9-23-2021

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THURSDAY, SEP. 23, 2021

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J O U R NA LI S M

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

RESLIFE INADEQUACIES, 2

COMEDY CLUBS, 4

Students share experiences of ResLife failing to support them.

Performing in-person becomes a cheerful reality.

GALLERY, 5

COLUMNS, 8

Class of 2024 smiles for the camera at red carpet event.

A student embarks on the modern-day Odyssey.

ILLUSTRATION BY

YEAR LI. VOLUME C. ISSUE V

YVONNE TANG

Students share their experiences isolating with COVID-19 in the absence of LfA Lauren Rowlands Contributing Writer Three weeks after returning to in-person classes for the first time since March 2020, Boston University’s Office of the Provost announced in an email Sept. 17 how students in quarantine and isolation due to COVID-19 can keep up with their academics.

In addition to asking classmates for notes and contacting their professors, students are encouraged to work with their respective school’s Academic Continuity Coordinator for help in making arrangements with faculty, the email wrote.

However, many students who tested positive early in the semester have said the information came too late.

Andrew Hicks, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 18 and went home to isolate until he received a negative test on Sept.

21. He said, except for one class, he did have access to recorded lectures.

“It was tough because I was just expected really to look at the notes online,” Hicks said. “It was just a lot of work and extra work for me especially when I was so tired and sleeping half the time.”

Hicks added that while he believes BU is keeping students safe in the classroom, the University cannot control what students do elsewhere that might expose them to COVID-19.

“They don’t really have much control on what students can actually do and what they will do,” Hicks said.

“There’s nothing to say that a student won’t go out and, for example, go party with their friends or go to a

bar.”

Hannah Emily Landsberg, BU’s director of case management and contact tracing, wrote in an email the length of a student’s quarantine depends on their symptoms and their vaccination status.

“Due to a robust testing system, most students are cleared from quarantine after 10 days,” she wrote.

identified as a close contact.

“These individuals are still informed of their exposure and advised to test more frequently following their exposure and monitor carefully for symptoms,” Landsberg wrote in an email.

Hollie Shuler, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, who tested positive for COVID-19

first get it,” Shuler said. “I could have had it for longer and just been asymptomatic for the first few days.”

Shuler said her isolation room resembled a “studio apartment” with a fridge, oven, bathroom and microwave. She added a nurse would check in on her daily and check her oxygen and that fresh food was delivered every other day. If she needed to re-

SHANNON DAMIANO | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Students stand in line at the COVID-19 testing site at 808 Commonwealth Ave.. Students who tested positive for COVID-19 early in the semester said the University’s guidance on keeping up with missed classes was not substantial and came too late.

Landsberg said the University is following Massachusetts Department of Public Health guidelines by not requiring asymptomatic students who are fully vaccinated with a World Health Organization-approved COVID-19 vaccine to quarantine if

on Sept. 3, called BU’s testing and contact tracings “effective” but said increasing the frequency of testing might better reduce infection.

“With the vaccine, you don’t get as many symptoms I think with COVID, so it’s harder to tell whenever you

quest other food or supplies, she said, BU had a system through which she could do so.

“Although it was really not a good time, I was super grateful for all the staff that were working in that building,” Shuler said. “I feel like that’s

something that we don’t talk about enough is appreciating the people that do stuff with all the isolation patients.”

BU spokesperson Colin Riley said the University released the Sept. 17 email with guidelines for academic support as soon as student concerns became known to the administration.

“There was no waiting. When the issue was raised, the answers were provided,” Riley said.

However, Keith Paik, a senior in the Questrom School of Business who missed the first two days of classes after testing positive, said BU’s lack of a policy for keeping up with academics before classes began made him “quite bothered.”

As a Resident Assistant, Paik said it was difficult not being able to answer questions from other students.

“It’s harder to be knowledgeable about [COVID-19] and able to answer questions to my peers and people who follow me and be able to offer support when I didn’t even know what was going on,” Paik said. “And then furthermore, my bosses didn’t really know what’s going on.”

Riley said due to the many types of classes offered at BU, professors should have the ability to decide what works best in their classroom.

“There’s no one policy that fits every particular class,” Riley added.

Paik said the decision to allow each professor to decide how to handle having students in isolation makes it difficult to receive the necessary class materials for every course, especially for students who don’t have a classmate they can ask to take notes for them.

“It’s kind of a big deal and a problem,” Paik said. “It should be a standard for professors to offer recordings for makeup material.”

Students express dissatisfaction with BU dining plans, noting increased prices for same number of meal swipes Phil London Contributing Writer Following an increase in the cost of dining hall plans at Boston University, several students said the plans have decreased in purchasing power, noting the number of meal swipes and dining points has remained the same or similar to last year.

Boston University’s 250 Dining Plan rose to a cost of $5,850 for 2021-2022, up from $5,480 the previous school year, but continued to provide 125 meals per semester. The number of dining points — which can be used like cash at restaurants and convenience stores within BU buildings — did, however, increase from $1,180 per year to $1,260.

BU spokesperson Colin Riley wrote in an email the cost of dining plans had increased “slightly” due to an increase in the cost on the University to provide the same service.

“The meal plan increase of 3.5 percent for the 2021-2022 academic year was necessary to offset price in-

creases in food, supplies, transportation and labor,” he wrote.

Costs incurred due to imposing COVID-19 safety precautions, maintaining food preparation equipment and providing supplies and uniforms, added Riley, also played a role in the price increase.

The BU Dining website states all students who live in an on-campus dormitory-style residence must be on a University dining plan. For the Fall 2021 semester, there are seven to choose from, ranging from unlimited dining hall meal swipes to various combinations of meal swipes and dining points.

Sriram Ganesan, a freshman in the Questrom School of Business, said he thinks choosing the Unlimited Plan was the right decision.

“After every class, I just chill [in the dining hall] for a half an hour and eat some ice cream or some[thing],” he said.

Ganesan said if he was on the 250 Meal Plan instead, 125 swipes would not last him the whole semester.

The BU Dining website notes a

student dining on the 250 Plan has about 7-8 dining hall meal swipes per week, but more dining points than any other available plan.

Ayiana Saunders-Newton, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, is on the 330 Plan and said she often eats at Marciano Commons on Bay State Road.

She said while she probably won’t run out of dining points, the typical freshman may be overspending.

“I think the plan, overall, is fair,” Saunders-Newton said. “Especially based on the fact that we live in a city.”

Yaileen Moscat, a freshman in CAS, is on the 14+ Plan with $540 in dining points per year.

“I can only have 14 meals per week,” Moscat said. “Each time I come in, I get the tally and I can see on my report how many meals I have left.”

She added there should be more resources available for students with schedules that don’t accommodate dining hall times.

“Things should be done for the

LUWA YIN | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Boston University students swiping into the Marciano Commons dining hall.

The number of available meal swipes and dining points for each University dining hall plan has remained the same despite an increase in cost.

convenience of the student,” Moscat said. “If things aren’t really accommodating for them to continue their education, they’re going to stop.”

She added she goes home on the weekend to do her grocery shopping, where prices are lower than at the City Convenience stores on BU’s

campus.

“I don’t think it’s fair they’re having the students pay for the tuition, pay for health, pay for dental, and also pay for the different resources that should be provided, along with printing,” Moscat said.

2 NEWS

Students share experiences of ResLife’s incident mishandling, lack of adequate support Sangmin Song Contributing Writer

Several students have said the Residence Life office at Boston University has done a mediocre job of handling the various issues brought to their attention.

Abbey Cho, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said her Resident Assistant in Warren Towers was rarely present when she needed her during her freshman year.

“Our RA was never in her room,” Cho said. “One of my floormates [once] had a serious health problem, so we called the emergency line. We also knocked on our RA’s door and she was not there, so we couldn’t really do anything with the ResLife.

We had to resolve it on our own.”

Cho said when others on the floor were being excessively loud, she had to deal with the situation herself.

“There were some sort of parties and people running and screaming around at night, but sometimes it was not resolved through Reslife,” Cho said. “They were like ‘Oh we have it on file,’ but they’re just not doing anything.”

Others added they failed to receive the minimum support ResLife claims to provide.

Serena Choi, a freshman in the

College of Communication, said she knew of a student who brought up bathroom cleanliness in a floor group chat that included an RA and was met with little response — even when the messages between floormates became confrontational.

“One of the students from my friend’s floor asked others to clean up after themselves … but someone else started scolding him for being so [sensitive about] using a communal bathroom,” Choi said. “[The RA] didn’t intervene or give out warnings to them, which I thought was weird and frustrating.”

A 2020 COM graduate, who asked to remain anonymous because she did not want her family to see her story, wrote in an email to The Daily Free Press about how she experienced homophobia and harassment from her roommate.

