfect mango and one bite into this luscious, juicy fruit will transport you to a tropical
paradise far removed from the streets of Manhattan. Forgo the long, arduous lines that have taken over Trader Joe’s and instead feast upon sunshine in fruit form from your local fruit man. I dare you.
ALYSSA DAUGHDRILL/THE OBSERVER
Buying fruit from neighborhood produce stands is the perfect way to get a quick snack and support local vendors.
The Freshest of Freshmen ABBIGAIL RAMNARINE Contributing Writer
We have all seen that type of freshman — the freshman who sports Fordham apparel from head to toe, embodying a human crimson tide on the second day of class. On campus, they are visibly lost and are often seen walking in one direction and abruptly turning around and venturing the other way. Well, that’s me. I am the maroon monster walking the halls, and, of course, I had to take a picture of myself standing in front of the ram statue. I had the notion that being a freshman was “totally fresh, man,” but, boy, was I in for a taste of reality! A reality that includes embarrassingly asking for directions to Lowenstein when you’re already in Lowenstein. Also, who knew college students didn’t need five packs of highlighters in every possible color or a dozen bottles of Wite-Out? My enthusiasm stemmed from the idea that starting college would be exactly like the scenes in “Pitch Perfect,” where students receive flyer upon flyer at club fairs and explore their scenic campuses, often doing anything but homework. The wonders of new beginnings and the sheer amount of college merchandise I could purchase from the bookstore filled me with joy, leading me to fall victim to common first-year mistakes, including buying textbooks
from the Fordham bookstore. The emails from the bookstore urging me to buy textbooks and winter gear surely didn’t help, either. During one of my unnecessary but frequent visits to the bookstore, I came across the ultimate freshman indicator: the Fordham lanyard. At the time, I had no idea that this polyester cord would give away my infancy, but upon opening Instagram, there was a meme at the top of my feed attacking me in all my freshman glory.
It clowned freshmen and their use of the Fordham lanyard. Upon being enlightened by this meme, I quickly placed the lanyard back on its hook and bought a Fordham mug instead. I don’t drink coffee — nor am I a big fan of tea — but I just had to fill the void the lack of a lanyard left me with. As if the Fordham merch I already possessed was not enough, I bought a pack of stickers, just in case there was a plain surface that needed to be “Fordham-ized.”
Freshmen LOVE stickers! I would plaster my entire body in Fordham stickers if I could. When we’re not buying stickers and apparel, you can find us getting lost on our way to Argo Tea (which I still haven’t found, by the way). No freshman wants to seem like a freshman, but we can’t help it. At least we can hide our smiles and confusion as we try to decipher whether or not we know that masked person standing 6 feet away.
ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER
What would the Fordham first-year experience be without the ubiquitous maroon lanyard and an assortment of ram stickers?
We act like we know what we’re doing, but in reality, we have no clue. For example, I wish I knew the horrors of taking classes at 8:30 a.m., and that a bit more pressure is needed when pushing the elevator buttons or else you’ll be left standing pointlessly. Through trial and error, we’ll surely get the hang of things, at some point. Although we are already well into the first semester, I’m sure the general inexperience of being a first-year student will strike up a new stumbling block as time progresses. There’s still a lot to learn, and even though COVID-19 has made for an unexpected freshman year, it certainly did not take away the little moments that contribute to the overall experience. Getting lost, being tempted by the bookstore and becoming excited at the mere thought of going to school won’t last too long, so I guess it’s time to savor these moments that are specific to being a new student. Next time you spot a freshman on campus or in one of your Zoom classes, just know, we know. We’ll grow out of our “freshie” phase eventually and become upperclassmen before we even know it. Maybe I’ll hit up the bookstore and get the lanyard that’s calling my name and a few other unneeded items, like a bucket hat I’ll never wear. I hope I, too, could someday impart wisdom upon future freshmen through a Fordham meme. But for now, being a freshman might just be totally fresh, man.
Arts & Culture
Arts & Culture Editor Ethan Coughlin - ecoughlin7@fordham.edu
October 14, 2020
THE OBSERVER
Inside and Out of Fordham Theatre’s Zoom Production of ‘Men on Boats’
COURTESY OF SARAH WANSLEY
“Men on Boats,” directed by Sarah Wansley, overcame the challenges of an online-based world. The production embraced new technology and focused on topics pertinent to this election year. By TYLER BEY Contributing Writer
It’s nearly impossible to make the telecommunication platform Zoom any more riveting than a biology lecture. But ever since the mass closing of theatres around the world, including Fordham’s very own theater spaces like Kehoe, Pope Auditorium and the White Box, technology experts have been working overtime to breathe life into the mundane video-conferencing software. The Fordham University theatre department has been making strides to adjust to the new virtual theater scape. With all classes being online and live shows having to switch to the screen, directors like Fordham’s Sarah Wansley have had to come up with creative solutions to complex problems.
