Issue 6 Fall 2021

th 40 ANNIVER

Y1981- 2021 SAR

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th 40 ANNIVER

Observer the

Y1981- 2021 SAR

August 28, 2021 VOLUME XLI, ISSUE 6

New Year, Same Rules:

Mask Mandate Reimplemented

see MASKS page 2

FLC Welcomes Largest Class Ever After more than a year of virtual classes, club meetings and events, Fordham is planning to offer a fully in-person fall semester for returning students and the incoming class of 2025.

Orientation and the start of fall classes will be the first time many members of the Class of 2025 see Fordham’s campus in-person.

The incoming class of firstyear students discovered new ways to learn about colleges, even before in-person tours of Fordham’s campuses resumed on April 7.

Sarah Rosier, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’25, is from Eugene, Oregon, and, like most students in her class, had to make college decisions based on information she found online.

“I explored colleges virtually last year by looking at the info they have on websites, so-

cial media, and even watching TikToks made by students from that college,” Rosier said.

Campus tours, considered a staple of learning about colleges, were not possible or largely limited for students in person due to safety restrictions. Jack Woo, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’25, is from Setauket, New York, and found the lack of campus tours to be the greatest barrier in his college search.

“I think the inability to actually tour the campus was a big difficulty when it came to exploring colleges, because I couldn’t really get as good a feel of the physical location from pictures,” Woo said.

Andy Diaz, FCRH ’25, is from the Bay Area, California, and utilized Fordham’s virtual tours. He said it was difficult to fully understand the atmosphere of campus without being able to visit in person.

Virtual tours were available throughout the year, while

News

Sports & Health

Centerfold: Rubberneck

Opinions: Rubberneck

Arts & Culture

New VP John Cecero

Football Preview

Eat, Pray, Ramses

Class Requirement

Movies in the Park

Page 3

Page 5

Page 6

Page 9

Page 10

By LAURA OLDFATHER Contributing Writer

Cecero returns as VP of Mission Integration and Ministry

DeMorat and Rams prepare for full fall season

in-person tours have only been available since April 2021. Visitors were not allowed inside, so prospective students could only tour outdoor campus grounds.

Even with the added difficulties of their college decisions this year, members of the Class of 2025 are eager to begin their college experience.

“I am excited to take part in classes taught by professors who take pride in what they teach,” Diaz said, “I am excited to live in a dorm and meet new people from around the world.”

Rosier said she is looking forward to meeting new people, beginning a new chapter in her educational journey and continuing to grow.

While excited for meeting new people and having new experiences, Woo is worried about the adjustment to college life.

“I’m a bit nervous about being fully on my own and waking up in time for class,” Woo said.

Gender-Inclusive Housing Options, a Year in Effect

see CLASS OF 2025 page 3

A Rose Hill guide for lost Lincoln Center students

By MARYAM BESHARA Asst. News Editor

The fight for a more gender-inclusive campus began in 2014 when Chris Hennessy, FCLC ’15, founded The Positive, a student organization advocating for gender rights and gender equality.

Throughout the years, students organized and held several events and protests on campus to advocate for a better environment for transgender students. Now, seven years later, students reflect on the action that was taken and the changes that need to be made in order to achieve gender equality at Fordham.

Fordham Lincoln Center (FLC) introduced its gender-neutral policy for housing and roommate selections for the upcoming 2020-21 academic year in February of 2019 after a five-yearlong movement led by student organizations.

Following a push by students on the administration to

Proficiency in human decency now requirement at Fordham

The Student Voice of Fordham Lincoln Center

change on-campus single-occupancy bathrooms as designated “all-gender restrooms,” student organizations continued advocating for a recognition of gender rights in housing.

The Office of Residential Life (ResLife) promised to work on a case-by-case basis with students regarding their preferred housing options as well as introduced an added question to the housing form under the subsection “gender” inquiring whether or not students would be open to being assigned to a roommate or suitemate who identifies as transgender or gender-nonconforming.

Abigail Lo, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’23 — who identifies as agender and uses they/them pronouns — shared their thoughts about the continued need for the university to do better in protecting its transgender students. see HOUSING page 3

Bryant Park rolls opening credits on summer movie series

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News

August 28, 2021 THE OBSERVER

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University Updates COVID-19 Protocols

The university outlines regulations for unvaccinated members of the Fordham community MASKS from page 1

By MARYAM BESHARA Asst. News Editor

Following a summer of reversals in decisions regarding the use of masks on campus, the university reinstated the mask mandate on Aug. 19. All individuals are required to wear masks in public indoor spaces.

Fordham originally planned to not require masks when they announced a fully in-person fall semester and required proof of vaccination to enter campus.

Due to rising cases from the Delta variant, the university overturned its decision on the mask mandate.

All students, faculty and employees are required to be fully vaccinated upon their arrival to campus, including international students.

The university considers individuals who have received their second dose to be fully vaccinated after the two-week period following their second dose has passed. Any unvaccinated individual will need to continue uploading weekly negative antigen test results until they are fully vaccinated.

president, spoke on behalf of COVID-19 Coordinator and Vice President Marco Valera and Director of University Health Services Maureen Keown regarding newly implemented guidelines, policies and statistics gathered by the university.

The vaccination rate at Fordham is expected to rise to 99% before Sept. 1, the start of the academic year, according to Eldredge.

The university released statistics of vaccination rates among undergraduate and graduate students and employees. As of an Aug. 23 email, the current vaccination rate of students was 83% university-wide and 89% for undergraduates. Additionally, 95% of full-time employees are vaccinated. The vaccination rate for all employees has not yet been calculated.

Unlike undergraduate students, all graduate students have the ability to enroll in virtual

Keith Eldredge, dean of student services and assistant vice

Vaccination Rate Statistics

classes and opt out of returning to campus, which can lower the overall vaccination rate.

“Despite all of our communications, some college students do things at the last minute, and we have seen the compliance rate increase by about 10% each week in the past 2 weeks, so we think we are on track for when classes begin next week,” Eldredge said.

The vaccination rate at Fordham is expected to rise to 99% before Sept. 1, the start of the academic year, according to Eldredge.

“ We expect that

students will adhere to the guidelines and expectations, and staff will contact Public Safety for support if needed ”

Keith Eldredge, dean of student services and assistant vice president

He also emphasized the university’s expectation that they will grant less than 1% of requested vaccine exemptions.

Prohibited Spaces for Unvaccinated Individuals

ALYSSA DAUGHDRILL/THE OBSERVER

Students sit at Lincoln Center with the option to not wear masks outdoors.

Eldredge said that only verified vaccinated students will be able to enter certain indoor facilities.

Unvaccinated individuals at Fordham will be required to follow guidelines enforced by the New York City Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, such as the barring of unvaccinated individuals from indoor spaces which include dining areas, fitness centers, and entertainment and performance facilities.

Unvaccinated individuals, even if they have received a medical or religious accommodation from the university must follow these guidelines.

“We expect that students will adhere to the guidelines and expectations, and staff will contact Public Safety for support if needed,” Eldredge said.

Switching to Rapid Antigen Testing The university switched to providing rapid antigen testing on June 18, as opposed to the PCR testing administered to all students in the last academic year.

“Although the company we used for PCR testing last academic year would usually provide the results within 48 hours, an asymptomatic student would remain in the population potentially exposing other students until they received the results,” Eldredge said. “If a student tests positive on an antigen test, we can take the appropriate action, including isolation, immediately.”

Eldredge said in order to mitigate the risk of producing false negatives, the university is requiring weekly rapid tests for unvaccinated and partially vaccinated students.

Antigen testing is known for its rapid results, though it has also been known to yield a high rate of false negatives. A false negative shows a result that states an individual is COVID-19 negative even though they are COVID-19 positive.

Unlike antigen testing, PCR testing takes 48 hours to provide an accurate result. However, people may still test positive for COVID-19 long after their recovery.

“The virus can be found by PCR testing for several weeks, even longer than the time that they are actually contagious to other people, resulting in ‘false positives,’ but that is not the case with antigen tests which will help identify people who are currently contagious to others,” Eldredge said.

Fordham continues to monitor cases on campus, and has contingency plans in place in case an outbreak occurs.

Theodore McCarrick, FCRH ’54, Charged With Assault

Ex-cardinal set to appear in Massachusetts court on 1974 sexual assault incident involving a minor

By JILL RICE Online Editor

Nearly nine months after the Vatican released a report detailing the abuse of power and authority and abuse of minors and priests by ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Fordham College at Rose Hill ’54, the former cardinal has been charged with the sexual assault of a minor in 1974.

McCarrick was charged in a Massachusetts court on three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, according to documents filed in the Dedham, Massachusetts, District Court.

The charges were first reported by The Boston Globe on Thursday, July 29.

McCarrick is the highest-ranking Roman Catholic official in the U.S. to be criminally charged with a sexual crime against a minor, according to a statement from Mitchell Garabedian, the lawyer for the man alleging the abuse. Garabedian is a well-known lawyer representing church sexual abuse victims.

Although the incident occurred nearly 50 years ago, the statute of limitations was sus-

pended, Garabedian noted, because McCarrick was not a Massachusetts resident and left the state after the alleged abuse.