“My freshman year at BU, I lived with a roommate who claimed to be progressive and accepting, but her attitude quickly changed when I started dating my first girlfriend,” she wrote.

“She made inappropriate comments about our sex life and tried to persuade me to try ‘straight sex.’”

The graduate wrote the situation between the two worsened to the point that she felt it was life-threatening to be in her own room.

“One day, I overheard her on FaceTime with her boyfriend, saying, ‘I wish she would just kill herself already and then I could have a single,’” the graduate wrote. “[Once],

she threatened my life by leaving dangerous allergens around the room and passing it off as sudden forgetfulness.”

The graduate wrote she had conversations with their RA and reached out for help that was never properly given.

“My RA served as a mediator for a while, but because my roommate was our trusted floor rep, the RA usually took her side instead of ensuring my safety,” the graduate noted. “Because there was no official documentation of the incidents, ResLife refused to provide me with an emergency living arrangement when the harassment got so bad that I had to flee my dorm room.”

Although the graduate felt scared to sleep on friends’ floors, in the library and occasionally in booths at the GSU, she wrote that she did so because she felt these locations were “safer than returning to a dorm room where [her] existence as a gay student was constantly under attack.”

“BU knew I didn’t have a safe living space and still refused to provide one,” she wrote. “For a university that claims to support its many LGBTQ students and champion acceptance, the housing department [and the ResLife] does not reflect that mission.”

The Residence Life office did not respond to several requests for comment.

BU spokesperson Colin Riley said the University works hard to support

VIVIAN MYRON | DFP FILE

The Boston University Residence Life office. Boston University students have criticized the department for falling short of helping resolve private matters in University residences.

all its students and makes available several resources.

“We have great training for our Resident Assistants and our housing hall directors. These are professional staff members. They are very experienced in handling student issues,” Riley said. “These are the issues that Residence Life deals with and will look into to make sure that the training is up to standard.”

He added the ResLife office and RAs have additional commitments, so students living in residence halls should consider when it is appropriate to contact them.

“Please ask [yourself] what it is, how you ought to be reporting, if there’s [concerns] you have about noise or problems with the custodial

services … life threatening issues is BUPD, 911,” Riley said.

Choi said an anonymous online survey through which students can send suggestions and feedback to their RAs could improve the student-Reslife relationship.

“If those surveys are anonymous, it won’t feel like walking on eggshells,” she added.

Regardless, Cho said students would still need to keep the communication line with their RA open and active.

“I think it’s more important for students who live in dorms to be keeping in touch with their RA,” she said, “because it’s the closest person that they can reach out to about the room [or roommate problems].”

City experts discuss expectations for general mayoral election Olga Benacerraf Madison Mercado Daily Free Press Staff Mayoral candidates Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George will advance to the general election Nov. 2 for Boston’s next mayor, following their victories in the preliminary mayoral election Sept. 14.

Bostonians selected these two candidates from a ballot that included Acting Mayor Kim Janey, City Council President Andrea Campbell and former Chief of Economic Development John Barros.

As the remaining two candidates prepare to face off in the general election, voters who supported other contenders in the primaries are faced with the question of who to elect moving forward.

Richard Parr, the Research Director for The MassINC Polling Group, said polls conducted before the election asking voters to rank their second choice candidate could be an indicator of how those groups will vote.

Parr said Michelle Wu was often the second choice of Kim Janey voters and Andrea Campbell voters.

“It looks like Michelle Wu is, I guess you could say, better positioned to win in November,” Parr said. “But of course, a lot could change between now and then, a lot could happen that could change people’s minds.”

Voting data from the MassINC further shows that Wu was preferred over Essaibi George in almost every precinct won by Janey, Campbell or Barros, while at the same time placing second in all but one of Essaibi George’s precincts.

Parr said this “suggests that perhaps she has more support already on the ground there, maybe she can grow that support a little bit more easily than Annisa Essaibi George

can do in some of those places.”

As for citywide demographics, Parr explained that while Wu did well on the western side of the city, Essaibi George found support further down south, in whiter, suburban areas.

“I’m really looking at that dividing line between West Roxbury and Roslindale as a place where these two candidates are going to be fighting for votes pretty hard,” he said.

The high turnout rates and shifting demographics of that area will make it an interesting place to watch come No- OLIVIA NADEL | DFP FILE vember, Parr said. With the Boston mayoral race is reduced to two candidates after the Sept. 14 election, experts shared insights about where candidates can “It’s changing gain voter support going further. neighborhood by Wu received endorsements from multiracial, multilingual coalition does in a way that leverages resourcneighborhood, es,’’ Landsmark said. block by block, down there so I think State Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz, State that we need in our city.”

Essaibi George received an enHe added the city needs regionthat’ll be a really interesting place to Rep. Liz Miranda, D-Mass., and the healthcare union 1199SEIU Massa- dorsement from the electrician and al solutions to tackle problems like look,” he said. technician union, Local 103 IBEW, opioid addiction, education, employNone of the candidates whose chusetts.

“When we start out by asking our- after the preliminary election. ment and housing. campaigns ended in the preliminary Ted Landsmark, distinguished This would require a progressive election have yet endorsed Wu or Es- selves what’s politically feasible rather than what will actually solve prob- professor of public policy and urban or a more traditional candidate to saibi George.

“It’s early, I mean, it’s just a week lems, we negotiate against our own affairs at Northeastern University, appeal their policy to voters on the after the election, but there’s still constituents. I want vision and deliv- said Boston’s relatively small size as other side of the political spectrum, time,” Parr said. “I think people ery in my candidates,” Chang-Díaz a city puts it in a position to imple- Landsmark said.

“Both candidates need to reach are probably negotiating behind the is quoted saying in a Sept. 18 press ment innovative strategies in a way beyond their existing electoral basscenes and trying to decide what they release. “Michelle Wu is someone not possible in a much larger city.

“What the next mayor will have to es to demonstrate that they would want to do and whether they want to who can connect with all our communities across our city and build do is to create and affect a new, more be a mayor for the entire city,” said endorse at all.”

Since the preliminary election, the multigenerational, multicultural, regional brand of what Boston is, and Landsmark.

NEWS 3

COVID-19 cases fluctuate as college students return to campus Jit Ping Lee Contributing Writer College students across the United States returned to campus this fall in what is set to be a test on the power of COVID-19 vaccinations and testing.

Five universities in the Boston area require both COVID-19 vaccination mandates and at least weekly testing to manage the spread of COVID-19 in their school communities. These colleges include Boston University, Harvard University, Northeastern University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University.

University of Massachusetts Amherst also has a vaccination mandate in place but updated their testing policy Sept. 22 from only requiring UMass community members with vaccination exemptions to test weekly to requiring all members who have been exposed to or develop symptoms of COVID-19 to get tested.

Boston College has a similar policy requiring weekly testing for only certain “high-contact” groups designated by the school, but does require COVID-19 vaccinations.

While Boston’s seven-day moving average for positive COVID-19 tests stands at 4.1% as of Sept. 14, six of the seven schools reported COVID-19 test positivity rates lower than 1%. UMass Amherst has a seven-day positive COVID-19 rate of 4.2% as of Sept. 16.

These numbers come despite an over 90% vaccination rate for six of the seven schools — Tufts University does not provide public information

HANNAH YOSHINAGA | DFP FILE

Boston College. Public health and community medicine experts comment on the current COVID-19 protocols across several universities in the Boston area.

on their vaccination rates — a figure significantly higher than the 63.7% achieved by the City of Boston.

However, the prevalence of the highly transmissible Delta variant, which recently accounted for 99% of all COVID-19 infections in the United States, means vaccination protects people from “getting serious disease and dying,” associate professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University, Paul Beninger, said.

Beringer said the danger with outbreaks of COVID-19 in a highly vaccinated community is the threat of infection to unvaccinated individuals.

“There’s still a risk with this Delta variant,” he said. “Risk is

significantly worse for people who aren’t vaccinated.”

The University of Massachusetts Amherst saw 371 COVID-19 cases the week of Sept. 8 — significantly greater than the 149 cases detected a week before.

“The outbreak is connected to off-campus social activities, such as going to crowded bars and indoor parties,” Mary Dettloff, deputy director at the school’s office of news and media relations at UMass Amherst, wrote in an email. “At this time, our positive cases seem to be falling.”

University administrators have continued to adjust COVID-19 policies based on surveillance

testing figures. Tufts University recently detected a spike in their test positivity rate, with the 7-day moving average of 0.39% notably higher than their baseline of 0.15% for all tests conducted since August 2020.

“We have seen an increase in COVID-19 cases among students and are watching the situation closely,” Patrick Collins, executive director of media relations at Tufts University, wrote in an email.