There are no lights to hang or sets to help build — there’s only the magic of the screen and technological software.
The program decided to produce “Men on Boats,” a play that “follows a crew of white male explorers as they chart the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1869,” as described in a Fordham Theatre blog post. There’s one catch about the show, however: There are no men in Fordham’s production of “Men on Boats.“ The show was intentionally written for a predominantly female cast, but even past profes-
sional productions have failed to meet this criterion. Some local productions opted to include a few men of color, but director Wansley was only looking for women and nonbinary individuals to play the roles. “One of the central themes the play explores is leadership — what qualifies you to be a leader,” Wansley said. “As we enter this critical election, I can’t imagine a more relevant topic … How would the history of the frontier be different if we pulled our legends from the journals of women, Indigenous people and people of color?” In contrasting the male experience with non-male actors, Wansley discovers the treasures playwright Jaclyn Backhaus had hidden in the language all along. “She was talking about how she wanted to address toxic masculinity in this show. I do think that’s a structure in our society that needs to be dismantled and revisited in culture,” Myca Hinton, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’22 and cast member, said in regard to Wansley’s direction. The show at its core is about who gets to tell what story, and it’s fantastic. As for the show itself, the complicated technical elements and dedicated, thrilling acting is electrifying. Hinton’s castmates all delivered fantastic and committed performances. Even in the confines of their homes, there were moments where their characters practically jumped through the screen. With spectacular scenic design and stop motion video work, local scenic designer Sasha Schwartz was also a star of the show. They did a magnificent job at immersing audience members into the story, and it truly wouldn’t be nearly as good of a
production without their stunning animations and designs. Although watching the show was an amazing experience, I really started to understand the show from the inside working a small technical aspect during rehearsals.
Experiencing It From the Inside As a first-year theatre major, I have a requirement to fulfill a certain amount of technical hours during my freshman year. Luckily for me, I was assigned to “Men on Boats.” When I launched the Discord app on my computer, I was met with a swarm of different chat rooms for the production: one for wardrobe, one for the entire show, one for just actors, one for each individual actor and so on — it seemed to go on forever. Making Zoom theater is a tightly knit process that requires an even tighter community.
Virtual theater is about accessibility. It’s about breaking down barriers and allowing people who may not have access to the artform a chance to experience it at their fingertips. The job of doing first-year tech at Fordham usually would entail long hours of hanging lights, helping to design sets or maybe assisting with sound design. In our new frontier, there
are no lights to hang or sets to help build — there’s only the magic of the screen and technological software. So instead, first-years get the chance to check in with actors, make sure they have all their props and costumes and get them mentally ready for their four- to five-hour rehearsal. I was assigned to Victoria Fanning, FCLC ’22, and every day at 6 p.m., we signed into Discord to debrief about our day. My entire experience on this show has been a delight, but my favorite part by far is the melding of themes within the show itself and with those that we navigate in the present day. “It’s about these people going on an unknown exposition — no one’s done this before. All they have is each other to lean on, and I think we’re going through something very similar right now,” Fanning said. She discussed how there were over 200 people in the virtual waiting room opening night and how her family in Arizona was able to watch her show while still being social distanced. I could hear the smile through the screen as she mentioned that her grandparents could now see her shows again. Without the magical accessibility of the internet and Zoom theater, plenty of grandparents and cross-country family members wouldn’t be able to see their relatives’ performances. Virtual theater is about accessibility. It’s about breaking down barriers and allowing people who may not have access to the artform a chance to experience it at their fingertips. It’s a beautiful thing — just because it’s different from what we’ve always known doesn’t mean we can’t embrace it.
