Emerson College’s student newspaper since 1947 • berkeleybeacon.com
Thursday, March 11, 2021 • Volume 74, Issue 20
@berkeleybeacon // @beaconupdate
Some classroom SGA garners support for ‘Week of Rest’ layouts fall short of Legislation demands modified spring break six-foot distancing amid burnout complaints Frankie Rowley Beacon Staff The Student Government Association passed its first piece of spring semester legislation, “An Act To Advocate For The Community’s Well-Being” Monday night after students expressed burnout as a result of the college’s decision to cancel spring break. “An Act To Advocate For The Community’s Well-Being” was drafted by Annie Noel, Patty Tamayo, and members of SGA’s Legislative Review Board. The act calls for some form of modified spring break in lieu of the traditional week-long March break canceled in October to
curb travel that could drive COVID-19 transmission. The legislation was developed after the organization circulated a Google Form to elicit community members’ opinions on the cancelation and gauge interest in a variety of solutions. SGA proposed five solutions to the college “as a guide for the administration and faculty to create a modified spring break,” including a five-day break for the week of March 15, an extended weekend from March 12 to 16, a period of no assignments for the week of March 15, the reinstitution of optional pass/fail grading, and asynchronous class days for the week of March 15. A “none of the above” option was also included. “If none of the above solutions are viable, we request that the College present an alternative solution(s) that would address the needs of the community in terms of well-being and productivity,” the act said. Following SGA’s launch of the Google
Form, Tamayo, who was introduced to the initiative by co-author Noel during a class they share, immediately wanted to get involved. She was added to the email list and began attending meetings to discuss the legislation. Neither Tamayo nor Noel are members of SGA. The survey garnered 1,702 responses from community members, all but four of whom were students. Of the responses, 800 were reported within 12 hours of the survey’s publication. In the form, 43 percent of respondents said they were “very exhausted,” with 87 percent responding the currently scheduled “free” day off on March 12 was not enough to recuperate from the stressors of the semester. 97.6 percent said they supported a modified spring break as long as COVID-19 policies stay in place, with the most popular option—at 52 percent—being a five-day break. SGA, Pg. 3
South Street Diner on Kneeland (top); Garbanzo on Boylston (left)
to keep its capacity levels at the current 40 percent—15 people—for the near future. Operating partner Derek St. George said he is wary of immediately raising the seating limits—especially given the abrupt roll back of the state’s reopening process in December. “We’ve been in and out of phases so many times—we take a step forward, and we take a step back—so we’re just going to play this as it comes,” St. George said. “If we see the need to go up in capacity, we will.” Before restrictions were lifted, restaurants had been operating under capacity limits since June 22, when indoor dining first returned after the state’s initial shutdown in March 2020. Until early this year, capacity limits were set at 25 percent of normal indoor occupancy, increasing to 40 percent on Feb. 15. South Street Diner, a Kneeland Street eatery that was able to return to its hallmark 24-hour service only last month, welcomed the capacity change given the diner’s tightly-constrained seating situation. “We have under 20 customers [in at a time], and that’s just under 50 percent,” owner Solomon “Sol” Sidell said, before the restriction was officially lifted. “Before it was 51 or 52, nobody was really counting. Now, we’re counting every person. It’s stressful—and it decimates your business.” Despite the elimination of capacity limits, various other restrictions effectively prevent most restaurants from actually operating at 100 percent capacity. Six-foot social distancing requirements, 90-minute eating time caps, and a six-person-per-table policy all remain in place for Massachusetts restaurants. “While they’ve taken [the capacity limit] out, there’s still an implied restriction,” John Pepper, owner of Boloco Modern Mexican, said. “You still have to social distance, the tables should be six feet apart—that part isn’t different. That’s why we’re continuing to keep [our indoor layout] probably about the same.” In the interest of social distancing, Garbanzo also plans to maintain its current table layout despite the policy changes, according to St. George. The Mediterranean restaurant will keep its “table tents”—self-standing folded paper tops marking off unavailable tables—as well as the appropriate social distancing placards and signage. Restaurants, Pg. 2
Desks seperated by plexiglass. Zhuoli Zhang / Beacon Staff