In an email update sent to all undergraduate students Sept. 14, Tufts University administrators outlined new guidelines such as increasing the frequency of surveillance testing for undergraduate students to twice weekly.

Noting that students generally have a huge number of contacts, Beninger said testing twice weekly can “significantly” reduce the number of people a positive individual could have potentially exposed.

“Once a week is probably, at this point, not frequent enough,” he said.

“If you come in Monday and then you don’t come back again till the following Monday … you could have exposed any number of people in those five days.”

Ultimately, this boils down to a question of how schools prioritize resources used in managing COVID-19 and providing for other core academic functions, Ben Linas, infectious disease physician at Boston Medical Center, said.

“There is no one right answer because both these things are important,” Linas said. “Then maybe the approach should also be different and maybe we can save some of these resources [on testing] and instead use them to provide more classes or hire more professors.”

Linas encouraged all colleges that have not implemented a vaccine mandate to do so.

“Once everyone in your community is vaccinated, then maybe the metrics can shift because we have to be clear about what we are trying to prevent,” Linas said.

Beringer advised students to continue practicing vigilance as the school term continues.

“It means recognizing that there is still a virus out there,” said Beninger.

“You still have to recognize that you’re part of a community, and you need to continue to protect other people by wearing a mask and minimizing your social contacts.”

City councilors discuss safety of construction sites in Boston Cici Yu Contributing Writer Boston City Councilors discussed the City’s safety guidelines for construction sites and measures to keep residents safe during a virtual committee hearing Monday after one worker was killed and another was injured in a stairwell collapse at a Cambridge parking garage last March.

The Occupational Safety and

Health Administration cited and fined contractors LBR Property Management and Structural Group Sept.17 for their role in the construction accident.

The hearing was moderated

by Councilor Julia Mejia, chair of the Small Businesses and Workforce Development committee. Councilor Ed Flynn and Councilor Liz Breadon — who sponsored the issue — were also in attendance, along with Councilor Kenzie Bok and other government department staff.

“Boston, as we all know, it’s experiencing a rapid increase in

building construction,” Flynn said.

Over the past few years, there have been multiple accidents at construction sites in the city.

According to the hearing order, a construction worker was killed by equipment in late 2019, and the falling debris from a North End construction site severely injured a woman in July 2019.

“There are penalties imposed by the local city of Boston and the state of Massachusetts,” Sean Lydon, the interim commissioner of the City’s Inspectional Services Department, said in an interview.

SHANNON DAMIANO | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The construction site of the Boston University Center for Computing and Data Sciences. During a virtual committee hearing Monday, Boston City Councillors discussed safety guidelines for construction sites and affected residents.

“They can impose their fines, they can suspend, revoke different licenses … they can basically refuse to let them operate within the state of Massachusetts.”

The ISD administers and enforces City regulations in areas of construction, sanitation, safety, housing and health. Lydon said the ISD follows strict OSHA guidelines and is in constant communication with OSHA and state-building inspectors.

“In the application process, the safety ratings of these different companies applying for the particular permits that they use they’re scrutinized, highly scrutinized,” he said. “If they’re not operating in a safe manner, then they will not be issued that permit, they’re not allowed to work in the city of Boston.”

Mynor Perez, the regional manager of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters — a union representing carpenters, shop and millmen, floorcoverers and pile-drivers in New England states — said at the meeting that because many construction workers in the city are immigrants and may not have prior OSHA training or speak English as their first language, providing an OSHA class for individuals in their native language is a “highly effective” way to reduce accidents.

Flynn said another “unconscionable” thing he saw in the city on a construction site is wage theft, where workers are not paid in accordance with the law.

“If this boss of this company

doesn’t even want to pay [the] workers, how the heck are they even going to give them safe working conditions,” he said.

Breadon brought up a question to the ISD about whether there is a whistleblower system available for workers who want to report unsafe practices on the job.

“It’s incorporated as part of a 311 program,” Lydon said during the meeting. “Any individual at any time they can either call this office or call 311, the inspector will respond immediately.”

Beyond just worker concerns, Flynn said at the panel that Boston residents and workers near construction sites and pedestrians have expressed fears about safety.

There are currently three construction sites on campus, including one construction site of the Center for Computing and Data Sciences, one near Myles Standish Hall in Kenmore Square and one next to 1019 Commonwealth Avenue.

Amanee Vazquez, a Boston University sophomore in the College of Engineering who currently lives in Myles Standish Hall, said personally the site isn’t a “big hazard,” though Vasquez did note that the fences seem close to the actual building and wondered if a falling object could potentially fall out of the fence.

“They tend to do construction during the day, and I only walk pass or longboard pass very briefly, so I don’t feel like I’m putting myself in danger and I don’t think that the people around are in danger,” he said.

4 FEATURES

COMMUNITY

New professor in School of Theater brings new expertise, excitement to the department Emily Pauls Staff Writer Standing in front of the class in all black clothing while holding her chihuahua Lenny, Patrese McClain, a new assistant theater professor in the Boston University College of Fine Arts, asked how her students’ weekend was. In less than a minute, one of her Acting and Performance 2 students started breakdancing for the class.

This is the kind of environment

McClain creates for her students.

“Professor McClain is very wonderful, and she’s very energetic in class,” said Alan Kuang, the breakdancing sophomore in the College of Fine Arts. “She likes to be very hands-on and physical, and I think it really helps the learning experience since this is an acting class.”

McClain started teaching for the School of Theatre this Fall. She is also a working actress and has been since 2010 after graduating from Howard University and

Penn State University, she said.

“My first job was I worked on the production of ‘Ruined’ by Lynn Nottage the year that it won the Pulitzer, also the year that Obama was elected,” she said.

“At the Goodman Theatre when he was elected, it happened to be right across the street from Grant Park and I thought, life couldn’t get any better.”

Since her first show, McClain said she has appeared in many different theater productions.

After four years of working in regional theatres around the

EMILY PAULS | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Assistant Theater Professor Patrese McClain teaching her Acting and Performance 2 class in the Boston University College of Fine Arts while holding her chihuahua, Lenny. New to Boston University this semester, McClain has been a working actress in both theater and television productions since 2010.

Midwest and East Coast, she made her transition into television. She said you can see her in “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire,” “Detroit 1-8-7” and many more.

McClain has been nominated and won several acting awards, such as a Barrymore Award for her acting in a production of “The Mountaintop” in Philadelphia.

“I started acting because I felt like I had a gift,” McClain said.

“It allowed me to touch freedom for the first time where I was free from self-doubt, free from the noise of the world.”

McClain said she also pursued acting because she enjoyed storytelling. With her new position at BU, McClain said she hopes to write more frequently.

“I know that I’m a storyteller,” she said, “but you can tell stories in any medium, in any role, but that’s why that’s why I’m still on stage.”

McClain said socio-economic backgrounds can prevent certain people from pursuing a career in acting.

“There’s still this elitism that has been a huge barrier for me, especially being an artist from a certain community that has made it my obligation to bring that community with me, instead of separating from it in order to be valued or accepted,” she said.

“The most powerful thing I can do is be true to myself.”

CFA sophomore Peter DiMaggio said that everything the class has learned from McClain so far has been “immediately applicable.”

“I feel like I have to come to her class and bring my best self,” Dimaggio said. “Fostering an environment that allows for that is really unique and I really enjoy this class.”

Michaela Lazarou, a sophomore in CFA, said that in addition to fostering a great learning environment, McClain also cares for the well-being of students.

“She seems so, so dedicated not only to her students but also the art itself,” Lazarou said.

“I think that she teaches, not only [in] a way that’s easy to understand for everyone, but she also really highlights taking care of ourselves in that which I really appreciate.”

McClain said that while her teaching style is based on her experiences from school and in her own career.

“It doesn’t feel unconventional to me,” McClain said. “But when I see the way that students respond to it, it lets me know that they don’t experience a lot of acting classes in the way that they experience mine.”

McClain said her goal for the end of the semester was to help “​​ the brilliant actors that are here to be even more brilliant.”

“I understand that being a working artist, it really means that I have something to offer to the students here that may be a little different,” McClain said, “and I want to take full ownership of what that looks like and make sure that I optimize the sharing of the gift.”

Comedy clubs, stand-up, improv, sketch groups return fully in-person Molly Farrar Features Editor Going from Zoom stand-up comedy performance to a full house at BU Central “makes all the difference,” Avery Lender, vice president of Boston University Stand-up Club, said after the club’s first showcase of the semester.

Tuesday marked the beginning of their bi-weekly, live shows — nine students performed at 9 p.m, including hosts Lender, a junior in the College of Communication, and club president and COM student Sam Strom.

“I miss live performing so much and, every comedian will say this, but Zoom comedy is just not the same,” Lender said after the full show. “Just feeding off the audience’s energy I think is really important. Seeing people actually laughing, even if you can’t see them smile makes all the difference.”