Our Present Reality Doesn’t Have to Be a Limitation Dylan Montellano, FCLC ’24, and local technical theater master John Kolbinski maneuvered an incredibly complex software called OBS, a platform that allows users to mix pre-recorded and live technical elements on Zoom. “I guess the limits were destroyed. The possibilities were expanded that’s for sure. I didn’t realize we had the possibility to do green screens, Zoom video and live elements all together,” Montellano said on how his knowledge of live theater translated to Zoom. “Men on Boats” is a feat of technological innovation, mixing green screen elements with prerecorded video and audio. With a range of sound and light design and far more technical surprises, the show pulled off something far beyond expectation. Indeed, virtual theater breaks many barriers. Although Zoom might seem like a limitation, it has allowed for the birth of some truly special moments. Hinton, Montellano and Fanning all talked about the unknown and how it surprisingly brings people together. “When live performances are back, it’ll be pretty cool to see how Zoom can reach other people. Audience members could watch it from California, it can be interactive not only with people in the audience physically but also people who are distanced,” Montellano said. We are in a time where we know incredibly little about what the future will hold. But art still serves the same purpose it always has, and “Men on Boats” illuminates that swimmingly.
www.fordhamobserver.com
THE OBSERVER October 14, 2020
Arts & Culture
Celluloid Series #1: A Celebration of the Avant-Garde By KEVIN STOLL Staff Writer
Fordham’s visual arts department presents the “Celluloid Series,” a set of in-depth discussions taking place each semester that aim to further conversations about filmmaking practice and content. The development of this series came as a result of the department receiving a Faculty Challenge Grant from the arts and sciences deans. At the first, and so far only, installment of the series, which took place over Zoom on Oct. 7, Fordham Visual Arts Director Mark Street and Professor Ross McLaren, in partnership with New York’s Film-Makers’ Cooperative, discussed five different short films with students and fellow film enthusiasts. “The Film-Makers’ Cooperative is a vibrant organization that has been distributing films since 1961,” Street said. “They’ve distributed films by Andy Warhol, Marie Menken and Jonas Mekas. I’ve had my own work there for the last 20 years or so. Students do internships there all the time, and it’s always a great chance for them to brush up against artist filmmakers and join in the community of avant-garde film.” Students were asked to view the five different avant-garde films, including “Remembrance of a Portrait Study,” “The Floor of the World,” “Stranger Baby,” “Harbour City” and “American Hunger” by themselves before they discussed their reactions and thoughts with the group. “Harbour City,” in particular, impressed most students with its split-screen-edited, almost psychedelic presentation of downtown Hong Kong. “I feel like the split-screen technique was interesting because you have to almost choose which screen you want to look at,” Percy Wu, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’21, said about “Harbour City.” “When I finished the film, all that was left with me were still images of some of the shots that appear in the film. It felt like the film gave me the impression of the saying ‘Before you die, your whole life flashes before your eyes,’ because it all felt like sensory bombardment.”
Paulo Coelho, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’21, also experienced “sensory bombardment” while viewing the film. “I thought (‘Harbour City’) was interesting because at first, I thought that it kind of contrasted with the rest of the films in the way where the other ones felt much more personal and human,” Coelho said. “The film just felt like a lot of stimulus overload, but I think that, as I continued to watch, I learned how to discern from the ‘hustle and bustle’ of the film and how to pick out individual elements and visuals. And I really enjoyed that, because it felt like something I kind of grew with as I was watching.” For both Street and McLaren, the choice to focus the discussion on avant-garde filmmakers rather than the “commercial” works of more contemporary filmmakers allowed students to think outside the box when discussing their own personal praises and critiques of each film. “I thought each film truly created its own language and truly asked us to look at it in a particular way,” Street said. “Even the first film we watched, ‘Remembrance of a Portrait Study,’ I couldn’t figure out what was going on at first. But I sunk into it, and it sort of told me how to watch it. I’m really appreciative of films that don’t hit you over the head, or don’t tell you how to look at them, but allow them to evolve over time,” he continued. “What immediately struck me was the diversity of content and technique,” McLaren said. “In other words, it’s impossible to say that these films have anything in common, other than the fact that you probably wouldn’t go to see these films at your local movie theater or mall. It’s artists working in film by and large, rather than filmmakers just making films.” A film doesn’t have to abide by the Hollywood system of filmmaking, as long as it serves as a reflection of the artist first and foremost. Film itself is a medium that is open to manipulation, a medium where the artist has creative authority, and yet, no authority at all. It’s the artist’s job to “paint” a picture, but it’s in the viewer’s own interest to interpret that picture for themselves.
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COURTESY OF BAWILA IDRIS
The “Celluloid Series,” put on by the visual arts department, has screened five avant-garde films and hosted discussions with students.
Sarah Wansley Steers a Cast on Zoom
How she and her production team created Fordham’s first digital mainstage show ‘Men on Boats’ By ISABELLA MALFI Staff Writer
Sarah Wansley, director and Fordham Theatre professor, is one of many artists whose life and work have been disrupted and challenged by the coronavirus pandemic. But in the face of uncertainty, Wansley exercised her collaborative skills to build a digital performance that just might rival theater as we once knew it.