The incident happened at a wedding at Wellesley College in 1974, three years before McCarrick became an auxiliary bishop of New York. The alleged victim was 16 at the time.

The man said that McCarrick was close to his family and the abuse started “when he was a young boy” and continued through adulthood, according to the Associated Press and court records.

The alleged victim said that at his brother’s wedding in 1974, McCarrick took him away from the others first for a walk around the campus, during which the priest groped him, then brought the then-teen to a “coat room type closet” and told him he needed to go to confession. In this small room, the man claimed, McCarrick sexually assaulted him, touching him and praying over his nude body, then told him to say a few prayers in absolution for his sins.

According to the report, the man’s father, who did not know what happened at the time,

told the boy that McCarrick was going to help him, and in the court documents, he stated, “so maybe this was what it was supposed to be ... I don’t know, I was still a naive young man.”

The testimony of the alleged victim is similar to that of many of the priests who came forth about McCarrick’s advances toward them in the Vatican Report from November. As their superior in the Church, McCarrick seemed to them to be an untouchable figure, one to whom they were “powerless to object.”

From the 1970s onward, the report showed, priests and seminarians testified against McCarrick. Many of the victims in the report had also been groomed to view him as “Uncle Ted” and saw him as a family friend. McCarrick’s superiors and others either dismissed or failed to investigate allegations against him, so he was elevated to the position of cardinal in 2001.

Pope Francis defrocked McCarrick in 2019 after allegations from the 1970s, including one from a minor, had been proven credible by the Vatican.

Defrocking means that McCarrick is no longer a priest, cannot perform any priestly duties

ANDY METTLER/WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM VIA FLICKR

McCarrick was accused of sexual assault by a Massachusetts man for an incident that occurred in 1974.

such as the sacraments, and cannot marry anyone.

This case could be pivotal for clerical sexual abuse survivors.

According to the Associated Press, Garabedian wrote in an email, “It takes an enormous amount of courage for a sexual abuse victim to report having been sexually abused to investigators and proceed through the criminal process.”

Other men from New York and New Jersey have sued McCarrick,

but the statute of limitations in those states has prevented anyone from pursuing criminal charges, according to Newjersey.com.

Garabedian concluded, “Let the facts be presented, the law applied, and a fair verdict rendered.”

Barry Coburn, an attorney for McCarrick, told the Associated Press that they “look forward to addressing the case in the courtroom.” McCarrick’s arraignment is set for Sept. 3.

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THE OBSERVER August 28, 2021

Rev. John J. Cecero Returns After 8 Years

New VP for Mission Integration and Ministry calls attention to Jesuit values who are marginalized and underprivileged.” Furthering this mission is Cecero’s main objective at Fordham.

Cecero seeks to deepen the university’s relationship with its Jesuit background and to make Fordham a space for meaningful discussions.

“The role of VP for Mission is especially important ... as this person is charged with consistently calling to attention the ‘why’ of our being a Jesuit school,” he said.

By MAEL QUENTIN Contributing Writer

After spending six years of service as the provincial of the USA Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus, Fordham has recently welcomed back the Rev. John J. Cecero, S.J., as the university’s new vice president for Mission Integration and Ministry.

As Jesuit provincial, Cecero was tasked with spreading, tightening and nurturing Jesuit relations among the 27 colleges and universities in the United States, and he looks to keep doing so upon his return to campus.

Cecero obtained his bachelor’s degrees in French and philosophy at Gonzaga University, his master’s degrees in divinity and theology at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at George Washington University.

He was ordained to priesthood in 1989.

“ Dialogue is the way forward — among disciplines, faith traditions, ethnicities, races and cultures. ”

Rev. John J. Cecero, S.J., VP for Mission Integration and Ministry

“As a Jesuit priest and clinical psychologist, I have focused personally and professionally on integrating Ignatian spirituality with psychological theory and practice,” Cecero said.

Through his career in psycho-spiritual studies, he authored books on how faith and therapy can help people through personal problems, and he established connections with other members of the Jesuit community across the United States.

Moving Forward After a Pandemic COURTESY OF JOHN CECERO

Cecero aims to increase the understanding, appreciation and practice of Jesuit tenets at Fordham in his new role.

Cecero previously worked at Fordham for 15 years, serving as an associate professor of psychology, a member of the Fordham Board of Trustees and the rector of the Fordham Jesuit Community.

Furthering the Jesuit Mission Cecero expressed his happiness and excitement about returning to Fordham. He said that working at Fordham University was the best way to apply his talents and interests in one of the ministries of the UEA (USA East) Province.

“It is a pleasure and an honor for me to return to Fordham in this new capacity,” he said.

Because of his prior experience at Fordham, he said that his established network of “colleagues and friends among faculty, administrators, alumni, and board members” will help him “hit the ground running” in his new position.

Cecero’s return marks a renaming of the Division, changing from the Division of Mission Integration and Planning to the Division of Mission Integration and Ministry.

“The key word in my title is ‘Integration’ — integrating an

understanding, appreciation, and practice of our Fordham mission into every aspect of university life,” Cecero said. “To that end, I anticipate working closely with leaders in all divisions of the university to enhance this integration.”

As provincial, Cecero was involved in the Jesuit mission in United States colleges and universities. When asked about his background and the bonds he created in the realms of faith, psychology and Fordham, Cecero said that “I think any focus on mission must be grounded in these kinds of respectful and collegial relationships, and so I anticipate beginning with an already strong base of interest and support for mission conversations with old and new friends and peers at Fordham.”

To Cecero, “mission” is grounded in the Jesuit beliefs of selflessness and care for the downtrodden. He stated that “we all share a common mission — an orientation and direction toward a common goal of attaining wisdom, not just acquiring knowledge and skills, that will bear fruit in concern and service to others, especially those

Cecero voiced his excitement regarding the diverse presence at Fordham and how he can “make a place at the table” for all members of the Fordham community.

Cecero showcased his interest in sparking discussions regarding the complicated topics that the pandemic has emphasized.

“Dialogue is the way forward — among disciplines, faith traditions, ethnicities, races and cultures — and Jesuit education aims to equip all of us for these kinds of dialogue, perhaps especially when they become uncomfortable,” he said.

He also reflected on the difficulties caused by the pandemic and what to do going forward, saying that despite constant tragedy, “the pandemic has also highlighted extraordinary examples of uncommon heroism by people who chose to act in solidarity with those in distress and pain.” He added that the purpose of Jesuit education is to lead people to this kind of solidarity.

With his return, Cecero aims to integrate Ignatian values into every aspect of the Fordham community to make conversations surrounding faith accessible to all.

His goals of targeting appreciation and generating support for everyone aim to create a tight, meaningful and selfless dimension of life at Fordham.

Class of 2025 Discusses Difficult College Decisions

PHOTOS COURTESY OF (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) KENDALL JOHNSTON AND IZZI WILLIAMS

First-year students prepare to arrive on campus after completing the majority of the college selection process online.

CLASS OF 2025 from page 1

Dean of FCLC Laura Auricchio is welcoming her third class of firstyear students to the university. She emphasized the need for students to take part in self-compassion and connection after a stressful year with lingering uncertainty.

“The most important advice I’ve

been giving students for the past year and a half has been to please be kind to yourself,” Auricchio said.

“Try not to add too much pressure to yourself or to others, and be sure to take time out for self-care.”

Auricchio also wants first-year students to know that the university staff is available to students.

“You have a tremendous team

of individuals who are all here for one reason only: to support you and to help you thrive during your time with us… We’re all here for you, and we want you to reach out to us so that we can get to know you.”

Looking ahead to the future class of 2026, more in-person options are available for high school

seniors and others on their college application journey.

Patricia Peek, dean of undergraduate admissions, said high school students have been learning about Fordham both in person and virtually “all summer” and the university plans to continue to offer both on-campus and virtual visit programming throughout the fall.

News

3

Students Say ResLife Housing Options are ‘not nearly enough’ HOUSING from page 1

“For the upcoming year, I had to specifically think of whether the people I’m living with would accept the fact that I use they/ them pronouns,” Lo said.

Lo felt that the single screening question and ResLife’s dependency on the housing application’s algorithm would not be enough to gauge preference in housing. They mentioned that they felt lucky to have lived with great people but for other gender-nonconforming students that might not be the case.

“It seems like the only screening Fordham did to make sure cisgender roommates wouldn’t create a toxic environment for their gender non-conforming roommates was a single question about their willingness to room with someone who’s gender non-conforming, which is not nearly enough,” Lo added.

ResLife has promised to work on a case-by-case basis when it comes to a student’s gender identity in order to ensure that each students’ preferences are met, but for Manon McCollum, FCLC ’24, that was not the case. McCollum, who identifies as transgender and uses he/him pronouns, elaborated on his housing experience this past year.

“I marked that I wanted a randomized roommate on my survey and was put in a single.

I feel like my (transness) kind of robbed me of the dorm roommate experience,” he said.

Previously, FLC’s housing options were solely sex-segregated.

With the addition of the “gender” subsection in the lifestyle questions, FLC is now recognized as a gender-neutral housing campus.