BU Stand-up Club is one of many in BU’s arsenal of stand-up, improv and sketch comedy clubs.

The variety is strong, and so are each club’s contributions to the community.

The Callbacks are the only troupe at BU to perform both sketch, video and improv comedy, and during the pandemic, they were able to explore video more.

Madison Lamothe, co-president and a senior in the College of Fine

Arts, said the club successfully recorded video sketches while following COVID-19 safety guidelines last year, and also hosted a comedy show with other colleges over Zoom.

The team meets twice a week and performs twice a semester, and the team of normally eight to 12 people write, edit and produce their improv and sketch videos.

Their first performance this year was at the Weeks of Welcome’s Student Showcase at the Tsai Performance Center.

“All of us were just so excited because like people saying ‘clap’ in a chat is not the same as people actually clapping and laughing at your jokes,” Lamothe said.

“We’re all just excited to get back to the live audience energy because we haven’t felt that in a while.”

After the troupe finishes auditions later this week, The Callbacks will begin rehearsing for their first official show that will be at BU Central on Oct. 30.

This year, Lamothe said she’s hoping the club can keep up their momentum with video production skills they improved during the pandemic.

“A lot of us feel more confident in our ability to film videos in a reasonable time,” she said. “I’m hoping that we will keep up that pace and we’ll be able to at least show a few videos during our shows and then post a few to our YouTube account.”

Slow Children At Play, or affectionately Slow Kids, is BU’s

MOHAN GE | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Boston University students watching BU Stand-up Club Vice President Avery Lender perform at BU Central. Tuesday night marked the return of the club’s bi-weekly live comedy shows, where nine people performed.

“premier sketch comedy troupe” and is the oldest running troupe at BU. President and COM senior Sophia Stio said that last year, Slow Kids continued to rehearse and perform over Zoom.

“We, of course, did Zoom practices because we didn’t want to lose the opportunity to write new material,” Stio said. “You want to stay fresh when you’re doing comedy, you don’t want to lose that. It’s like a muscle.”

Their first show this semester is Oct. 16 at Tsai Performance Center. Stio said for many new members and those who joined last year, this will be their first time performing on stage.

“We’re very eccentric, I think that’s our claim to fame,” Stio said. “We’re very alt-comedy, so you can expect to laugh and the concepts behind our sketches

are sometimes a little crazy, but they’re easy to follow.”

She said while the pandemic pushed Slow Kids more toward video projects, they are excited to go back to traditional live performances. Stio said they’re “keeping it pretty simple,” still considering COVID-19 concerns.

“Safety’s obviously our main priority,” she said. “I think we are going to limit it to maybe two or three shows this semester, maybe some video sketches. We’re going to see, but we’re mostly excited to perform live.”

Maxfield Mascarin is a senior studying film in COM. He performed Tuesday at BU Standup club’s inaugural showcase and said he was nervous heading into his first show ever.

“It just consumed my ego for the past few days. I just [would]

go to the library and write down the same few jokes and try to make them a bit more funny,” he said. “Even when I was up there [on stage], I think I made it work.

The audience was really, really supportive of anything so even I just stood there, like people thought it was funny, which was a great time.”

Mascarin said the showcase in BU Central was a “pretty spectacular” return to comedy on campus despite the COVID-19 limitations.

“There’s nothing like hearing real laughter in the same room as people,” he said. “I feel like that’s really, really imperative to comedy in general, and having a good time.”

Community associate Ashley Soebroto contributed to the reporting in this article.

FEATURES 5

ARTS

BU miXx provides space for K-pop dancers Claire Zhang Contributing Writer Boston University students who are interested in K-pop dance and are looking for a community of others who are as well should look no further.

K-pop dance lovers can come together at BU miXx, a K-pop dance crew that films dance cover videos across campus and other parts of Boston.

“It’s a really great community to be a part of,” said BU miXx president Brigid Kane, senior in the College of Communication.

“Everyone has similar interests.

It’s easy to talk to everyone, everyone has the same mindset.”

The BU miXx e-board hosts three cycles of performances a semester, each consisting of per beginner, intermediate and advanced routine. Choreography leaders also teach open workshop practices for general members.

The group launched in 2013 and has since accumulated more than 20,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Auditions are held for the filming of each dance cover the group posts on its YouTube channel. Members who are selected for the videos recreate the outfits from the original K-pop music videos as well, Kane said.

BU miXx can be seen filming in various locations in Boston, such as Downtown Plaza and Seaport, and on campus, such as March Plaza — locations are decided

COURTESY OF BU MIXX

K-pop dance crew BU miXx. The crew films dance cover videos around the Boston University campus and the city of Boston and welcome all who are interested in K-pop dance.

upon by the choreography leaders and the cast.

“If it’s more of a summer-y song or something, maybe we’ll go down to the waterfront,” Kane said, “and it would kind of fit that aesthetic a little bit more.”

Auditions can get “very competitive,” Kane said, adding that a dance with seven spots may have had around 60 students audition.

BU miXx members can also pitch a side project to lead. These projects still hold auditions but

are meant for dancers to help improve their dance skills before getting cast in main cycle videos.

“I remember when I was a freshman, I would get really discouraged if I didn’t get cast in anything,” Kane said. “But you just have to take a step back and realize there’s so many upperclassmen too that have been here for years and know how everything works, and have been doing this type of dance for a while, so it’s just a learning process.”

For the majority of members who don’t get cast, going to practices and finding community is just as fun as being in a video.

“It’s nice to go to a practice every once or twice a week and see people who all share the same interests as you and just get to hang out and dance in a gym for a few hours,” Kane said.

Mary Miura, a COM sophomore who serves as underclassmen representative for BU miXx, said she enjoys main cycle practices because of the

number of people that show up.

“The last time we had like over 100 people in one practice,” Miura said. “It was so fun to be dancing with that many people who [are] sharing our passion toward a song.”

BU miXx is resuming main cycle activities this Fall, after a semester off for COVID-19 precautions when club activities were online.

Kane, who had not been a dancer before joining BU miXx, said the group has helped her grow as a person overall.

“I’ve gotten to a point where I feel a lot more confident in my teaching abilities, my dancing abilities, just beingable-to-speak-in-front-of-people abilities,” Kane said.

Miura said she enjoys having a place to dance with others and talk about K-pop in general.

“I love dancing to K-pop, but I didn’t have any friends who [were] interested in K-pop dancing in my high school,” Miura said. “I certainly feel BU miXx is a place that I can share my [passion] with dancing K-pop.”

BU MiXx will host their “miXxhibition” Nov. 13 and will start the next cycle in October.

Kane said it can be challenging for new students to find a community where they feel comfortable. She said she is glad BU miXx can be that place for some people.

“But once you find it,” Kane said, “it makes such a difference in your college experience and just your life in general.”

SCIENCE

BU science community happily welcomes return to in-person labs, reflects on remote Sophie Nye Science Associate Labs are a collaborative, handson learning experience needed for almost all science majors at Boston University.

Last year, many lab groups couldn’t be together in the classroom when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020.

BU shut down their residential campus, and all classes — including labs — were switched to an online format, primarily over Zoom or completely

asynchronous. The Learn from Anywhere model provided some relief, but not what a full inperson experience.

James Lawford Anderson is a BU professor in the department of earth and environmental sciences.

He taught two geology-based courses remotely last year, both with a lab component.

He said geology in particular was more difficult to teach remotely effectively.

“I still took rocks and minerals to class [and] lab,” Anderson said. “You show and tell because

LUWA YIN | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Students in a Systems Physiology lab section in the Boston University Metcalf Science Center. Boston University science professors and students welcome the return to in-person labs after enduring the difficulties of asynchronous and virtual labs last year.

geology is a very physical science. I’m trying to make it as hands-on as I can.”

Anderson said most of his students chose to attend class remotely instead of the in-person option last year. Then, as the year continued, many of those students chose to watch lectures asynchronously.

“Over time more and more students went asynchronous, so I never even saw their faces.”

Anderson said. “It was really challenging.”

Anderson said he did his best to keep students engaged and to make sure that they were learning what they needed to learn. He taught in his classroom even if the majority of students were not there, he said, and in labs he made sure that students were able to see and examine the rocks and minerals that they were learning about.

“The [teaching fellow] would bring out rocks and bring out minerals. They had a diagram that they could put on the screen and they could draw on it and they went through the exercise to a degree that the asynchronous could just watch the [video] and follow along,” Anderson said.

Even though professors like Anderson tried their best to teach students in an interactive and informative way, many students did not enjoy the virtual lab experience as much as they would

have actually working in a lab.