“ For me, the initial
impulse to dive into virtual theater was less about my own artistic needs and more about wanting to support my community and wanting to keep artists employed. ”
Sarah Wansley, director of ‘Men on Boats’
Wansley taught classes in text analysis and theatre history and has served as a directing mentor to many students; she is no stranger to Fordham The-
atre. This year, Wansley has been tasked with directing “Men on Boats,” the first mainstage production of the 2020-21 Fordham Theatre season. Wansley describes “Men on Boats” as an adventure story told with a comedic edge that tackles major questions of American legacy, as it pertains in particular to toxic, white masculinity and westward expansion. Wansley said that it is a story that has always needed to be told. The play was selected for the 2020-21 Mainstage season prior to the summer. “It is very important that ‘Men on Boats’ is not a digital performance,” Wansley said. She described this production as more than filmed theater and emphasized that producing theater in a pandemic is an entirely novel form of entertainment. The challenges and opportunities of the virtual stage have revolutionized the ways in which actors, designers, stage managers and directors are creating theater. She attributes much of the exciting virtual work of “Men on Boats” to her summer of virtual theater at the Chautauqua Theater Company. Wansley experienced the pandemic’s effects on the industry early on, as she is the artistic producer at the independent summer theater company in upstate New York. Though the pandemic closed
theaters across the country, Chautauqua was able to maintain its summer season online. The group kept company actors and colleagues employed, put on virtual theater performances, workshopped new play submissions from emerging playwrights and offered entertainment to the community when it was needed most. “For me, the initial impulse to dive into virtual theater was less about my own artistic needs and more about wanting to support my community and wanting to keep artists employed,” Wansley said. “Really, from the beginning, there was never a thought of taking the show we would have done in the auditorium and putting it online,” Wansley continued. In order to maintain the live aspects of theater, the production will have a threeshow run, with all the shows being streamed live. The virtual production mixes live acting with stop-motion animation to capture the action and excitement of the story within the confines of Zoom; this gives the actors an opportunity to experiment with both pre- and post-pandemic theater styles. The student designers have “done an incredible job stepping up to work as a team,” Wansley said. She and the production team shipped audio and lighting equipment and costume accessories to
actors. They’ve reimagined virtual costume fittings and mid-show costume changes to create the same cohesion of an in-person performance. The creative team comprises a diverse group of voices, and the cast is made up of entirely female and nonbinary actors, all of whom have been central to having honest and constructive conversations throughout the rehearsal process. “This feels like exactly the kind of work I wanted to engage with, especially with young actors who are in the midst of their training and exploring their identities,” Wansley said. The questions of diversity and the interrogation of whiteness have been talked about and considered throughout the rehearsal process through candid dialogue and dramaturgical research. Wansley acknowledged, however, that there will always be more work to be done. Given the speedy timeline, the difficulty of Zoom and “the giant hurdle of putting on this production,” there hasn’t been as much time as Wansley would have liked in rehearsal to talk about the bigger thematic questions this play poses. The hope is that through the performances and a “virtual lobby” of dramaturgical information, the greater Fordham community will continue to engage in conver-
COURTESY OF SARAH WANSLEY
Wansley was poised to tackle Fordham’s first digital mainstage performance after her summer spent producing digital shows.
sation and discuss the play’s impact and inquiries. Looking at Wansley’s work throughout the pandemic so far, the driving force through it all has been community. On an even bigger scale, this period in our lives begs all theater artists to reimagine and restructure the industry to be a more inclusive, diverse and collaborative space. “The eternal hopefulness of students and the great desire for community and the sacrifices all of you have made to find a way to be at Fordham this semester and to find a way to build community has been really inspiring.”
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Arts & Culture
October 14, 2020 THE OBSERVER
www.fordhamobserver.com
Wander No More: Lessons Learned From ‘Nomadland’
The 58th New York Film Festival is Frances McDormand’s last stop on the way to her third Academy Award win By ETHAN COUGHLIN Arts & Culture Editor
Frances McDormand is going to win the Academy Award for best actress for her performance in “Nomadland.” “Nomadland” premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 11, 2020, and was the centerpiece film for this year’s New York Film Festival. Director Chloé Zhao adapted the screenplay from the book “Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century” by Jessica Bruder. The film follows a widow in her 60s named Fern, played by McDormand, who lives out of a van and traverses the American West after the mill in her “one-mill-town” shuts down, causing her entire town to fall off the map.
At its core, the film deals with the universal struggle of finding what makes us happy.