In discussing what Fordham can do moving forward, both Lo and McCollum introduced ideas to improve its housing process and to provide more options for gender-nonconforming and transgender students.

“I also want (Fordham) to offer housing that’s exclusively for gender non-conforming people, whether it’s a room or part of a floor,” Lo said. They added that their previous experience in meditation retreat housing specifically for gender-nonconforming people was one of the most supportive environments they have ever been in.

Lo also discussed ResLife’s responsibility in reiterating its presence to create the best living environment for students instead of relying on the housing application’s algorithm.

McCollum suggested that students who are not cisgender should have the option to rank which gender they’d be most comfortable with in addition to the lifestyle question included in the housing application.

Although FCLC is no longer sex-segregated, there is still more to be done in recognition of gender rights on campus.

Gender-segregated housing will still be a challenge for gender-nonconforming students, and student organizations want ResLife to be more available and to provide a more organized process with proper options for students.

FLC, along with Georgetown University, Gonzaga University, Saint Joseph’s University, Fairfield University, and the University of San Francisco are currently the few Jesuit universities nationwide that offer gender-neutral housing policies.

Sports & Health Editor Patrick Moquin - pmoquin@fordham.edu

Sports & Health

August 28, 2021

THE OBSERVER

The Big Smoke: Breaking Away From Addictive ‘Benzos’ and Opiates

By BRIAN PFAIL Staff Writer

Ignorance allows people to lean on their stereotypes, so “cannabis” gets the bad stink. But does it provide anything good besides a graceful daze, or are the effects more sinister?

The Big Smoke K2 was a popular synthetic cannabinoid in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The problem with K2 was the lack of uniformity. Some of the chemicals mixed weren’t even synthetic cannabinoids; instead, synthetic opioids, hallucinogens or even rat poison could be found in the drug.

Tamera Harris, a substance abuse counselor in Queens and Suffolk County, New York, remembered K2 and the resultant wave of illnesses and deaths.

“It was bizarre behavior all over the streets where they would do things they’d never do before like undress, (and) run around naked,” Harris said. 2014 alone saw 37,500 cases of seizures and 3,682 reports of poisoning linked to K2 usage in the U.S. The 2018 Farm Bill reversed the decades-long ban on hemp, cannabis containing less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC, and allowed for the sale and distribution of hemp derivatives. This was a major victory for the CBD industry allowing for expansion of its selection for consumers and lower pricing.

Delta-8, a popular synthetic, differs from Delta-9 THC anxiety or paranoia side effects. Users describe the experience as more physical and as a mild “buzz.” Delta-9 THC is not synthesized in a lab but rather extracted from hemp; Delta-8 products are synthetically produced from CBD extracted from

hemp and put through isolation and distillation.

The lack of uniformity in the synthetic cannabinoids adds to the unpredictability and the risk.

Chemicals are either sprayed on dried “plant material” or sold in oils for vaporizing. These chemicals can consist of synthetic opioids or hallucinogens.

These synthetic cannabinoids are intended to produce the same effects as their federally illegal cousin. With over 500 identified chemicals, the interaction with synthetics is synergistic via the entourage effect, where cannabis’ active chemicals co-op work to create effects not present from simply one chemical.

Synthetic cannabis users reported elevated mood. However, suicidal ideation, violent behavior, rapid heart rate and vomiting are considered possible life-threatening side effects.

Synthetic cannabinoids are also addictive with withdrawal symptoms similar to THC, including headaches, anxiety and depression.

Overdosing can cause severe consequences. Death can also occur with the lacing of filler products such as synthetic opioids.

Opioids and Benzos New York state’s Compassionate Care Act of 2016 called for the use of medical marijuana for the treatment of “debilitating or life-threatening diseases, or conditions that cause chronic pain” to combat Long Island’s opioid epidemic. The 2018 revised bill added treatment for epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

New York politicians aimed to combat opioids and benzos. Benzodiazepines, or “benzos,” are a class of psychoactive drugs used to treat

depression of the nerves within the brain and anxiety. Opioids, the other class of worrisome drugs, include heroin, synthetic opioids and legal pain relievers. Both are dangerously addictive.

“This is where it starts, surgeons give (the) opioids, but the prices are so high some people turn to (the cheaper alternative) heroin,” Harris said. “In most cases, people just can’t quit.”

Harris continued about her clients: “we do harm reduction to take less (of the drug), but there’s no guarantee the client I see today will walk through the doors tomorrow.” Since there was no knowing for sure if her clients would listen, endorsing less seemed like a middleground.

PTSD and a Little Cannabis The Mayo Clinic defines PTSD as a mental health condition that is triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms include flashbacks, severe anxiety and uncontrollable thoughts about the event. 43-yearold Emilie Grey understood PTSD as a “constant conscious awareness.”

“One of my biggest fears is being out of control, feeling unsafe,” said Grey.

The feelings were associated with witnessing her childhood home burn to the ground. She remembered the event with precise detail, from the heat, and the burnt smell to the crackling of the flames.

She continued, “When you have trauma growing up, it tends to manifest in other trauma if you haven’t dealt with it.” She only became aware of her PTSD as an adult after a formal diagnosis.

“Anything outside of my routine would put me in a tailspin,” said Grey. She tried benzos like Xanax

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ROXANNE CUBERO/THE OBSERVER

and Klonopin, but she felt they impaired her cognitive abilities making her feel less in control.

People living with PTSD have an outlet through cannabis. Cannabis is already legally used to treat PTSD in several states including New York.

People under the age of 18 who have used cannabis are at an increased likelihood of an IQ drop.

Adult daily smokers of at least four years typically have a smaller volume of gray matter in the orbitofrontal cortex of the brain, which research demonstrates is linked to

addiction. However, chronic cannabis users tend to have greater connectivity in the brain, which measures how well information travels.

There may not be a clear solution, but cannabis could be an alternative to combat addiction, mental illness, pain, and PTSD, and could be a substitute for controlled substances. It’s 2021 and, already one of the most regulated states in America, New York has now decriminalized cannabis. Maybe with some awareness and federal distribution, America won’t lose more of its precious youth.

University Officials Detail ‘Fordham Forward’ Health Guidelines

Fast Facts Besides case-by-case religious or medical exemptions, ALL Fordham community members returning to campus must be vaccinated Testing will be required every week for unvaccinated individuals Anyone displaying COVID-like symptoms is “highly encouraged” to seek testing, in addition to self-quarantine, although neither will be mandated VitalCheck will still be required for EVERYONE to enter campus Masks must be worn in indoor public spaces, such as during class, while studying, etc.

89% of undergraduates, 74% of postgraduates and 95% full-time employees are confirmed to be vaccinated

By GUS DUPREE Asst. Sports & Health Editor

The long-awaited reopening of Fordham’s campuses for in-person classes does not mean total safety from the coronavirus.

Since the first few weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic back in March of 2020, Fordham has released a series of statements and guidelines under the moniker “Fordham Forward.”

Marco Valera, vice president of administration and COVID-19 coordinator, has had to juggle the changing scientific understanding of the virus while presenting a comprehensive strategy to prevent Fordham from suffering an outbreak. According to Valera, Fordham utilizes the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), New York City and State Departments of Health, and the American College Health Association.

“We are following the science around this virus: as the science has evolved, so have our policies and procedures,” Valera stated.

Testing Fordham’s preventative measures include mandatory weekly testing for unvaccinated individuals and on-demand testing for students presenting symptoms for COVID-19. Fordham has replaced the former PCR tests with rapid antigen testing, although PCR testing kits will be used to verify negative results on rapid tests.

Hours of operation have been significantly reduced to once a week between 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Testing will be administered on Tuesdays only at Lincoln Center and Thursdays only at Rose Hill.

The university will offer free KN95 masks to anyone who needs them in Public Safety offices.

Vaccination Mandates

VitalCheck

While Fordham has mandated that all students, faculty and staff be vaccinated, the university is providing medical exemptions for those who have an underlying medical issue. Religious exemptions are also available, but these are contingent on the university’s approval.

Although there are exceptions to the vaccine mandate, unvaccinated individuals will be barred from any and all indoor activities, including dining and entertainment spaces. The university has warned that forging, selling or attempting to pass off a fake vaccination card is a federal crime, and Fordham will report offenders to law enforcement.

The university continues to use VitalCheck, with University Health Services Director Maureen Keown affirming the university will continue to require all students to respond to daily notifications throughout the semester.

Keown called VitalCheck “a great addition to our measures in keeping the community safe, monitoring one’s health daily and keeping track of vaccination and testing.”

VitalCheck will also denote whether or not an individual is vaccinated; those who have shown valid proof of vaccination to the university have “Marked as Vaccinated” appear on their daily pass.

Face Coverings

‘Each of Us Caring for the Whole of Us’

Fordham announced that all community members must wear face coverings — regardless of vaccination status — whenever indoors with at least one other person. Regardless of the political discourse over masks, scientific experts have maintained that masking in indoor group settings significantly reduces the transmission of COVID-19.