Sofía Sherman, a sophomore neurobiology major, took lab classes both last year and this year. She said that “staring at a computer for four hours” was very difficult when doing her labs last year. She also said that completing labs this way could get “boring” and “monotonous,” because the students are “not learning as much.”

However, Sherman said she is looking forward to more intense in-person labs this year, which she said she’s never had before.

“I’m just excited to learn lab techniques and get more experience in a research laboratory, which I can later apply if I ever want to do real research outside of BU,” she said.

Sherman also said she is looking forward to being able to experience labs surrounded by teachers and students because “if you have any questions, you can just ask them.”

Another student, Hannah Willy, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences majoring in astrophysics, said she is more academically successful taking in-person classes.

“You definitely get more out of in-person labs,” Willy said.

“Being online was rather difficult, especially in physics, because some of the people would go in person and would do the lab and then some of the people would be

online.”

Willy said that while students had difficulties learning the materials, they weren’t alone.

Many professors had difficulty transferring their methods to remote, she said.

“I think a lot of professors really struggled going online because they had to adapt, and most students also keep their cameras off, and I think that a lot of professors use facial expressions [and] visual cues to see that people aren’t understanding stuff,” Willy said.

“They couldn’t tell the people were confused.”

However, Anderson said that keeping labs remote last year ensured that everyone could stay healthy. Now that labs and lectures are back in person, he said professors are given the option to wear masks when lecturing.

“I put my mask on. It’s not to protect me, it’s to protect you,” Anderson said. “This virus is airborne, and I don’t want to scare the students.”

Anderson said that while students can see his “enthusiasm, they tell it on camera,” not all professors can connect with students over Zoom.

“Other people may not be able to be enthusiastic in front of a camera where they might be okay in person,” Anderson said. “I’d rather be where I can hand you a rock or a fossil.”

6 PHOTOS

GALLERY

A gathering, red carpet and all Mohan Ge Daily Free Press Staff

[

Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore poses with students of the Class of 2024 on the red carpet outside the GSU.

]

Students of the Class of 2024 pose for photographs on the red carpet outside the GSU.

Write BU’s history.

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Students enter the GSU from the red carpet photoshoot outside.

Students take photos and hang out in a neon corridor constructed outside the GSU.

A student plays piano in the GSU while others wait in line to be admitted into the Class of 2024 celebration.

A photographer shoots students of the Class of 2024 as they walk on the red carpet into the GSU.

OPINION 7

EDITORIAL BU needs to prioritize students, not normalcy

Boston University had a record number of 36 positive COVID-19 cases on September 15th.

This was the most cases ever recorded in a single day on campus, including last year.

This news is concerning, especially considering most of the campus is vaccinated.

Though the vaccine prevents severe illness, research has shown both vaccinated and unvaccinated people can spread the new Delta variant.

It is important to place this issue in perspective. Last week, it was reported that the University of Massachusetts Amherst had 371 positive COVID-19 cases in its first two weeks of school, despite more than 95% of its population being vaccinated.

BU made headlines last year over its rigorous and careful pandemic planning. When taken into perspective, 36 positive cases are a lot better than 371.

But this spike should nonetheless be treated seriously precisely because of the new seeming lack of concern from BU administrators. BU did not send out an email alerting students as to this significant spike in cases. This is in sharp contrast to last year, where students would receive emails alerting them to possible spikes.

This spike — which has seemingly gone under the radar — is emblematic of how COVID-19 had been treated this semester. Fall 2021 has been plagued by a persistent lack of clarity behind the administration’s pandemic plans, and a significant cutback on resources designed to keep students safe.

The Boston Globe highlighted UMass Amherst’s lack of mandatory weekly testing in conjunction with this recent outbreak. Though BU still requires weekly testing, recent changes to its pandemic policies have potentially weakened their efficacy.

First, BU decreased mandatory testing from every three to four days a week to once. The University also significantly scaled back its student testing facilities, as students can now only get tested at one location on the Charles River campus — 808 Commonwealth Avenue — when they could previously make appointments at the Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences and Engineering building and Agganis Arena too.

BU is not a bubble. Our campus is not only frequented by students but also by tourists, visiting prospective students and local Boston residents. Weekly testing allows for more room for undetected COVD-19 infection and spread.

Moreover, the increased frequency of big in person events at BU — from the College of General Studies cruise to freshman events — brings people in close contact with each other.

We have written about the detrimental effects of this scale-back, and recent news has found students finding difficulty in scheduling appointments.

BU administrators deny the scale-back having anything to do with the lack of appointments: In a recent email, Chief Health Officer and Executive Director of Student Health Services Judy Platt claimed that the closing of Agganis Center will not cause a “net reduction of available slots for COVID-19 testing.”

But the same email nonetheless heavily discourages students from getting tested more than once a week and admits to the recent difficulty students have been experiencing in scheduling new appointments.

This speaks to our second concern with BU’s new COVID-19 policies: the lack of clear direction on what people on campus should do if they are lucky enough to get sick with the virus.

BU has not provided clear and easily accessible information to both students and faculty on its pandemic plans.

Take Agganis, for instance. The only explanation for the closure provided by collection site operations director Kevin Gonzalez in an interview with BU Today was that it would allow Agganis “to return to its regular

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programming is a key part of what makes the BU Charles River Campus such an exciting place.” But BU also initially announced that the Agganis Center was meant to close down on Sept. 24. Instead, it closed down on Sept. 15, with no clear explanation as to why.

But BU hosted matriculation at Agganis without closing its testing facilities. Why did officials decide to close it now, before its scheduled date?

Students have expressed repeated discomfort with BU’s new testing policies. A recent petition against BU’s testing scale back has gained more than 378 signatures.

Moreover, the administration has offered even less guidance on how sick students should keep up with their school work in quarantine.

With the dismantling of the Learn from Anywhere program and the administration giving professors open discretion in dealing with quarantined students, there is no uniform procedure as to how to make up missed work.

The most substantial piece of guidance the administration has given us came in the form of an email from last week. The administration offered students a list of nine tips on how to keep up with classes if quarantined, including telling students to contact Students Disability Services and the Academic Continuity Coordinator to

let them know if “you encounter any difficulties along the way.”

Students are at the mercy of their professors, who do not have the same access to LfA resources as they did last year, and their classmates, who should not have to be responsible for someone else’s academic success, along with their own.

The faculty have also expressed confusion and anxiety over the lack of clear guidance from the school. In a recent Op-Ed for BU Today, professors called BU’s guidance measures “wishful thinking” and said they indicate a “denial of the very real probability that faculty and students will become sick with COVID-19 this semester” We urge the administration to listen to their students and faculty rather than attempting to divert the blame of the issues they’ve created on us.

We understand the administration’s desire to go back to normal. We want to go back to normal. But this mentality is outdated and unrealistic.

We have accepted that our college life — even, in some respects, our entire lives — will never return to the way they were before the pandemic. Why not try to work with this new normal, rather than try to pretend it isn’t here and endanger the healths and academic success of students in the process?

There are so many things about this pandemic we cannot control.

Why not attempt to control what we can?

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EDITORIAL BOARD Lily Kepner, Editor-in-Chief Madhri Yehiya, Campus Editor

Emma Sánchez, Managing Editor Isabella Abraham City Editor

Sonja Chen, Sports Editor

Yvonne Tang, Layout & Graphics Editor

Conor Kelley, Photo Editor

Katrina Liu, Lifestyle Editor

Bini Ollivier-Yamin, Opinion Editor Veronica Thompson, Podcast Editor Molly Farrar, Features Editor GRAPHIC BY ALEXIA NIZHNY KK Feuerman, Multimedia Editor

8 OPINION

A Room With a View:

COLUMNS

An international student’s trip back to Ithaca

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to him, his wife has infinite suitors wooing her in the hopes of obtaining the hero’s throne.

It is indeed hard to digest the idea that time does not stop simply because we are elsewhere.

The Ithaca I have to leave every couple of months is never the Ithaca that I come back to, which further hinders the possibility of quickly adjusting to my former lifestyle.

Being unable to regard my home environment as familiar as it used to be and suffering shifts of family and friends dynamics is inevitable, but also undeniably heartbreaking.

By choosing to pursue my education in a foreign country, I made a series of critical commitments.

I committed to years of constant farewells that never get easier, growing apart with my peers and often feeling ostracized even by lifelong friends.

Nonetheless, I also committed to embarking on a thrilling journey that has made me more mature, more educated about issues I used to be blind to and has allowed me to create my own life without any burdening baggage from the past.

Regardless of how hard it can be from time to time, attending university abroad is the best decision I’ve ever made. After all, I always have an Ithaca to return to.