Going into the New York Film Festival, “Nomadland” had received critical acclaim after it won the Golden Lion, the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. Still, I did not understand what I was getting myself into. “Nomadland” is one of the most genuine and relatable movies I have ever seen. At its core, the film deals with the universal struggle of finding what makes us happy. When Fern’s town is wiped off the map, everything and everyone that she loved is taken from her without warning. Saying McDormand gave a strong performance is like saying that water is wet: It is a given. Fern falls right into McDormand’s favorite, and best, type of character to play — the strong but stubborn
woman on a mission. I expect Fern to be joining Mildred from “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and Marge from “Fargo” on the list of characters that McDormand has won best actress for. Despite McDormand’s powerhouse performance, the most impactful moments come from the other characters around her. Besides McDormand and one or two more actors, many of the characters are played by non-actors essentially playing themselves. This decision to cast non-actors added a level of sincerity that just couldn’t have been achieved by any trained actor. Adding to her brilliance, McDormand recognizes that genuine touch that the other characters bring to the film, and, she dims her starlight during scenes to allow the non-actors and their stories to really take over the audience. The two scenes that specifically impacted me were simply when “Swankie” and Bob Welles (their actual and character names) imparted some of their elderly wisdom to Fern. I don’t want to spoil these beautiful moments, so I will just say that they are more powerful than I could have expected. I felt like I was sitting down with my grandparents in such a visceral way that I could not help what came over me as I cried with more passion than I ever have with any other film before. After watching this film I immediately looked into Zhao’s other work and was disappointed to find that her next project is Marvel’s “The Eternals.” All the things that made Zhao’s work on this film so incredible will be stripped by Marvel execs who are more concerned with selling toys than producing cinema. I only hope that the exposure Zhao will receive from such a big studio movie will allow her to make more films like this one. “Nomadland” is expected to be released to general audiences on Dec. 4.
COURTESY OF SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
“Nomadland,” directed by Chloé Zhao, was the centerpiece for the New York Film Festival this year.
Intertwined Influence: From Page to Pitch
A look into literature’s iconic influence on musical composition and lyrical invention By ANNIKA SUDERBURG Contributing Writer
“Once upon a time” has become synonymous with storytelling or literature. Though the phrase was born between the pages of a book, it slowly danced onto sheet music, with musicians incorporating the phrase into lyrics or titles. Countless songs and albums were inspired by books. Two artists in particular impeccably incorporate literary inspiration with musical genius: Kate Bush and David Bowie. Both artists are well known for their musical narrative and unique sound. Literature inspires musical invention, especially by way of lyrical creativity and the music itself. A musical pioneer, Kate Bush has inspired many from Julia Holter to FKA Twigs to Lady Gaga. From her eccentric music videos to unusual lyrics, Bush’s art pop persona makes her one of the most interesting performers to emerge from the 1970s. Deriving inspiration from numerous sources, Bush frequently delves into literature for ideas. Bush based her first great hit, “Wuthering Heights,” on the Gothic Emily Brontë novel of the same name. In the song “Wuthering Heights,” Bush embodies the character of Cathy. She sings, “Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy” and explains Cathy’s position with a tragic request, “I’ve come home, I’m
so cold / Let me in through your window.” In the novel, Cathy’s tortured soul endlessly wanders the moors even in death, hopelessly searching for a way to make amends. Bush’s ability to convey this narrative through a few chorus lines exemplifies the blend of literature and music; it is the same story with a different presentation. It is also important to acknowledge how Bush sings this song. She does not sing softly but presents high-pitched, screeching vocals. These screeching vocals evoke the same feeling that Brontë’s Gothic writing style does. Both convey the dark desperation of the subject matter. Bush’s lyrics present a clear connection to the novel, while her musical style subtly exposes Cathy’s tortured soul. Bush’s literary inspiration surfaced again in “Sensual World,” based on Molly Bloom’s soliloquy in James Joyce’s masterpiece “Ulysses.” She captures both the mood and Joyce’s writing style. Joyce was a pioneer behind the stream-of-consciousness writing style; he displays this style through Molly’s unpunctuated, passionate soliloquy. Bush recreates this blissful delirium in “Sensual World” when she frequently exclaims “yes,” echoing Bloom’s soliloquy. Her smooth vocal transitions create a sense of verbal blending, emulat-
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY LARA FOLEY/THE OBSERVER
ing Joyce’s style of unpunctuated stream of consciousness. Another artist known for his lyrical creativity is David Bowie. A true master of reinvention, Bowie tackles a plethora of themes in his work. One such theme revolves around George Orwell’s “1984.” Though Bowie’s musical adaptation “1984” never came to fruition,
the surviving songs landed on his 1974 album “Diamond Dogs.” “We Are the Dead,” “Big Brother” and “1984” all derive from Orwell’s famous novel. Though the whole album echoes Orwellian themes, “1984” provides the clearest direct parallel. Bowie tackles the same themes of Orwell’s “1984” in his epony-
mous song. He sings, “They’ll split your pretty cranium, and fill it full of air.” He references the brainwashing that Orwell cautioned against. Similar to Bush’s reimagining of her literary inspirations, Bowie conveys Orwell’s message in a new but effective way. In addition, Bowie utilizes the instantaneous cultural connection to 1984. The song closes with Bowie repeating “1984.” He is aware that his audience comprehends the gravity of these numbers without context; they carry cultural weight. In this numerical repetition, he lets that meaning settle subtly, rather than overwhelming the listener with overzealous comparisons. Literature permeates music in terms of lyrics, songs and even albums. Kate Bush and David Bowie both effectively connect literature and music. Their lyrical inventiveness and musical sound both present literary inspiration in a new form. However, literature as musical inspiration is not limited to these artists. Many others cite literature as inspiration, including The Beatles, Metallica and Nirvana, among others. Literature constantly inspires musical innovation. This synthesis of two distinct yet intertwined disciplines has created, and will continue to create, some of the most interesting and unique songs in musical history.