While effective, mask wearing alone is not sufficient to fully minimize the risk of infection. The CDC recommends mask wearing, social distancing and frequent hand washing to most effectively mitigate rates of transmission.

Although Fordham can only enforce these rules on campus, the university community will only be safe as long as students maintain public health protocols off campus.

At Lincoln Center in particular, nestled within one of the most densely populated areas in the country, the excitement of returning to New York can still very much be cut short, should the coronavirus manage to establish a foothold on campus. The university’s success in keeping the community safe from infection hinges heavily on the rules and mandates it has laid out over the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER August 28, 2021

Sports & Health

5

Fordham Football Back for the Fall, 2021 Season Preview

DeMorat looks to lead Fordham to championship in fourth year, but questions persist from shortened spring season

By PATRICK MOQUIN Sports & Health Editor

Fordham football Head Coach Joe Conlin was just as excited as his players at summer workouts this year. The weather remains warm on the gridiron, but the sun sets earlier every day as autumn begins to set in. The waning weeks of summer evoke feelings in Conlin that are doubtlessly familiar to him by now after 17 years of coaching, but they take on new meaning after an involuntary twoyear hiatus. For the first time since 2019, the Fordham football team is preparing for a full fall season, and the stakes will be high from the outset.

Though the Rams did manage to play through the COVID-19 pandemic last year, they only participated in three games in a shortened spring season. The team had not played a game in a year and a half and were playing in weather most often associated with baseball, but Conlin said that the team responded well to the foreign conditions.

“That was tough emotionally, especially on the seniors. But once we were able to line up and compete, the guys were more than excited to do that,” Conlin said.

staggering prospects of these games but look forward to them nonetheless, as the coach said that a difficult non-conference schedule could prove valuable regardless of the result.

“Every day, you’re really competing against yourselves,” Conlin said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, going to play in Lincoln in one of the great cathedrals of college football, and we’re just looking to play a good football game.”

Nonconference Challenges After such an uncharacteristic season, players and coaches alike are happy to be returning to a typical fall schedule, which consists of several weeks of nonconference competition followed by games within the Patriot League that go toward conference standings.

This year, the conference schedule, beginning on Oct. 2 and ending on Nov. 20, is fairly standard, but some of the team’s nonconference games in September are sure to turn heads, either in genuine interest or morbid curiosity.

In the Rams’ first game on Sept. 4, they will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, to play the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers, one of the most well-known programs in college football. The lopsided nature of this game cannot be understated.

For one, Nebraska plays in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), while Fordham is in the lower-tier Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), the former of which hosts the National Championship and all other bowl games. The latter hosts Patriot League football.

While Fordham plays against the likes of Lehigh University and Bucknell University, Nebraska competes in the Big Ten Conference against powerhouses like Ohio State University and the University of Michigan. Since 2000, 73 Cornhuskers have been selected in the NFL Draft.

Fordham has had two such players in the same span.

In taking on a game like this one, the goal for Fordham is not necessarily to win but to learn. On Sept. 18, the Rams will take on the Florida Atlantic University Hawks, another respectable FBS program, with a similar goal in mind.

Conlin and his players accept the

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Quarterback Tim DeMorat, FCRH ’22, is entering his senior year after throwing for 1,049 yards last season.

“What he’s doing so well now is getting the ball out of his hands faster than he ever has,” Conlin said. “He’s a tough kid, works really hard at it, so I’m really happy to see him have this on-field success.”

With DeMorat under center, Fordham’s wide receivers should continue to prosper as they have in previous seasons. Dequece Carter, Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill (GSBRH) ’23; Hamze El-Zayat, FCRH ’22; M.J. Wright, GSBRH ’23; and Fotis Kokosioulis, FCRH ’22, have all emerged as consistent conference leaders due to a large number of targets in an aggressive offensive play style.

While Fordham has proven effective through the air in recent years, their attack on the ground is nearly as potent. In fact, the struggle for Conlin at running back in recent years has not been finding a starter, but deciding between two equally talented options in Trey Sneed, FCRH ’22, and Zach Davis, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences ’22.

While Davis was sidelined by an injury last season, the pair combined for 1,565 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns the last time they shared the backfield in 2019.

With Davis healthy again, he and Sneed should begin to compete for snaps again, which places responsibility on Conlin and the coaching staff to maximize the talents of both players at the position.

“It’s a good problem to have.

We tell those guys going into the game that they’re basically going to alternate, and then we’re going to ride the hot hand if there is one,” Conlin said.

A Shaky Defense on the Rise After hearing so much about Fordham’s elite offense in the Patriot League in recent years, one might wonder why the Rams haven’t come close to a conference championship in that time. While it would be unfair to place all of the blame on the defense, it is a frustrating fact that Fordham has lost far too many games despite solid offensive production.

Since 2018, Fordham has scored at least 20 points in 15 games, but the team has only managed to go 7-8 in that advantageous position. A few of these losses came in blowouts against superior teams, but too many of them occurred against conference rivals in high-scoring shootouts. Even with a wealth of offensive talent, in order for the Rams to become a championship contender, they

The Bottom Line

Another Try for DeMorat When Fordham football returns to conference play in October, they will likely have the best offense in the Patriot League. For the past two seasons, the Rams have proven to have a vastly superior passing attack led by quarterback Tim DeMorat, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’22.

The 2020-21 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year threw for 1,049 passing yards in just three games last year and enters his fourth season as a Ram with high expectations.

will have to improve on defense.

Fortunately, the pieces may be coming together just in time.

Despite the team’s defensive woes as a unit, linebacker Ryan Greenhagen, GSBRH ’22, has consistently impressed since earning a starting job in his freshman year.

Now a senior, Greenhagen is coming off a dominant 2020-21 season in which he recorded 22 tackles in just two starts and won the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year Award.

The return of cornerback Jesse Bramble, FCRH ’22, will also help to strengthen Fordham’s defensive efforts this year. A team captain since 2019, Bramble missed the 2020-21 season with an injury and enters his fifth year with the Rams in the hopes of bolstering a secondary that has struggled at times containing opposing receivers.

“What we’ve done better in our secondary has been eliminating yards after catch,” Conlin said.

“We’re playing a little bit closer on routes, being a little more physical with wide receivers, and those guys are running to the football better than they ever have.”

In order for players like Greenhagen and Bramble to shine this season, the defense will have to work as a unit to prevent high-scoring affairs that have become commonplace at Coffey Field in recent years.

Ryan Greenhagen, GSBRH ’22, earned the Patriot League’s 2020-21 Defensive Player of the Year Award with 22 tackles in two starts.

In comparison to other Fordham sports in recent years, it is arguable that squandered potential has made the football team the most frustrating program on campus. Despite building one of Fordham’s best rosters, the team has not matched the success of the women’s basketball, softball and baseball programs. They have come tantalizingly close to becoming a solid program and a breakthrough may be imminent.

Since 2019, the Rams have gone from an underdeveloped upstart to a team with distinguished veteran leadership, just in time for the return of fall football in the Bronx. Fans may have to momentarily avert their eyes when the Rams take on the Cornhuskers and Hawks early in the season, but with conference play right around the corner, it may be worthwhile to stay tuned.

Fordham Football 2021 Schedule @ University of Nebraska Sept. 4, 12 p.m.

VS Monmouth University Sept. 11, 6 p.m.

@ Florida Atlantic University Sept. 18, 6 p.m.

@ Stony Brook University Sept. 25, 3:30 p.m.

@ Lafayette College Coming off an injury, Zach Davis, GSAS ’22, is poised to return strong in his first appearance since the 2019 season.

Oct. 2, 3:30 p.m.

VS Wagner College Oct. 9, 1 p.m.

VS Bucknell University Oct. 16, 1 p.m.

VS Lehigh University Oct. 23, 1 p.m.

@ Georgetown University Nov. 6, TBA

VS College of the Holy Cross Nov. 13, 1 p.m.

@ Colgate University Nov. 20, TBA

A Rose Hill Su

The tips, tricks and Hail Marys needed for a You think that Arthur Avenue is named after the aardvark, Mugzs is a coffee shop and that Rose Hill is a set in “Bachelor in Paradise.” You’re a Lincoln Center student, and you desperately need my help.

For Lincoln Center students accustomed to the rats, cars that don’t care if you live or die, and the permanent gray tones of Manhattan, Mars might be a more familiar place than our (much more well-known) counterpart campus in the Bronx.

While it is a Lincoln Center tradition to poke fun at our Rose Hill counterparts (to make up for the infinite number of times we have to explain that yes, Fordham does actually have a Manhattan campus), there comes a point where even the most Midtown-clinging student has to go upstate.

Whether it be for class, to check out the Botanical Gardens or for an (obviously non-alcoholic) night out, the moment of cross-campus reckoning can arouse feelings of fear, anxiety and confusion in even the snarkiest of New Yorkers, which is where I come in.

I’ve assembled the best advice and recommendations for Rose Hill and the area surrounding it, built for non-natives. Take a look, and I’ll catch you on the Ram Van.

The best fauna ca cats roaming the gree glimpse. Your best ch the hedge when you are lucky enough to fi mately three pats befo Fordham raccoons spot. The only time I’ athletic stadium at du invading their privacy Perhaps surprising rat at Rose Hill.