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An entire branch of ancient Greek literature is dedicated to the theme of “nostos,” or homecoming. After the recounts of an epic hero’s great adventures in exotic lands, an author would also narrate his quest for the safety of his home. The latter would usually happen by sea and become a new adventure altogether, often more dangerous than the one that forced the hero away from his family nest in the first place.

The most infamous example of such a storyline is the “Odyssey” by Homer. The poem narrates the formidable navigation of the Achaean hero back to Ithaca — the island he ruled over — after winning the Trojan War. Due to the misfortunes that Odysseus attracts on himself — partly because of his curiosity and partly because of a series of divine punishments — the hero spends 20 years at sea before he can disembark on his familiar shore. Apart from being a physically tormenting crusade, Odysseus’s “nostos” assumes the meaning of an emotional

doing so in a strange environment can be truly nerve-racking. The overall cultural shock tries a person’s adaptability and open-mindedness, two fundamental aspects of personal growth.

Nevertheless, many international students struggle with this social adjustment and are confronted with unbearable loneliness. A 2019 study from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that social isolation and loneliness are particularly prevalent in the international student community.

Even if students successfully adjust to their new normalcy, their new mindsets can clash when confronted with their home reality.

Over this summer, a friend of mine accused me of becoming too politically correct after studying in the United States when we happened to discuss racism. After such a comment, I could not stop fearing that I would progressively lose any point of contact with the people I grew up with because of contrasting opinions that I could not overlook anymore.

Furthermore, changes do not only happen from within a person. When Odysseus ultimately reaches Ithaca and is eager to enjoy the harmony of his familiar life, he realizes that time did not stop while he was wandering in the Mediterranean. While remaining utterly faithful

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Antonia Lehnert Columnist

journey that symbolizes his yearning for the comfort and warmth of home.

Reflecting on the hero’s story inevitably got me thinking about how my life has changed when I committed to attending university abroad.

I am well aware of the privilege of being able to consider studying abroad. I will always be incredibly grateful for this life-changing opportunity. However, continuously traveling back and forth between my actual home country and the country I chose to call home also comes with its price.

The initial excitement of traveling internationally several times a year slowly fades. It becomes routine, similar to the neverending chore of packing and unpacking suitcases. Nevertheless, I still feel the same bittersweet melancholy when I board my umpteenth flight home, and like Ulysses, I am torn between the desire to stay away for longer and the joy of visiting my motherland.

As an international student, I strongly relate to the character’s trials and tribulations when it comes to homecoming, even from the safety of my direct flight.

Throughout his adventure, Odysseus experiences unimaginable events that teach him fundamental life lessons he would not have acquired otherwise and that may make him unrecognizable to his loved ones. For instance, he learns to avoid temptation and selfish pleasures that in the past got the best of him due to his pride.

In my experience, studying away from home inevitably means maturing faster than your peers, chiefly because of the additional anxieties one endures while alone in a foreign place.

Starting university is a daunting task, and

I Call Foul Play:

Another 2008-like housing crisis is not as far off as we think

Luca Becker Columnist The United States, yet again, is in a housing crisis.

Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies publishes a special report annually on the country’s housing market. “The State of the Nation’s Housing” 2021 assessment describes an unsettling reality.

It warns that even with considerable federal government assistance and intervention, more support is required to ensure that thousands of Americans are not forced out of their homes. “[F]or millions struggling to cover rent or mortgage, their housing situations have become increasingly insecure and these disparities are likely to persist even as the economy recovers, with many lower-income households slow to regain their financial footing,” said Chris Herbert, the managing director of Harvard’s Housing Studies Center, as quoted in a Bay State Banner article.

The housing market favors buyers wealthy

enough to cover down payments and closing costs, or those with savings hefty enough to make cash offers on homes. As reported by the 2021 assessment, the skyrocketing cost of housing is attributable to the low supply yet high demand of available housing for the affluent.

This inequitable commodities exchange worsens housing affordability and prospects for moderate and low-income households. Unfortunately, low-income households are the socioeconomic demographic that suffered the most layoffs and reduced working hours due to the pandemic.

The pandemic not only revealed but exaggerated the influence of unequal access to affordable and decent housing. Millions of Americans that lost income as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to struggle with housing insecurity.

However, family

sible foreclosure or eviction, Harvard’s report asserts. Additionally, Black Americans are suffering disproportionately compared to white Americans within the current housing crisis.

Due to historical oppression and discriminative, often intentional, structural barriers, the pandemic worsened Black Americans’ circumstances by implanting a two-fold crisis in personal finance and health. For communities of color, the result of this crisis is greater unemployment and fewer savings.

In 2021, the median income for white households was $71,000. For Latino households, the median was $55,000.

Black households fall behind Latino households and significantly behind white households with a median household income of $43,000. A lower median income translates to surpassing housing insecurity and increased foreclosing.

To combat this housing crisis, the U.S. Department of the Treasury enacted the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) to make federal funding available to citizens struggling to pay rent or utilities.

Through the C onsolidated Appropriations Act and President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act units with of 2021, the two ILLUS TRAT secure employment and ERAP programs ION B Y SOP HIA F LISSL high-quality housing remain prosperous cost the US taxpayer ER as the pandemic endures. These inequalities will $46.55 billion. likely linger even as the economy recovers.

While ERAP should aid those famLow-income homes will have difficulty re- ilies in dire need of assistance in the short term, claiming financial footing and even face pos- it will not fix the underlying long-term problem

of deep wealth inequality in the United States.

Steep wealth inequality is the true reason for America’s housing crisis, only exacerbated by the pandemic.

So, if the housing crisis can not be solved by temporary federal assistance, what will resolve it?

Most housing experts agree that the crisis will not be settled through solely market intervention. “The private market on its own never supplies an adequate number of affordable homes for the lowest-income renters,” said Dan Threet, an analyst at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, as quoted in The New York Times.

“In the age of neoliberalism, far too much time and money has been spent on trying to coax private markets into accomplishing policy objectives,” wrote Ryan Cooper and Saoirse Gowan in the Jacobin magazine.

The government should build public housing units, some progressives argue. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Homes for All Act proposes the federal government fund the construction of 12 million new homes over the next 10 years.

Others, like the New York Times’ Binyamin Appelbaum, would rather subsidize private development areas in need of affordable housing through tax credits and direct government spending. Appelbaum also argues that the federal government must expand its housing voucher program for tenants across America.

Republicans, however, have historically chosen to ignore housing crises. The most popular argument Republicans make when deflecting questions about the weak housing economy is that a bettering economy with more jobs will solve the issue in itself.

The State of the Nation’s Housing 2021 report proves this argument is demonstrably false.

Whatever the route this government chooses to solve this housing crisis, one fact is clear. The last thing America can do is ignore it.

LIFESTYLE 9

Yellow house Bailey Clark Contributing Writer Pennsylvania is typically a deadend answer to the “where are you from” question that dominates most conversations during the turn of the semester. It’s most frequently met with a kind nod, a giving reassurance that the individual is aware of Pennsylvania’s existence, before promptly moving on to the next question in the meeting-someone-new script.

A rare reply comes in the form of someone mentioning their aunt lives in Pittsburgh or the possible New Jersey connection. But every once in a while, my Pennsylvania answer — saying I’m from Philadelphia, more specifically — triggers wide eyes and an in-depth conversation about how ‘Boston is in desperate need of a Wawa’ and how ‘I would kill to eat a hoagie with Ben Franklin himself.’

Truthfully, I am more of a Philadelphia advocate when I am far away from home, but that only adds truth to distance making the heart grow fonder.

Yes, I do feel connected to Philly, but when all is said and done, telling my discussion sections and the peers I sit next to in lecture that I am from Philadelphia is simply a lie.

One would find your classic suburban-rural town 45 minutes north of Philadelphia. The last possible stop on the train out of Philly, and the farthest one from Philadelphia while maintaining the statement that it’s still Philadelphia.

I am from Doylestown. The only thing that gets less of a reaction than replying with “Pennsylvania” is replying with “oh, you know, a Pennsylvanian suburb.”

Nonetheless, I love where I am from. Doylestown has a town center akin to that of Stars Hollow from “Gilmore Girls,” with an old-fashioned movie theater and too many ice cream shops. The surrounding land is filled with farms and horses, providing hours’ worth of idealistic back roads to drive on.

There are certain spots in Doylestown I feel immense ownership over. One is the apple orchard down the road from my high school,

where I rewarded myself with a caramel apple a few too many times in the fall of senior year.

Most notably, the yellow house that’s across from my preschool. The yellow house is, appropriately, painted yellow. For reasons unknown, the house must be met with a verbal cheer every time my mom and I pass it. I am not kidding. Without fail, we’ve excitedly proclaimed “yellow house” every time we’ve driven by since I was barely out of diapers.