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THE OBSERVER October 14, 2020
Live Music Remains Unconquered
Arts & Culture
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Juilliard composer Anthony Barfield conducts ‘Invictus,’ a social distanced, multi-genre brass piece
COURTESY OF ANTHONY BARFIELD
Musician Anthony Barfield used his experience in various genres of music to create “Invictus,” which was performed live on the Josie Robertson Plaza. By VICKY CARMENATE and JILL RICE Asst. Arts & Culture Editor and Copy Editor
Conductor Anthony Barfield showcased “Invictus” at Lincoln Center on Aug. 7 as an ode to the city and its people during a time marked by COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement. Alongside 15 brass instrumentalists, Barfield told the story of New York through the brass composition by drawing from elements of gospel, jazz, classical and hip-hop traditions. The piece, just like the city, is diverse within itself. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the city’s performing arts spaces had been closed for six months, but the warm and sometimes brassy, sometimes mellow tones of Barfield’s piece rang through the Josie Robertson Plaza at Lincoln Center.
“ Bringing art back to
the city is fun, but to be able to collaborate and feed off of each other again — musicians and artists thrive on collaboration.”
Anthony Barfield, conductor of “Invictus”
The musicians featured in the piece all come from different genres and experiences, so their unique perspectives of the instrumentation come together to form “Invictus.” This was the first time in history that performers from the MET Orchestra Musicians, the New York Philharmonic, The Juil-
liard School, Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York City Ballet Orchestra and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra performed together. In a time when we must be social distanced, Barfield figured out a way to create live music in the same space as others. As a Juilliard alumnus and faculty member, Barfield is no stranger to the Lincoln Center area. According to his website, Barfield went to Juilliard for trombone performance. Living as a music student in the city, he was able to take on many opportunities to perform at places such as Carnegie Hall, Dizzy’s Coca Cola Club and the Kennedy Center. On the Josie Robertson Plaza, the musicians stood 12 feet apart in a half-circle with Barfield at the center, 40 feet from his musicians. For Barfield, this was the first time in months that he had
been able to work with other musicians. “Bringing art back to the city is fun, but to be able to collaborate and feed off of each other again — musicians and artists thrive on collaboration,” he said. The video shows how fruitful it can be for musicians to work together now. In his performance video, Barfield said that “Invictus” is supposed to be about “New York in its current state with Black Lives Matter, dealing with COVID-19 — the uncertainty of it all.” Performing in Lincoln Center has a heavy historical significance. That land, once occupied by working-class and low-income Black and Latinx folks, is now a place where upper-class white folks indulge in fine art. Barfield paid respects to this history when creating the piece: “When I was writing something, I wanted to make sure that it was something for the people.” In making his piece accessible to all audiences, he applied both his hip-hop and classical musical backgrounds. His career expands beyond composing and producing for ensembles; he also produces for mainstream artists. His work is featured in songs by Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Young MA and Trippie Redd. Working with different types of musicians, Barfield noted that “in the classical world ... people who understand those mediums want to intellectualize that particular art from the neck up — they want to understand what goes into making that piece of artwork.” On the other hand, “the rest of the world wants to intellectualize from the neck down — meaning they like the feeling of the piece of work,” not the thought process that goes into creating the music. Barfield consciously made his melody both “strong” and “memorable” because he wanted the music to be accessible to everyone. Any person, no matter their education level or income, should be able to get some emotion and