Patrick Pierce Beacon Correspondent The structure of some classrooms on Emerson’s main campus make six-foot social distancing nearly impossible—causing some students to lose faith in the quality of the college’s social distancing measures. In the fall, the college instituted six-foot physical distancing policy in all classrooms, as part of an effort to promote social distancing. However, some students now say the layout of specific classroom spaces falls short of the required distance. The seats in computer lab 633 in the Walker Building are not spaced six feet apart, with plexiglass dividers between seats instead. There also are not assigned or taped-off seats to mandate distancing, so students are free to sit wherever they wish—even directly next to each other. Plexiglass barriers are helpful in blocking large airborne particles, but they do not prevent viral transmission, according to a study released by the University of Washington. They are not a replacement for social distancing, the study notes, and six feet of distance between each person is still necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “As we reviewed it over the summer with our facilities team as well as our consulting medical team from Tufts and epidemiologists—for the labs because [students] are forward facing towards the screen the plexiglass shields that are between each station do help create and mimic the distance needed for safe learning,” Assistant Vice President for Campus Life and “COVID Lead” Erik Muurisepp said. “I don’t think they do a really good job enforcing it,” first-year journalism major Amanda Winters said. “It has to do a lot with professors not being used to teaching distances.” In other classrooms, the desks are six feet apart, but are moved during class meetings. Winters described one of her professors asking students to move themselves and their desks during class—something she wasn’t sure if they were allowed to do. “My professor was like, ‘Can we all go to this side of the room?’ And then we had to move chairs, and I definitely think you’re not supposed to move chairs,” Winters said. In addition to classroom layout adjustments, Emerson’s reopening plan implemented numerous safety policies such as capacity limits, frequent sanitation, and physical distancing to reduce spread of COVID-19. Desks, Pg. 2
Photos: Madison Goldberg and Alec Klusza, Beacon Staff
Restaurants navigate reopening under loosened restrictions Camilo Fonseca Beacon Staff The progressive relaxation of the state’s coronavirus restrictions over the past several weeks cleared the way for Emerson-area restaurants to start returning to normal operations— though the shift to business-as-usual is anything but straightforward. Restaurants in Boston are now free to op-
erate without any percentage-based occupancy limits as part of the state’s move into Phase Three, Step Two of its reopening plan, effective March 1. Despite the new freedoms, some business owners are approaching the revised guidelines with caution, even as the restaurant industry continues to recover from the prolonged closures and revenue shortfalls brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh, an Emerson Board Bucks partner on Boylston Street, plans
Emerson Flows combats period poverty Campbell Parish Beacon Staff Student organization Emerson Flows launched a menstrual product drive on Monday, aiming to encourage community members to get involved with menstrual advocacy. The organization, which works to help educate members of the community about menstruation and break the stigma surrounding periods, hopes to “Free the Period” with help from the Emerson community. Emerson Flows is donating all unopened menstrual products collected through Friday, with the goal of combatting period poverty in the greater Boston area. Students can find donation boxes in the lobbies of residence halls across campus Emerson Flows President Claire Kong discussed the goals of the organization, as well as this specific menstrual product drive.
“The first step to combating period poverty is to talk about it,” Kong said. “It’s hard to think about the last time I had a conversation with someone about my period or their period because there is such a heavy stigma around menstruation.” According to the American Medical Women’s Association, period poverty is defined as “the inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and education, including but not limited to sanitary products.” The organization’s Treasurer, Elizabeth Pine said student participation in the product drive is essential for the organization to achieve its goals. “For our donation drive, we ask that any Emerson students that are willing or able to donate any unopened containers of menstrual products [do so]. Including but not limited to: tampons and pads, “ Pine said. Pads, Pg. 7
155
positive COVID-19 tests
.17%
positivity rate
89,000+ tests completed
*Accumulated from 2020-2021 school year
INSIDE THIS EDITION Noise complaints in Little Building lightwell Pg. 2 Second Marlboro campus sale falls through Pg. 3 Editorial: Why students deserve a ‘week of rest’ Pg. 4 Op-ed: How Gov. Abbott is putting Texans at risk Pg. 5 ‘Emerson Sweets’ funds production studio Pg. 6 Here’s our 2021 Grammys predictions Pg. 7 Senior Lindsey Lowe celebrates last softball season Pg. 8