I’ve never been one of those kids that talked aimlessly about how they “needed to get out of this town.” But I knew I wanted to experience something different in college, like actually living in a city rather than lying about it. Thus, the move to Boston was bittersweet.

Having nothing but love and appreciation for where I grew up, it became all too easy to fall into being homesick, like so many college students do. The city was overwhelming, and I felt as though I was sharing it with the world. I longed for the comfort of my little town — a place I had all to myself.

I discovered Brookline through the excitement of going to Trader Joe’s. The walk from my dorm on Boston University’s West Campus to the Coolidge Corner Trader Joe’s toured me through what felt like home — neighborhoods of cute houses with families walking their dogs and kids playing outside.

Going to Trader Joe’s became an immediate escape from feeling overwhelmed in the city. I could call my mom and look at porch swings, then end my trip with a dark chocolate almond butter cup — it was a win-win situation!

One house in particular brought me a wave of calm during my walk to and from the grocery store. A yellow house. I found my very own Brookline yellow house. Perfectly painted to fit the name and smuggled in between two plain colored houses, intensifying the choice of hue.

There will be a yellow house in every town I visit. Leaving Doylestown doesn’t mean abandoning home. It is a chance to see how the quirks of Pennsylvania can reinvent themselves in other places of the world.

My yellow house in Brookline is mine. My comfort. My security. My seed of home.

ILLUSTRATION BY IRENE CHUNG

ILLUSTRATION BY JUN LI

Check www.dailyfreepress.com for crossword answers on Friday morning.

GRAPHIC BY ANNA FACCIOLA | CONTRIBUTING ARTIST

10 OPINION SPORTS

SPORTS

Club sports teams embrace return to normalcy Chloe Patel Contributing Writer After a year of restrictions, social distancing mandates and more, Boston University’s club sports teams are on their way back to normal.

Like last year, club sports teams have been adapting and continuing to comply with University-wide mandates. Currently, the indoor mask mandate is the only major COVID-19 protocol that has remained since the spring.

One sign of normalcy is that teams are now allowed to practice as a full team again after a year of being required to practice in cohorts of 10 people, per club sport guidelines.

Additionally, many club teams could not recruit new members under pandemic restrictions, multiple club athletes said. This semester, incoming freshmen, sophomores and transfer students are all able to participate in club sports, resulting in a surge of new members.

BU’s club triathlon team only had returning members on its roster the previous year, so bringing in new members has

made a difference, said club vice president and Sargent College junior Ryan Christensen.

“Over the past few weeks, we’ve had a huge influx of new members and new people signing up because that includes all freshmen and sophomores that we weren’t able to include last year,” Christensen said.

Under pandemic restrictions, clubs were not approved to share equipment, leading members of club gymnastics to mostly practice tumbling and conditioning last year. Club baseball was not allowed to hit at all in the spring. In between infield and outfield transitions, players would disinfect the baseballs, and their practices mainly consisted of fielding drills, said club baseball president and College of Communication senior Ryan O’Connor.

This year, though, they are allowed to use the shared equipment.

“We’re basically back to normal, which is really exciting.

We’re allowed to hit at our practices. We’re actually allowed to have a season now,” O’Connor said. “This whole semester is really focused on building back

up and seeing what we can do even beyond that.”

One significant guideline that has changed is the ban on travel: teams were not allowed to travel off-campus last year. This year, teams can once more hit the road, which club gymnastics president and College of Arts and Science senior Cassidy Anderegg said will make a big impact on her club.

“Last year, [the travel ban] really affected our practices too, because we would usually travel to a couple local gymnastics gyms to practice,” Anderegg said. “We can go to our actual gymnastics gyms to practice [this year]. We are also able to use our equipment now when we do practice in FitRec. We just wipe it down between rotations and at the end of practice.”

In terms of competitions, no club sports team participated in any in-person games last year.

Teams this year are working with other universities’ club sports teams to schedule games, meets, races and other competitions.

Club women’s ice hockey president and CAS junior Sydney Bechtel said her team welcomes the chance to compete again.

“We are allowed to play games

SHANNON DAMIANO | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The track on Nickerson Field. Boston University’s club sports teams are now allowed to practice as a full team after a year of practicing in groups of ten per club sports guidelines. Their only major remaining COVID-19 protocol is the indoor mask mandate.

right now,” Bechtel said. “We’ve been in constant communication with other universities and their administrations to work that out.

Obviously, who knows, we’re still in the midst of a pandemic, but we’re really looking forward to beginning our season and seeing how we’ve progressed over the past year and a half.”

Despite the enormous changes in club sports policies over the past two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, teams are ready to get

back into full practices and return to competitive seasons.

“Coming back this semester, welcoming new players, seeing each other more frequently, that’s really boosted morale and I feel like really brought us together as a group,” Bechtel said. “We’re going to bring that momentum, that energy, that positivity and that general gratefulness to be with each other onto the ice in practice and also into our games in our season.”

Fans bring energy back to Boston University athletics it’s a return to normalcy after a long and frustrating wait on the sidelines, but both plan on taking advantage of the opportunity while it’s there.

“There’s nothing like the energy of a stadium or an arena full of fans,” a second-year grad student With the triumphant return of in the College of Communication in-person attendance for Boston Chris Kattak said. “I don’t think University athletic events, fans people realized how much of are welcome back in the stands an impact a crowd could have this semester for the first time on a game until the stadiums were Fans watching the BU Women’s Soccer game against Colgate University Wednesday. Fans are empty. The players welcome back in the stands this semester for the first time since March 2020. really feed off the PERRY SOSI | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF energy of the crowd.”

Luckily, the awkward silence of a crowdless game has ended, and fans are pushing players to give their best effort.

Students aren’t the only ones enjoying a game or two this year. Friends and family who’ve supported BU athletes throughout their lives get to do so once again.

Ashley Buck, a junior defender on the women’s soccer team, spoke on the difference having them back in the stands can make.

“Having [family] in the crowds makes a difference too, knowing that you’re

John Fallon Contributing Writer

since March of last year. From Agganis Arena to New Balance Field, varsity athletes work hard on and off the field so fans — both family and fellow students — can continue to enjoy the full experience and bring roars of cheers for the 2021-22 academic year.

For many students, this year is their first opportunity to attend sporting events at BU. For others,

playing in front of people that gave up a lot of stuff for you to be here,” Buck said, “or just to have the energy of the crowd, your friends, some other teams, as well as regular BU students, helps us through close matches and makes it a little bit more enjoyable for all of us.”

The teams themselves are getting in on the fun too. The men’s and women’s soccer teams are making the extra effort to attend games and cheer each other on this season.

“I think we all kind of missed going to games, or sporting events in general, with COVID,” Buck said. “[The men’s soccer team] started it by having a lot of energy, and they actually really kept us in one of our first few games … having them and knowing they’re here and having them call out our names and stuff was super fun, and then vice versa, going into the stands and cheering on our friends.”

At BU, hockey games are one of BU’s biggest sports attractions.

The BU Dog Pound, a student organization that encourages fan engagement at men’s hockey games, has been eagerly awaiting the return to the arena after a year of remote programming.

“Last year really underscored the importance of social media to engage with students and get them excited about BU hockey,” Dog Pound president and CAS senior Joe Delorto wrote in an email to The Daily Free Press.

“Going virtual presented a lot of challenges, especially without the built-in draw of the games, but we worked with our student leaders and the Athletics department to try to maximize our social media presence and the power of our online outreach.”

While they worked tirelessly to get people together virtually last season, this year, they’re excited for an electric crowd at the first home game of the season.

“After the last 18 months, people are honestly just looking for things to do and fun ways to get out of their dorm,” Delorto wrote. “For the first time ever really, half of the campus has never had the chance to go to a hockey game, so the excitement is definitely there.”

Delorto and the Dog Pound are actively looking to get students involved in their group and are spreading the word to get as many students to the games as possible.

The men’s ice hockey season begins Oct. 2 at Walter Brown Arena against the College of the Holy Cross. while the team’s first game at Agganis Arena comes a week later on Oct. 9 against the University of Connecticut.

“Dog Pound is all about having a great time at the games,” Delorto wrote, “ and we just want to get as many new people into the stands as possible to see what a great experience it is so they can bring their friends and we have a whole new group of people excited about BU hockey.”

QUOTE WALL 11

We asked students what it’s like to be back on campus...

COMPILED BY VERONICA THOMPSON AND YVONNE TANG

My favorite part about being back at BU is that there’s people everywhere now. And my least favorite part about being back at BU is also that there’s people everywhere now … It’s kind of like a double edged sword, just an adjustment, getting back to normal.

-Lily Peters, Wheelock ‘23

I think the administration can do better in terms of just providing more accessibility for students who may or may not get COVID.