expression out of his music, even if they’ve never studied music before. “I can’t tell you the number of times I have played a beat for classical musicians and they’ll pick it apart — ‘Ah, man, you did this harmony and this groove.’ But then I’ll play it for my mama or my friends and they’ll just groove through it,” he explained. With “Invictus,” any way of interpreting the rhythm and melody is acceptable to Barfield — he made it with any audience in mind, from hip hop fans to orchestra-goers. As a resident of Washington Heights, he saw firsthand the devastation that the coronavirus brought to the neighborhood. Residents there, unlike those who retreated to their summer homes in Connecticut whom Barfield considers “not real New York,” faced the virus head-on. “There are a lot of people out here that are struggling. Not just with losing jobs, but also that anxiety and depression that goes with that. Uncertainty is a real thing,” he said. Life is never easy as working-class people in New York, especially during the pandemic. As an artist, he knew many people in his field who could not find jobs “and made the decision to change careers — orchestras are shut down; Broadway is shut down; there are no gigs.” Barfield knows that music is not for a small, select group of privileged people. He noted that the Black Lives Matter movement has allowed “organizations to start hiring more Black musicians and composers.” In his own career, Barfield has “received a lot of offers” from historically white performance centers after “Invictus” was aired on the Lincoln Center website. Barfield has said, “I don’t want people to support me; I want them to have conversations about Black Lives Matter. Make sure that people can actually do research to learn more about Black history and then have a conversation about it.”
Ram Jams: ‘EDNA’
Headie One bounces back, but not as much as I’d hoped By ETHAN COUGHLIN Arts & Culture Editor
Genre: U.K. Hip Hop/Drill On a Playlist With: Skepta, Octavian, Dave, Stormzy, Chip North London-based rapper Headie One has dropped his seventh full-length project beginning in 2017, named “EDNA” after his mother. Following the disappointment of his project “GANG” from earlier this year, I was excited yet skeptical when he announced this album. Once the features list including Skepta, Stormzy, AJ Tracey, Young Adz and Future was revealed, the skepticism faded and I was left anxious for the release. When Headie One took to Instagram and announced the album release date would be “09/10/20” on Sept. 17, I thought that I had missed the drop until I realized that the Brits write their dates with the day first. When Oct. 9 finally came around, I had to see audiences across the Atlantic reacting to it hours before I finally got to listen to it. After all the hype that I built
around this album release, following a first listen I was ultimately left unsatisfied. I would not say I was disappointed, per se, but definitely shy of being completely satisfied. While I wouldn’t call “EDNA” bad, I’d consider Headie One’s 2019 solo album “Music x Road” better and 2017’s “Drillers x Trappers” and 2019’s “Drillers x Trappers II,” his collaborative mixtapes with Rv, to be his best work. The biggest problem with this album is filler. Songs like “Triple Science” or “Five Figures” feel like they’re just stalling until the next feature appears on the album. The album’s total runtime comes in just longer than an hour, but I think there’s a better album in here that is probably about 40 minutes long. If I were recutting the project, I would cut out most of Headie One’s solo songs, with the exception of “Teach Me” and “Mainstream,” and leave just about all of the songs with features. There are some good tracks at the start of the album, but the project really comes into itself at “Princess Cuts” featuring Young T and Bugsy. This album has 13 listed
features, and they’re all pretty strong. Before the project even dropped, “Only You Freestyle” was already making waves online with Drake rapping in Arabic. As strange as it was for Drake to rap in Arabic, I can’t deny that both he and Headie One deliver hard verses. “Only You Freestyle” flows into “Try Me” featuring Skepta as the two outdo the Drake feature the song before. However, both of those songs still lose in comparison to the next two tracks. “F U Pay Me” features Ivorian Doll over Kenny Beats production. Both Headie One and Ivorian Doll experiment with different flows over the simple yet hard beat. Ivorian Doll gets real clever with the line, “Do this only for the fans, so it’s ‘F--- you, pay me,’ comin’ like sex work.” The biggest surprise of the album for me is the song “ParlezVous Anglais” featuring Aitch. Despite his popularity in the U.K., Aitch has been a rapper whose music I have struggled to get into. That being said, “Parlez-Vous Anglais” was immediately, and still is, my favorite song on this album. Aitch and Headie One pass the song back and forth for the
VIA RELENTLESS RECORDS
hottest three and a half minutes this year. Hard bars like “The plaques come platinum, my bezel’s stainless, whip goes fast and the crib’s outrageous” are intermixed with funnier lyrics like “Yo, shorty said ‘H,’ me and Aitch both lookin’ like H or Aitch?” While this album may not have been everything I wanted it to be, it certainly is not bad and only makes me more excited for Headie One’s future work.
