Misc.01.26.22

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The Miscellany News January 27, 2022

miscellanynews.org

Volume 157 | Issue 1

Petition challenges COVID policies Students reduced Jacques Abou-Rizk Guest Reporter

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s second semester hits full stride, 215 students and community members have voiced their concerns over the perceived lack of COVID-19 precautions being taken by the College, demanding that more policies be put into place to prevent the virus’ spread in a petition filed to the school. The five main demands of the petition are to increase isolation time to 10 days for positive COVID-19 tests, allow optional remote learning until February with recorded lectures year-long, provide free and readily available KN95 and N95 masks to the campus community, extend grab-n-go at Gordon Commons and require regular mandated testing. While students make up the majority of signatories, roughly a dozen parents and alumni are also among the 215 individuals on the petition. Dean of the College Carlos Alamo-Pastrana said President Elizabeth Bradley and members of the senior leadership team reviewed the petition but haven’t made any definitive decisions. “We have considered these and many more options for having a safe semester while pursuing the College’s educational mission,” Alamo-Pastrana said. “We are working to balance all aspects of health— limited COVID-19 cases on campus while

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Jewett Charlotte Robertson Guest Columnist

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t’s move-in day and I’m in the basement of Jewett looking for spare headboards. Jewett House, fondly referred to as “Vassar’s hotel” for its castle-esque parapets, red brick face and owl-shaped gargoyles, is the crown jewel of the quad. As the tenth tallest building in Poughkeepsie, the tower provides the best views of campus. But upon arriving, I was stunned by the miniscule size of the dorm rooms. Those of my hallmates that were unlucky enough to be assigned a corner room found that there was truly not enough square footage to fit desk and bed alongside each other; we descended into the basement in search of spare furniture, to create an inevitable setup of lofted beds with desks squeezed underneath. Seventh-floor resident Max Brennerman ’25 recounted the experience: “It was pretty terrible. Originally my roommate was under me, because we had bunk beds, so I would have to put my feet in his face and climb up every night. And it was like this terrible island; when I arrived, I could not leave, because it would be too much of a hassle and there would be too much noise. Then I got my bed lofted, so he was no longer under me, but I was still about ten feet in the air. That was a struggle sexually and emotionally.”

supporting mental and social health as well,” he added. Many students, regardless of whether or not they chose to sign the petition, are having discussions with one another about feeling unsafe with the likelihood of COVID-19 spreading. “I chose to sign the petition because there truly weren’t enough precautions being taken to make sure everyone was safe, and it felt wrong to ignore the needs of the entire community,” said Chelsea Zak ’23, one student who signed the petition. Zak added, “This school is not only comprised of healthy, young, able-bodied students and faculty, and it felt like we were making it ten times harder for many people to live their lives on campus without fear.” Some students, however, chose not to sign the petition. “I just remember that I felt like it was too restrictive and didn’t sit right with what I’ve been taught in my classes around science, research, and public health,” said Cassie Cauwels ’22, a biochem major on a pre-med track. “After seeing so many student-led petitions fail in my time here, I felt like this one wouldn’t cause much change. It reminded me of people who are trying to virtue signal about who gets COVID and who doesn’t.” There are certain portions of the petition that the school will not attempt to impleSee COVID on page 4

dorm

Vassar College’s student newspaper of record since 1866

surprised by CARES grant

Jyotsna Naidu

Guest Reporter

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tarting in May 2020 in response to the financial toll of the pandemic, the federal government’s Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) CARES grant has provided three direct emergency cash grants to college students, the most recent being the American Rescue Plan (ARP) or HEERF III issued in May 2021. A significant reduction in the CARES grant issued earlier this month compared to last semester surprised Vassar students relying on these funds. The nearly $1000 reduction per student is partly due to the allocation of funds per federal guidelines and to the overwhelmingly large number of applicants, rather than the College itself. While it was never communicated that the second-semester grants would be of the same amount as the first semester, many students under this impression were left lost. “How am I going to afford this upcoming semester?” Noon Elmostafa ’25 a student who depended on the CARES act said. “[The grant] was the only thing keeping me afloat last semester. I am working during the winter break but the money is going back to my family so I don't have any funds for the upcoming semester.” Unlike financial aid, these direct grants

to students are not guaranteed for the year nor entirely up to the College to distribute. Rather, it is the federal government that decides the allocation criteria and the amount issued to colleges that apply for funds. Vassar allocated these funds first in Aug. 2021, prioritizing students who had the required Title IV and Pell eligibility status of financial aid and need. One thousand five hundred ninety-two students received amounts of $1,200 and $1,800. Later, in Dec. 2021, the College allocated these funds to eight students who hadn’t accepted their grant in the previous cycle. “The COVID-19 pandemic has had an immense impact on the lives of students everywhere, especially those with exceptional need, whether related to finances, food insecurity, housing or other issues,” Dean of Student Growth & Engagement Wendy Maragh Taylor and Director of Grants Development Gary Hohenberger commented in an email correspondence. They continued,“Vassar is grateful to have been able to provide some relief to students in our community in accordance with federal guidelines for allocating HEERF funding.” The $237, 269 remaining in HEERF III from the federal government was used to See CARES on page 3

review

Yet I believe, in some strange way, that this endeavor brought the seventh floor closer together. Indeed, it was a team effort to hoist the mattresses above our heads to settle, suspended, roughly three feet from the ceiling; plus, “I love your duvet cover” is a much more interesting icebreaker than, “Where are you from?” From my experience, the small size of Jewett’s dorm rooms manifests worst in closet space. To any future residents, I offer one piece of advice: command hooks will be your best friend, because you simply will not have enough room for an adequate number of clothing hangers. To accommodate for more storage space, my bed is adjusted to its tallest possible height, housing bins of sweaters and t-shirts alongside my laundry hamper. Unfortunately, this poses a problem every night: the bed is simply too tall. When it is time for lights-out, I hoist myself up on my desk, using it as an improvised step-stool, to clamber into bed. Between the coffin-sized dorms is a shared common area, equipped with a sofa, an armchair and four desk chairs that compliment a skinny table. Residents of the seventh floor embraced the shared room early on, decorating the walls with paintings and photographs, tossing in handmade quilts and garage-sale rugs. Personal finishing touches make the room homey See Jewett on page 7

Photo courtesy of Grace Willoughby '22.

Inside this issue

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ARTS

Read Arts Editor Ganesh Pillai's thoughts on Dawn FM!

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Check out all the creative tattoos of your fellow Vassar students, written by Guest FEATURES Reporter Sarah Kageyama!

Guest Columnist Sufana Noorwez examines the OPINIONS recent behavior of Novak Djokovic.

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