-Rafaela Ugarte-Núñez, Pardee and CAS ‘23

GRAPHIC BY JUN LI

There’s a lot of students around here that want to do something for today’s society and I’m like yes, I love that ... I think that’s like a fresh start.

It’s very eye opening.

-Madison Verdeja, CAS ‘23

Last semester just being on Zoom, I felt like I wasn’t learning as much because I was [at] home. I was in my pajamas … It was just draining. And so my favorite part about this semester is in-person classes.

And for me it feels safe.

-Maya Jones, COM ‘23

As a freshman moving from another continent, I mean everything is different. I just moved from Asia and it’s a lot more modern for me. I very much like the big BU campus feel … I love it.

-Bethania Yohannes, CAS ‘25

I missed [ensemble] so much. Like I just feel like part of my soul was missing the whole time that we couldn’t do it so I’m just so excited to be back and do quartet and symphony and all of that.

-Reyna Flores, CAS and CFA ‘22

Letter from the Editor: “Welcome home!”

This is the theme for today’s issue — our first physical print of the Fall — and a perhaps timeworn exclamation students, returning and new, may hear as they settle into their campus life. But this return — this welcome home —is one like never before.

It’s a welcome home for freshmen, who took a chance after an online tour and now get to walk our streets in “3-D.” It’s a welcome for students who went home ostensibly for spring break in 2020 and stayed indefinitely, finally returning to their Boston home after more than 500 days away. Students who learned hybrid last year, students who took a gap year, transfer students and the wholly unique Class of 2024, stepping into a quasi second-freshman year.

We’re all back and here, on Commonwealth Avenue.

We know this year has presented some unforeseen challenges, but we also know it has presented unforeseen joy. Bumping into that friend from freshman year on the BU beach, complimenting someone’s boots while cramped

on the BU bus or turning to a classmate and asking “Did you get that?” — small joys that we can finally celebrate in person.

Each section editor interpreted the “Welcome Home” theme differently, and the results are showcased colorfully in this issue. We hope you will join the conversation as we tell the story of campus and Boston life this semester, in mediums stretching from podcasts, cartoons and photos to columns, features and breaking news.

Join the conversation more actively by reaching out to editor@dailyfreepress.com or at 857-230-9811 with tips, letters or suggestions for improvements.

We have been working hard under the bright fluorescent lights in the office under Insomnia Cookies this semester and promise to keep working hard all semester long to get you the news you need.

We wish you luck as you embark on this semester, and we can’t wait to tell your story.

Happy Fall, and welcome home Lily Kepner, Editor-in-Chief, Fall 2021

ILLUSTRATION BY YVONNE TANG

12 LIFESTYLE

LIFESTYLE

My Plant Pablo Maya Frankel Senior Writer Once upon a time, in a land far away — well, not so far away — a 20-year-old girl embarked on a flight back to Boston for the second semester of her first year of college with hopes and expectations. She started last Spring semester in her on-campus brownstone with her roommate and a succulent named Pablo. Pablo was born in Trader Joe’s and raised on Bay State Road.

That girl was me, if it wasn’t obvious.

Days went on, and everything changed. My roommate went home for the semester, and the weather shifted from sunny to grey. Fall to winter. I worried and stressed about the upcoming days where I would be living alone. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure how I was going to make BU feel like home again.

Spoiler alert, BU ended up feeling more like home than it ever had before by the end of the second semester.

Although I was living alone, I wasn’t technically alone. I always had Pablo at my living room table with me. I know what you are all thinking: “it’s weird you named your plant and are referring to it as a person.” I’m not saying my plant is more than a plant. But when it’s winter outside and the leaves have fallen off the trees, any ounce of greenery is a magical sight to behold.

The semester continued, and I met wonderful people, embarked on new adventures and seized opportunities to get outside of the comfort zone I had always hidden in. I’m not going to lie, living alone is very difficult and sometimes very lonely. It forces you to reach out to friends and put yourself out there. I’ve realized

when you get too comfortable being alone, you forget how wonderful it is to be around your loved ones. Being an extrovert, I am happiest and most energetic when around my friends and family, which forced me to take initiative, so I was constantly surrounded by people and their beautiful energies.

The semester went on, and Pablo watched the seasons go by, watching over me at my living room table until it was time for me to go back home to Florida. Pablo went to my godmother’s house, and her children watched over him until his time came to go. I received a photo by text with

Pablo in his broken state, and I knew at that moment it was time to let go of all the difficult and rough parts of my second semester. Pablo’s passing made me realize it was time to move on and stop reliving that second semester, thinking of what could have been or what went wrong.

I moved into my apartment on Bay State Road with my roommate Sam for my Fall semester, embarking on new adventures and opportunities with an optimistic mindset.

This time, I bought a new succulent with three plants in one. I named one Evangeline, my little sister named one Schmidty after “New Girl” and

Sam named one Frankie. Our succulent sits in front of our window, looking out into the world.

At first, I was scared and nervous to embark on the Fall semester. But as the summer went on, my mindset continued to grow in the best way possible. I learned to let go of what was hurting me and embrace the new.

I opened my heart and my mind to new possibilities and happiness in this beautiful city I call my second home. Now, I go on adventures with Sam and feel a sense of calmness and happiness. I bike to Trader Joe’s and wake up early to go to Orangetheory Fitness. I have an open heart and

mind, and I laugh and continue to laugh. Sam and I have dance parties and sing in public. I am just happy.

You’re probably wondering why I chose to talk about my plant Pablo.

Pablo represents the Spring semester, living alone and a mindset that was starting to become a little more negative than I wanted it to be. Losing Pablo represents my ability to move on and grow into the person I am today. I am continuing to grow. Getting a new plant doesn’t mean I don’t love the old plant, it just means I am ready to move on, grow and become the best version of myself with this beautiful and vibrant plant by my side.

MAYA FRANKEL | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Lifestyle writer Maya Frankel’s new succulent. Her previous succulent Pablo took on a greater significance than just its little green existence during Maya’s Spring semester.

An homage to the past year and a half Michelle Tian Senior Writer My feet have touched Boston soil, my eyes have seen the towering buildings of Warren Towers and West Campus and my ears have

heard the dinging bell of the T. I’m officially back, and just writing those three words makes me want to collapse into a sobbing mess once again.

I left 544 days ago, thinking I’d be back in a month. All I brought with me back home was my backpack and essentials as well as a small suitcase. I was prepared for change, even

though I didn’t have much of a clue about what to expect. What I was not prepared for, however, was for this pandemic to get serious so fast and for so long.

March 2020 to August 2021 was not easy. I had some great moments where I was exhilarated to be back and spend time with my family and high school friends, but I often found

COLE SCHONEMAN | DFP FILE

A view of the Boston skyline from the Blandford Street station. Michelle Tian reflects on her time back home and her long-anticipated return to campus after taking a year-and-a-half-long hiatus.

myself waking up the next morning with an empty feeling in my stomach because there just wasn’t much to look forward to.

This past year and a half made me realize just how much I had formed an attachment to not only Boston University but to my peers here as well. Simple things like walking back to my dorm from the Fitness Recreation Center with music blasting in my ears or pretending to study in cafes always brought me the most joy.

So being constantly stuck at home and lacking social interaction didn’t bode well for my mental health.

I will admit that what was hardest for me was to learn that so many of my BU friends had gone back to school. It made sense – most of them lived near the campus while I was a seven-hour plane flight away — but to see pictures of them in my old dorm building or studying on the COM Lawn made me notice just how much I was missing out on.

People like to say that college is the best four years of your life, and the short time I spent on campus during freshman year seemed to live up to that expectation. It made me really upset when I figured out I’d only have two full years where I was actually present on campus.

Besides sulking around and complaining about the current situation, I tried my best to keep myself busy.

I found a shockingly large amount of

TV shows to binge-watch and also got back into reading, a hobby I never thought I’d pick up again. My family and I spent some much-needed time together. I moved out of my house of 16 years. I was able to learn how to cook a few mediocre meals.

While the past year and a half was probably the most difficult chapter of my life, I found that as long as I had distractions to keep myself from thinking of what I was missing, things never seemed that bad.

I’m lucky enough that the people I’ve surrounded myself with were the epitome of support and loyalty and were intent on making sure my optimism never once dimmed.

That being said, the moment I came back to Boston, it felt like an eruption of butterflies in my stomach. While this place isn’t home, it’s always felt like my comfort zone, and I hadn’t understood just how much I missed this particular part of the world until I was landing on the tarmac at Boston Logan International Airport and looking out the window at the glowing city lights in the middle of the night.

I would say it was surreal, but even that word seems to fall short of how I was feeling. I’m relieved, ecstatic, and most of all, happy to be back.

And while there are some parts of the past year and a half that I will surprisingly miss, I feel like I’m finally exactly where I need to be.