Food If you’re looking for dinner in the neighborhood, my personal favorites are Taqueria Emilio 2 (whether Tacqueria Emilio 1 exists is the subject of legend), Last Call Bar & Grill and Full Moon Pizzeria. While many things can be overhyped, one place isn’t: Pugsley’s Pizza. The pizza is at actually “not insane New York City” prices, and is actually good.

One of the great injustices of the universe is that Rose Hill has approximately quadruple the food options of Lincoln Center, including a Starbucks. If you have a meal plan, you can use your swipes and make meal exchanges. The biggest is the Marketplace (which cool kids call “The Caf,” the equivalent of Lincoln Center’s Community Dining Hall.

The three most important things about it, in order: the food is roughly the same quality, there are far more options and I once saw Fr. McShane there double-fisting two slices of pizza sophomore year. Please believe me.

The Starbucks is incredibly popular because it accepts DCB, so expect a long wait. I stood there for 40 minutes with a friend waiting for our orders, lost in conversation, before we realized that we had been there for, well, 40 minutes. Either subject yourself to suffering, or order ahead on Grubhub, where you can pay with credit card or DCB.

Hang O

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SATIRE & HUMOR

The three best study sp dent between classes are t dies Parade. While Quinn nature, I have to admit th a college library would loo dents and the transphobia rows of study carrels, it’s a The basement of Keatin and a chill environment ma to Rose Hill’s Visual Arts C play. Eddies’ Parade, on th or bask in the sun in nice w will face competition, bot different Fordham events. ly walking into an ordinati

urvival Guide

By GRACE GETMAN Managing Editor Graphics by MADDIE SANDHOLM Layout Editor

Lincoln Center student to thrive and survive Wildlife

an be found right on campus. Fordham has stray en, but you need to be extremely lucky to catch a ances are by the library (they like to emerge from least expect it) or by Murray-Weigel Hall. If you find one, take a note that you can get in approxiore you are testing their patience. s, on the other hand, are much more elusive to ’ve ever seen them is by the bushes in front of the usk. It felt like a fever dream, and I felt like I was y by saying hello. gly for New York City, I’ve never actually seen a

Out and Study Spots

pots at Rose Hill for the Lincoln Center stuthe library, the basement of Keating and EdLibrary is charming in its boxy and compact hat Walsh Library is everything you imagine ok like. It’s like Hogwarts, but minus the stua. With three floors and seemingly endless an easy place to get lost. ng is a personal favorite as comfortable chairs ake it easy to get work done, and it’s adjacent Complex where student projects are on dishe other hand, is a great place to have lunch weather, but it is important to note that you h from fellow Rose Hill loungers and from There’s nothing quite like almost accidentalion.

Student Benefits No, I’m not talking about the bars. While Lincoln Center students get to make the Met and the American Museum of Natural History their playground, the area surrounding Rose Hill has two attractions within walking distance that feature benefits for students: the New York Botanical Gardens (NYBG) and the Bronx Zoo. The NYBG sits directly across from Rose Hill’s main entrance, and for several years now, Fordham University and NYBG have struck a deal that allows Fordham students and staff to access the grounds for free in exchange for overflow parking at Rose Hill. While this deal ground to a halt temporarily in 2018 due to contract disagreements between the two institutions, the agreement was restored and stands in 2021.

Because of the pandemic, NYBG recommends timed-entry tickets purchased online. However, to take advantage of the Fordham deal, you cannot buy a ticket online and must go in-person. Bring your ID, and go at a less crowded time for guaranteed admittance. If you’re some sort of garden-going maniac, I’ll point out that the NYBG website says that this free admittance is only usable once a week.

Access to the Bronx Zoo is a little trickier. Students craving wildlife outside of the Fordham raccoons have to use the code “NYCCOLLEGE” to purchase timed entry tickets in advance, and bring their ID with them to the zoo.

Nightlife The three most famous bars by Rose Hill are Howl, Mugz and Barnyard. You’ll find them around 10 minutes from campus on foot, or on social media as students document flaunting of COVID-19 regulations.

As a proper Jesuit student pursuing an education, this is a subject I would know nothing about. I’ve heard that all of the bars are set to close because of how rarely students attend them, too busy with socially distanced Bible study instead. Unlike one of these bars, there’s room for not only Jesus but the Holy Spirit as well.

Transportation In no traffic, a trip to Rose Hill takes around 30 minutes, but can take up to an hour depending on how much the universe hates you any particular day. (The most recent record is seven hours during a snowstorm in 2018.) Budget at least one hour to get to class.

The one thing to know about the Ram Van is the Hunger Games that emerges around seating. Do not ever, ever, sit in the back, unless you would like the tumult of a roller coaster ride but without any of the space to raise your arms to scream. The closer you sit to the Ram Van driver, the better your experience will be.

Some LC students declare themselves too bougie for the Ram Van and pursue other options. To get to campus by subway, you can either take the D train to the Fordham Road station, or the 4 train if you hate yourself and want to walk even longer. It’s around a 10-15 minute walk to campus, depending on how much you love jaywalking. Honestly, unless the MTA is giving you a personal sponsorship, just take the Ram Van like the plebe you are.

Opinions Editor Clara Gerlach - agerlach2@fordham.edu

Opinions

Observer the

STAFF EDITORIAL

A

WELCOMING THE ‘NEW’ NEW NORMAL

s students, many of whom have been virtual the whole or part of this past year, flood back to the city to make their mark, we must remember that COVID-19 is still among us. As the pandemic has carried on, the general acknowledgment of its severity has diminished.

We have written about the importance of COVID-related safety precautions before, but this fall semester is different in multiple ways, with the emergence of the Delta variant, an increased number of people on campus and the vaccine mandate. There is an understandable urge to try to return to “normal life,” but the threat has not yet passed.

It’s imperative that we carefully weigh the risks as we decide where we will go, what events we will attend and what our boundaries will be, considering how easily the Delta variant can spread.

We must take preventative action against COVID-19 outbreaks in order to keep New York City alive and thriving, as well as to give students the chance to make the most of their college experience.

In Lincoln Center’s surrounding neighborhood, 82.4% of the population has been vaccinated, but in Rose Hill’s surrounding neighborhood, only 50.2% of the population has been vaccinated.

These numbers are not yet high enough to keep everyone safe. With the Delta variant being twice as infectious as all previous strains, this is not a time for life to return to a pre-pandemic normal.

Although many vaccinated individuals traded wearing masks for stringing them around their wrists or tucking them into a pocket, it is

now suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that everyone, vaccinated or not, wear masks indoors and keep gatherings small. Fordham has followed this advice by requiring all faculty, staff and students to wear a mask indoors on campus. This guidance, therefore, applies to classroom settings and social settings elsewhere.

Although we might have hoped for a “normal” semester, wearing a mask is undeniably one of the best preventive measures against another spike on campus.

We may often make fun of the slogan, but it is true that New York City is our campus.

The Fordham community is large and diverse — it includes people within residence halls and surrounding neighborhoods, students, faculty, and staff — all of whom come into contact with many communities and commute from neighborhoods across the city. All of these people are impacted by the choices of Fordham students. Taking certain precautions is our responsibility as students in New York City.

Students two springs ago remember the panic and anxiety they felt as they packed up their belongings and left campus practically overnight, and plenty can also recall the stress of being quarantined on or off campus due to an expo-

sure. Three semesters have already been online, so we want to be as responsible as possible to prevent outbreaks and a return to online classes.

Fordham’s mask mandate reminds us that despite previous counteractive measures such as online classes and vaccinations, the pandemic is still happening. Although we might have hoped for a “normal” semester, wearing a mask is undeniably one of the best preventive measures against another spike on campus — that is, if we all follow it.

The administration plans on having all students return at full capacity, making it even more necessary to exercise every precaution. This past year, a spike in positive cases on the Rose Hill campus led to a suspension of on-campus activities, and with less open space and our campus at full capacity, we could very well see the same response to a spike at Lincoln Center.

Doing the right thing isn’t always simple, and it is easy to want this all to be over.

Fortunately, we know the solution, even if it isn’t comfortable. Restrictions like wearing masks and keeping gatherings small work well, as evidenced by the low number of cases on the Lincoln Center campus over the past year. Booster shots to help fight against the Delta variant may be available soon, but even then, we need to move forward with the community’s health in mind.

After three semesters apart, Fordham University has brought us all back together, and with a little dedication, we can make sure it stays that way.

Feature Photo: Do Go Chasing Waterfalls

The Loch, in Central Park’s North Woods stream valley, flows water from a 40inch pipe that comes from New York City’s drinking water. Students were able to explore Central Park during an unusually hot and humid summer.