The Bottom Line: I’ll be listening to songs from this album for years to come, but not the album in its entirety. The Peaks: “Parlez-Vous Anglais,” “F U Pay Me” and “Everything Nice” The Valleys: “Ain’t it Different” and “Therapy” The Verdict: 6.5/10
un &
Fun & Games Editor Esmé Bleecker-Adams - ebleeckeradams@fordham.edu
ames
October 14, 2020 THE OBSERVER
Crossword: Down to the Funny Bone
podcast, and “perfect” have in common 35. father of Thor 36. singer Rita 37. when you grant a specter personhood, say 43. what you could use to catch a fish 44. bobs and sidecuts, for example 45. aquatic plants with pink flowers 47. “son of” in Arabic 48. when the Grim Reaper gets a job on a pirate ship, say 52. say that the dog ate your homework, for example 53. enthralled 54. underwear 55. technology that can convert written words to spoken language: Abbr. 56. power, rank or estate of a feudal lord 59. type of chips with ridges 60. secondhand 61. a grade you can only hope a professor would give (2 Wds.) 62. when demons in Hell protest for better wages and paid leave, say 69. show (a video) 71. white flowers used to represent purity 72. ceremony or tradition 74. extremely uncommon 75. city in Turkey that was the third capital of the Ottoman Empire 76. ages 77. has an obligation to 78. starts from the beginning again 79. fussy or persnickety
By GRACE GETMAN
ACROSS
1. rodents 5. commands 11. Fordham Lincoln Center’s Filipino American org. 15. type of French cheese 16. evening festivity 17. the Hawkeye State 18. elastic thread typically used to craft key chains and friendship bracelets
19. something you could say while strolling without a care 20. lengthy 21. when a zombie steps on your toes, say 25. type of brain scan: Abbr. 26. shape 27. polite way to address a woman 28. toasted sandwiches 31. head of financial mgmt. at a company 34. what “Retrospect,” The Observer’s
DOWN 1. Supreme Court justice who recently died: Abbr. 2. dry 3. devices used to travel to other eras 4. device used to differentiate liquids 5. Nordic capital 6. horse coat color pattern 7. early 2000s British superstar known for hits “Thank You” and “White Flag” 8. Ellie Kemper’s character on “The Office” 9. assign new meaning to 10. fall, currently
11. JPEG or PDF, for example 12. stolen goods 13. possess 14. what a dog’s tail might do 22. not well-lit 23. day that follows Thurs. 24. whom you would call after a heart attack: Abbr. 27. unit of measurement for data size 28. clique 29. fuss 30. main character played by Abigail Breslin in a 2008 children’s island adventure film 31. controlled use and protection of natural resources 32. what some might call a highway 33. grains sometimes eaten for breakfast 38. cards used to store memory: Abbr. 39. Tik ___; popular app during quarantine 40. study of 41. prefix meaning “not a part of” 42. and so on: Abbr. 44. handle of a sword 46. city region (2 Wds.) 49. edge of something near water that is turned away from the coast 50. self-pride 51. internet communication method for enabling online anonymity 56. type of large car: Abbr. 57. the letter that follows “h” ___ (2 Wds.) 58. Monica played by Courteney Cox on “Friends” 59. all-female U.S. military unit during World War II 62. alternative to truth 63. peepers 64. Muhammad and Laila 65. urgent 66. tunnel an impostor can go through in “Among Us” 67. Catalina and El Capitan, for Mac: Abbr. 68. volcano in Italy 69. not amateur, for short 70. companion of order 73. some newcomers’ study, in brief
Instructions: Find the names of New York orchards in this autumn-themed disco grid, and you might just find your next apple-picking destination. Here’s the catch: At least one tile in every color, except for one, is part of a word on this list. Figure out which color isn’t included in any of the words, and unscramble all the letters in that color to find the (pandemicappropriate) name of the orchard The Observer’s staff visited last year.
Disco Orchard Word Search
APPLE RIDGE APPLE DAVE’S BARTON DR DAVIES FISHKILL GRIEG HANK’S PUMPKINTOWN HARBES HARVEST MOON HURD’S JENKINS-LUEKEN KELDERS LAWRENCE LOVE APPLE WILKENS FRUIT AND FIR
Unscrambled Answer: ______ ________
By GILLIAN RUSSO
Pumpkin Patches Only two of these pumpkins are exactly the same: Can you find them? By ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS
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3 2
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