MADELINE KATZ/THE OBSERVER

August 28, 2021 THE OBSERVER

Editor-in-Chief Katrina Lambert

Managing Editor Grace Getman Online Editors Corbin Gregg Jill Rice Creative Director Roxanne Cubero Treasurer Adam D’Souza Fundraising Coordinator Shagun Rath Advertising Coordinator Luis Castellanos Layout Editor Maddie Sandholm Asst. Layout Editor Janine Baltazar Photo Editors Alyssa Daughdrill Andrew Dressner Asst. Photo Editor Ashley Yiu Head Copy Editors Emily Ellis Alyssa Macaluso Asst. Copy Editor Sophia Collender News Editors Joe Kottke Allie Stofer Asst. News Editors Maryam Beshara Chloe Zelch Sports & Health Editor Patrick Moquin Asst. Sports & Health Editors Gus Dupree Chris Murray Opinions Editor Clara Gerlach Asst. Opinions Editors Ava Peabody Jessica Yu Arts & Culture Editors Madeline Katz Olivia Stern Asst. Arts & Culture Editor Isabella Gonzalez Features Editor Mia Agostinelli Asst. Features Editor Aidan Lane Fun & Games Editor Nicole Perkins Social Media Editor Samantha Matthews Asst. Social Media Editors Isabella Scipioni Diana Silva Multimedia Editor Alexa Stegmuller Retrospect Hosts Cate Galliford Diana Silva

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THE OBSERVER August 28, 2021

Opinions

9

Asian Foods Do Not Need White People’s Input

Karen the Congee Queen highlights an ongoing problem of cultural appropriation in the food industry

I’m scraping up the last of my congee with preserved duck egg, a popular porridge dish made from rice, in my uncle’s house in Shanghai. I scroll through social media to find many Asian American activists enraged about the latest crime in cultural appropriation, committed by some white woman of the name Karen Taylor who labeled herself “Congee Queen.”

I wish I could make this type of irony up.

Taylor had started a business named Breakfast Cure. On its website, which has since been edited, Taylor described her business as a “gourmet, foodie version of traditional congee… deliciously designed to delight your modern palate.” Thinking congee needs to be “gourmet” and adapted to a modern, Western audience is incredibly insensitive, if not flat-out delusional.

Congee does not need Americanization for it to be enjoyable.

Nor does it need modernization — the very suggestion of modern implies that such an ancient Asian dish no longer serves a purpose in our diet, which could not be further from the truth. This is the dish that my parents have always had for breakfast. It’s the dish they made me when I was in bed sick with a fever. It’s what we ordered alongside dim sum

ASHLEY YIU/THE OBSERVER

Traditional Taiwanese congee, served one way with pork floss and garlic cucumbers, unlike the poorly appropriated blueberry oatmeal.

on Sundays. It is a dish that has a history longer than the existence of the United States. It has a legacy that needs no assistance from a white woman who labeled her extreme cultural appropriation a “business.”

The atrocity does not end with her description of her company.

Taking a look at Breakfast Cure’s website, I find that Taylor has manipulated congee into something unrecognizable. The flavors could not be further from traditional congee, incorporating ingredients like apples, cinnamon, coconut cream and pineapple.

The incorporation of fruits into congee begs whether this Karen has any real enthusiasm for congee. To claim a traditional dish enjoyed by many Asian countries needs improvement is rude enough as is. To treat it as glorified Quaker Oats is a whole other level of disrespect.

On top of that, each packet is priced at $14.95, which is enough money for me to buy the ingredients to make congee that will last me nearly two months. Alternatively, it’s enough to buy 50 packets of flavored oatmeal, which is essentially what Breakfast Cure’s

apple cinnamon congee is. Taylor is more interested in using the association of Asian cultures with the “exotic” to turn a profit than she is in the actual congee dish.

Another aspect of the issue is business owners can get away with ridiculous prices as long as they market their food as healthy or even “healing,” as Taylor does.

Diet culture is toxic for many reasons, including but not limited to fostering eating disorders and profiting off of fads that convince people their body can sustain a no-carb diet. Spoiler alert: it can’t.

Breakfast Cure is proof that

diet culture has gone too far. On its website under a link titled “Wisdom of Warmth,” which I couldn’t explain to you even if I tried, the company’s mission statement boasts, “our simple congee method is spreading the wisdom that warm cooked foods heal, soothe, and energize.” Since when did anyone stop believing in warm cooked foods? Did the raw food fad from a few years back really deceive us that badly?

Profiting off of eating insecurities and the appropriation of Asian cultures is inexcusable. The problem goes far beyond this one company. Breakfast Cure may be highly criticized by the media now, but there is a whole pattern of exoticizing and exploiting Asian cuisines that goes unchecked.

With this year’s extreme increase in Asian hate crimes came a slight increase in awareness of Asian hate as well as advocacy for supporting Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) lives.

As a response to the backlash received in the past few days, Taylor decided to use her business’s profit to give back to the Asian community through donations. Slapping a few charities on the company website does not take away from the insensitive narratives that the very existence of such a company pushes.

The best way to value AAPI lives and respect their culture is to support AAPI-owned businesses without taking up their space with unnecessary renditions of foods that are already perfectly tasty.

So, go buy yourself some congee from Flushing or soba noodles from any Japanese-owned restaurant. I promise it will be much more worthwhile.

Customer Service Class Required for Fordham Admission ISABELLA SCIPIONI Asst. Social Media Editor

Students are leaving the education system and entering adulthood without adequate information in one crucial field: being nice to customer service workers.

As college students flooded their hometowns to fill summer job positions, many faced a stark reminder of this major oversight of the American education system. Every time they are screamed at by a woman who tries to pay in coupons that expired a decade ago or are told they are idiots because their store is closed, they question how the American education system could have failed these consumers so terribly.

Now, in order to submit an application to Fordham, all students are required to take Customer Service Competency, a course soon to be offered in most high schools.

The class is taught by an experienced retail or food service worker on how to behave when interacting with employees who are making minimum wage and are just trying their best. Fordham is requiring the course to encourage the Jesuit tenet of “cura personalis,” which is Latin for “an insane amount of gen ed requirements.”

In a statement on the new requirement, Fordham administrators explained that they noticed a societal lack of proficiency in human decency and hoped that requiring the course will encourage

its wider implementation by other schools. They also reminded students that no matter how inedible the food is, the employees at Ram Café still deserve respect.

The required course contains multiple units, with the first being a lecture series with examples of specific conversation skills and behaviors to practice. Some of the most important takeaways include knowing what you want to order before a waiter asks you, not trashing a fitting room at a clothing store, not talking on your cell phone when your cashier asks you a question and treating working-class people with basic decency.

The course has regular vocabulary tests, with words like “please” and “thank you” being covered.

Students are also drilled on inappropriate vocabulary words and phrases such as “stupid,” “idiot,” “Can I speak to your manager?” and “You just lost a customer.”

Once students are adequately familiar with both proper and improper terminology, they advance to a customer simulation phase conducted under psychologist B.F. Skinner’s behavioral school of thought. In the simulation, whenever a student uses an appropriate term or asks for help nicely, they receive a small piece of food as a reward.

Whenever a student uses inappropriate language or behavior, they receive a punishment to encourage them to correct the behavior. This punishment could be used if, let’s say, hypothetically, a customer throws a slice of pizza at you after you told her

Rubberneck The

SATIRE & HUMOR

she couldn’t sit down at an empty table because of your USTRATION BY SERVER GRAPHIC ILL state’s COVID-19 restrictions, HOLM/THE OB MADDIE SAND resulting in the slice of pizza bouncing off the state-recommended plexiglass in front of you and onto the floor.

Skinner often used small electric shocks, but some teachers may adapt this punishment to something like a spritz of water in the customer’s face or a double shift at Dairy Queen in the middle of July.

Students face a mathematical reasoning lesson in which they are taught how to calculate a 20% tip. They also learn how to calculate the ratio of employees to customers in a store and deduce from this information that they may have to wait a few coupons that expired minutes before they are helped. In in 2009. In addition, students are a brief astronomy lesson, students tasked with budgeting an assigned are taught that the Earth revolves expense such as a pile of late around the sun, and not, in fact, health care bills or rent payments, around them. a liberal arts degree and crippling After passing the customer student loan debt, several children simulation unit, students enter the under the age of 10, or for some final and most complicated test: lucky students, all three. the customer service employee On the last day of the simulasimulation. Students are assigned tion, students face the pandemic a random customer service job in challenge in which they are told one of several industries and will that they are essential workers but be randomly assigned a minimum don’t deserve a pay raise, and that wage in the United States ranging all of their customers are angry at from $7.25-$15 an hour (no matter them about government restricwhich they’re assigned, it still tions they have no control over. If won’t cover all of their basic living students successfully complete the expenses!). course, they can be considered for Some students are assigned to admission to Fordham. a struggling small business that This course prepares stumay have to close its doors while dents for appropriate day-to-day others work at corporations that interactions with customer service give them no breaks and send workers. However, schools that do them three to five anti-union text not require the course and citizens messages a day. who have already graduated high All the customers whom stuschool could perpetuate harmdents are expected to serve have ful behaviors. For this reason, I not yet taken the course, and wanpropose all high schools adopt der around with a Ziploc bag of this requirement for graduation

and that diplomas previously issued become null and void until this course is completed by each recipient.

Students who previously graduated will take the program after school hours, and anyone with a job that requires a high school diploma should be expected to complete the course before returning to work. If they fail the class or refuse to take the course, there are plenty of career opportunities for them to pursue in the customer service industry. Anyone who has previously worked retail of any kind on Black Friday can redeem their emotional trauma for time served and receive an exemption from the requirement.

Customer service workers have endured utter human stupidity and rudeness for far too long.

Some may call this requirement too far, but it is the only way for customer service workers to be treated like human beings.

Fordham hopes that with a little more focus on empathy instead of algebra, students can truly be men and women for others.

Arts & Culture Editors Madeline Katz - mkatz35@fordham.edu Olivia Stern - ostern1@fordham.edu

Arts & Culture

August 28, 2021

THE OBSERVER

Bryant Park Rolls Opening Credits on Summer Movie Series

Free movie nights return to the park on Monday and Tuesday evenings from Aug. 23 through Sept. 28

By MADELINE KATZ Arts & Culture Editor

You have to hustle to keep up with a larger-than-life J.Lo as she struts across the screen determined to give the bros of Wall Street a taste of their own medicine. The irony of screening “Hustlers” near the neighborhood where many of the wealthy men in the movie live only adds to the deliciousness of the leading ladies’ schemes.

It was the second night of Bryant Park’s Movie Night series, and the park was packed. The buzz of cicadas punctuated the rolling strip club soundtrack.

Police sirens wailed beyond the film’s boundaries, blurring the line between movie and reality.

The meta-nature of watching a film set in New York while sitting in the heart of the city provided an absurdly perfect opportunity for self-reflection

that has become a hallmark of life during a pandemic.

The free outdoor Movie Night series offers a low-risk way to enjoy the temperate late nights of a waning summer in the city. With 10 movies playing on Monday and Tuesday nights until Sept. 28, there are still many films waiting in the wings.

“As if” we could even think of a more iconic movie, the series began with the quintessential ’90s flick, “Clueless.” After Cher and her beloved yellow plaid mini skirt sashayed on screen, there will be movies ranging in genre from “Uncut Gems” to “Moonstruck.”

If that’s not enough, prepare to be starstruck. The park will debut a “Broadway to Film” series at the tail end of the programming.

Current Broadway musicals with film adaptations such as “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “MOULIN ROUGE!” and “The Phantom of the Opera” are slated to play

with surprise guest appearances from people involved in the musical productions. Now that’s something to sing about.

The lawn opens at 5 p.m. with the movies starting at sunset. In order to access the lawn, look for the people in green. They are the gatekeepers. Stationed around the lawn’s four corners, they check vaccination cards and bags before granting access to the grass that is undoubtedly greener on the other side of the gravel.

A CLEAR pass, Excelsior pass or a photo of your vaccination card coupled with a governmentissued ID will get you in.

Alternatively, tested audience members may show a negative PCR test within three days of the event, along with a governmentissued ID. From there, prepare to cozy up under the stars.

On the second night of the series, people sat in clusters on the lawn. Some brought blankets. Others sat in park-

provided folding chairs. There was an air of ease emanating from the crowd.

Just outside of the lawn, on the Upper Terrace, more people lounged and watched the movie. This was a distanced area which did not require proof of vaccination or a negative test result. This was also a prime location to hear the disjointed chatter of passersby. Some joked about the scenes playing.

Others summed up the movie with divisive brevity, describing it as “that movie where J.Lo is a stripper.” What it lacks in nuance, it makes up for with its pithy, bare-bones reading of the film.

While comments from the peanut gallery nourish the soul, there is also real food to sustain the body. In particular, keep an eye out for the Dunkin’ tent in the corner of the lawn. Refreshing treats will make the movie all the sweeter. The park knows their audience well. America

may run on Dunkin’, according to the company’s catchy slogan, but New York runs on dreams, preferably cinematic ones, paired with coffee, of course.

If the caffeine isn’t enough to rouse you from a summer slump, perhaps the energy of simply being around people will do the trick. There’s something to be said about the collective power of just sitting and being in the presence of others after so long apart. Think of it like this: movie watching as sitting meditation.

The act of breathing in the movie and exhaling it together can really shift the atmosphere.

See for yourself; you may find a more expansive quality to the night air after the end credits roll and people begin to pack up their things. At this point, the music may drift upward and filter through the light pollution haze so you can see the stars. Or maybe they’re just airplanes and the real stars are on Earth.

PHOTOS BY MADELINE KATZ/THE OBSERVER

The movies at Bryant Park start around sunset, typically at 8 or 9 p.m. The park will screen “The Muppets in Manhattan” and “Inside Man” this week.

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER August 28, 2021

Arts & Culture

11

Greed and Gluttony: Why I Couldn’t Take My Eyes Off ‘Spirited Away’

Almost 20 years later, Miyazaki’s classic remains a poignant examination of capitalism, adulthood and change

By MAEL QUENTIN Contributing Writer

I never understood “Spirited Away” when I was younger.

Previously known to me by its French title “Le Voyage de Chihiro (Chihiro’s Voyage),” I didn’t love this mesmerizing adventure. It was more the multiarmed spectacled man, radish creature, mysterious dragon and abundance of more unsettling and outlandish imagery that drew me to consistently rewatch director Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece.

This habit lasted until September of 2007, when at the age of five, I moved from France to the United States, and the world of “Spirited Away” faded to nothing but vague images and a persistent air of mystery.

I don’t know what compelled me to rewatch it in these past months.

Maybe it was my revitalized interest in animated movies after watching “Soul,” or my desire to do something with my movieloving younger sister, or simply a need for a spontaneous injection of nostalgia. Nevertheless, I sat down with my sister in the living room intending to decipher what the movie was about. With that goal in mind, I carefully examined every scene, and this time, I ended up falling in love with the movie that had once mystified me.

“Spirited Away” tells the tale of Chihiro as she, along with her parents, move to a town in rural Japan. Initially apprehensive about the move, Chihiro acts like an entitled young child as she constantly complains and voices her impatience. When her parents investigate an interesting abandoned theme park, they lose themselves in the endless amount of food that is freely given to them, turning them into literal mindless pigs. This act of pure gluttony plunges Chihiro into a world of strange spirits, scary creatures and imposing expectations. Stripped

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ROXANNE CUBERO/THE OBSERVER

of her possessions, her family and even her name, Chihiro is tasked with working in Yubaba’s bathhouse, a popular destination for wealthy creatures looking to have a pleasant time.

Throughout the film, Chihiro is forced to grapple with the monotonous, draining and unforgiving nature of adulthood within a capitalist world. Miyazaki demonstrates his disdain for the greedy practices that reduce honest workers into mere cogs in a money-making machine.

Everyone overworks themselves by appealing to their superior and maximizing the satisfaction of the bathhouse customers for monetary gain. Unlike all of the other bathhouse workers, Chihiro stands out as an embodiment of moderation and kindness. She doesn’t relish in the excesses of money or luxury but rather stays fixated on her goal to save her parents. This obsession with wealth juxtaposes Chihiro’s compassion toward every individual and instills the viewer

with an acute awareness of the real-world dangers of gluttony, consumerism and excess.

In addition to its consistent condemnation of capitalism and greed, “Spirited Away” also reinforces the harsh message that the world is not your friend. Despite that discouraging reality, Chihiro discovers that empathy and thoughtfulness aren’t worthless.

After all, it is her selflessness that saves her from the dark spirit NoFace’s wrath, gets her closer to the dragon-boy Haku, earns her the respect of the river spirit and gets her family back.

Being thrust into a world of responsibility and adulthood means that Chihiro now has to worry about the future. Her sacrifices and hard work are all in the service of getting her parents back. Throughout this maturing process, Chihiro grows from a naive and spoiled brat to a steadfast and courageous woman who uses her cunning and heart to save herself, her parents and her companions.

Now, 20 years later, Chihiro’s evocative voyage remains a triumphant reflection on the audience’s relationship with uncontrollable growth, purpose and ability to push through a demanding world.

“Spirited Away” tied my 5-year-old shy and frightened immigrant self to my 19-year-old rising college sophomore self.

Upon finishing my rewatch, I wondered why I hadn’t been inclined to watch the movie since I moved from France to New York.

Then I realized I had been through my very own adventure filled with discovery, awe and fear. I didn’t need Chihiro because I had my own Yubaba in my intimidating kindergarten assistant teacher and my own Haku in my friends,

guiding me through my strange new world in New York City. I sat for a while, each passing minute bringing me closer to my first inperson year of college, with this movie being the bridge connecting the past years of my life.

“Spirited Away” tied my 5-yearold shy and frightened immigrant self to my 19-year-old rising college sophomore self. I was enamored by it prior to my journey almost 14 years ago. It feels only right for me to revisit it as I embark on another one.

It is easy to succumb to cynicism when everything around us seems hopeless. Exploitation, injustice and greed permeate our world the same way it invades Miyazaki’s. The ominous fear of independence, the crushing weight of responsibility and the vexing pain of hopelessness are all universal parts of the human experiences highlighted by his oppressive world. A lot of people our age feel these emotions more than any other demographic because we are inheriting such an imperfect world.

As we college students begin to lose our comforting attachment to the present and start working for our future, Chihiro teaches us that it’s okay to be scared.

Despite all the chaos, the doubt and the confusion, we have to push through with confidence, selflessness and purpose to create the future that we desire. We’ll all have a Yubaba, a Haku, a bathhouse, maybe even a No-Face as we grow and change our world.

Like Chihiro, we must find peace amid the chaos, spread kindness within the cruelty and discover the island within the endless sea. We can readily relate to her in these defining, sometimes daunting times of our lives, but the movie’s timeless message of growth and responsibility means that Chihiro’s voyage will keep subtly echoing ours, even in our most intimate moments.

The Power of ‘SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical’

By AVA PEABODY Asst. Opinions Editor

I have seen a fair amount of musicals in my time, but I have never been so pleasantly surprised by a piece of theatre as I was by “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical.”

The value in this show can be found within multiple elements of the production, from the vibrant costumes and set assembled from eclectic junk to the faithful recreation of the beloved characters from the Nickelodeon cartoon. The mere sight of the physical prowess of Ethan Slater, who plays SpongeBob, convinces the audience the human body is capable of so many things (you, too, might one day be able to slide into middle splits).

Granted, the music leaves something to be desired: The songs are a compilation effort from a staggering array of musicians — including the Plain White T’s, Cyndi Lauper, the Flaming Lips, T.I., Panic! at the Disco and John Legend — which brings the audience on a bit of an auditory rollercoaster through musical and compositional styles.

But what stands out to me is the distillation of complex social issues into a format that everyone can understand.

Although “SpongeBob” is generally designed for children, its worth should not be overlooked merely because of its intended audience: By situating topics like xenophobia, greed and existential threat in an elementary environment like

Bikini Bottom, the show can simultaneously introduce kids to difficult problems and remind adults about what really matters.

This musical’s success lies in its continuation of what has made “SpongeBob SquarePants” so popular for decades — ostensibly, it is a silly, animated television show to keep children occupied, but it makes sharp societal critiques in a way that is accessible to all ages. The musical adaptation includes similar lessons about the power of community and direct action, which have only become more timely in recent years.

The main conflict in the show is the discovery that a nearby volcano is about to erupt and destroy Bikini Bottom, sending the residents into a panic as they debate how to best address the crisis. While SpongeBob, Patrick and Sandy form a plan to stop the eruption, Mr. Krabs has begun a new ad campaign to squeeze out the last profits he can make from “one last Krabby Patty before the end!” Plankton is trying to move the population toward somewhere where he can coerce them into eating at the Chum Bucket.

Others search for a savior, looking to the nearest person they can make into their knight in shining armor. A group of sardines settle on Patrick Star as their effective cult leader after hearing him remark that “If we all close our eyes, maybe nothing will happen.” Regardless of his lack of skill or experience in leadership, Patrick now has people hanging on his every

word. He revels so thoroughly in this newfound power that he abandons SpongeBob, who is now worrying about his job, his friendships and his ability to save the town on his own.

Still others cope with their distress through scapegoating.

When Plankton sows distrust about science in general, and Sandy’s science in particular, reminding everyone that she isn’t “even from here” in an effort to get everyone on his side, many members of the community violently turn on her.

The musical points out Sandy’s otherness as a land mammal in a way the television show does not — the cartoon, save one episode, rarely addresses the bizarre way in which Sandy ended up as a member of the town, but the musical highlights it by putting her in opposition to sea creatures who not only reject her for being from the land but who baselessly blame her science as the reason for the chaos. Her scientific solution to the volcano is clearly the right one, but she nonetheless encounters xenophobia from a community she had previously thought was welcoming.

The show’s survey of how impending chaos seeps its way into everyday life and how people react in myriad ways to crisis is eminently applicable, as proven by its parallels to the pandemic response. Faced with only 24 hours to stop the world collapsing, residents of Bikini Bottom cannot shake their interest in fame, their bigoted tendencies, and

COURTESY OF JOAN MARCUS

“SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical” made its original Broadway debut in December of 2017 at the Palace Theatre.

their money-making schemes, all of which would seemingly be rendered mundane by such certain catastrophe.

Rather than using the available tools to mitigate disaster, many become self-serving and resigned to their fate. By providing such a clear, simple threat as a volcano exploding, the musical can explore what happens to people when the unthinkable occurs, when threats arrive so consuming that they can barely be comprehended.

The majority of Bikini Bottom succumbs to their fear and confusion, rejecting problemsolving in favor of mass hysteria in much the same way that many Americans have rejected the common-sense strategies of masking and vaccination in favor of spreading conspiracy theories and

bogus medical remedies online.

The show is self-aware of its silliness — it doesn’t purport to be a serious, academic analysis of society, nor does it need to be. No one is claiming to make a grand, erudite statement. After all, it is ultimately designed for kids. But it’s still useful for everyone else. In watching a bunch of sea creatures try to stave off obliteration through Rube Goldberg machines and ukulele songs, we see ourselves, doing the best we can to juggle daily chores and personal problems while facing huge, complicated challenges such as the pandemic.

It shows us that what works is finding strength in our immediate communities and working together to take action while confronting proclivities toward bigotry and distrust.

un &

ames

Crossword: Back to Class

By NICOLE PERKINS

ACROSS 1. first part of a popular cheese and pasta dish 4. comfy tops worn often with jeans 11. unhappy 14. “it’s the end of an ” 15. to enlarge 16. sense of self, easy to overinflate 17. “ands” in Latin or French 18. lover of Theseus, found in the Labyrinth

Fun & Games Editor Nicole Perkins - nperkins2@fordham.edu

19. originally called, as in a maiden name 20. the season 21. where one makes bank withdrawals 22. last name of famed boxer who converted to Islam 24. all Fordham professors are involved in this field 27. “The Emperor’s New ” 30. volumes, abbr. and

scrambled 31. country formerly unified with Hungary 32. north, west, south companion 33. put on a performance 34. “all ”: in place 35. interested in the well-being of another 37. bag 40. not two or three 41. mountains located in Switzerland 45. haughtily 48. to separate 49. humored, excited, delighted 50. what Fordham students buy for a class 54. judge of a game: Abbr.

55. refuse 56. medical machine used to scan brain 57. degenerative disease, associated with Lou Gehrig 59. formal letter that has become a literary style 62. a sharp metallic object used frequently in sewing 63. part of the five senses, done with the eyes 64. TV rating system 65. popular first name, short for Theodore 66. , she’s, it’s 67. the devil is in this

Maze:

Help the freshman find the book they need in the library. start!

By NICOLE PERKINS

August 28, 2021 THE OBSERVER

68. safety data sheets: Abbr.

DOWN 1. “You’ll partner on a dating site” (2 words) 2. one of many that make up a newspaper 3. another name for the yucca plant 4. dreaded pre-flight administrators 5. to leave quickly 6. island country that shares border with the Dominican Republic 7. wild tropical fruit tree native to Central America translating to “old woman’s sapote” 8. Cincinnati baseball team 9. cask that holds liquids, especially liquor 10. last name of singer at the center of the #FreeBritney campaign 11. what the Class of 2022 will be this year 12. changes with each birthday 13. a deer, a female deer 23. not a little 25. Spanish for two 26. time zone followed in New York 27. lungs, stomach and liver are all these 28. French “life”

29. to consume food 31. highest or lowest card in a deck 33. “We Family” 35. not warm or hot 36. all, not particular 37. a place for relaxation and pampering 38. often combined with Hammer for a cleaning product 39. what Fordham students will take this fall 41. home, in a city: Abbr.

42. physics, biology or chemistry students find themselves here 43. usually for writing, to start a conversation 44. having a legendary legacy 46. take advantage of 47. opposite of attack 50. electric car company 51. “tines,” scrambled 52. an isomer of dimethylbenzene 53. varieties or types 55. a restrictive meal plan 57. dust to dust 58. popular jean company 60. can be pumpkin, apple, or blueberry 61. emergency notification system: Abbr.

Ram Libs:

Ramses’ First Day of School To d ay i s t h e f i r s t d ay o f s c h o o l . I c a n’ t w a i t t o s e e a l l t h e n e w f a c e s at Fo r d h a m .

I w a ke u p a n d d r i n k a b i g g l a s s o f . noun I h ave number c l a s s e s . B ut b e fo re I c a n h e a d t o c l a s s , I ’ m ve r y h u n g r y. I p ut o n my , and I head to the dining hall. noun T h e re i s s o mu c h fo o d t o c h o o s e f ro m ! I pile , and adjective noun adjective noun o n t o my p l at e . I g rab adjective noun a s e at , a n d g e t t o e at i n g . B ut a s s o o n a s I b e g i n t o t a ke a b i t e f ro m my , noun t h e re ’ s a ! I turn adjective onomatopoeia a ro u n d , a n d t h e re ’ s ! T h e y ’ re celebrity my f avo r i t e ! I want to get a occupation f ro m t h e m , b ut a s s o o n a s I b e g i n noun t o h e a d o ve r, I m a ke a t e r r i b l e re a l i z at i o n .

T h at w a s n’ t , t h at w a s D e a n celebrity Auricchio!

By ROXANNE CUBERO