The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis since 1878 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2021
VOLUME 143, NO. 12
CAMPUS CONSUMERISM
How materialism has skyrocketed during the pandemic (Scene, pg 4)
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BASKETBALL’S BACK
LEAVING OMAHA
Takeaways from the first three weeks of the men’s and women’s seasons (Sports, pg 5)
Our review of the original play written by Carter Lewis (Cadenza, pg 6)
SU fall election turnout highest since 2014
SU Treasury incumbent disqualified following re-election TED MOSKAL MANAGING EDITOR
sequenced in South Africa on Nov. 24 but now known to have first been in Europe, has now been confirmed in 23 countries, including the United States. The WHO has labeled omicron a “variant of concern” for its high number of mutations.
Global Travel Safety Manager Catherine Dalton told Student Life in a Wednesday interview that she is working with the University’s Division of Infectious Diseases to determine whether the variant poses a significant risk to students traveling abroad in the spring. “Where we’re at right now is we don’t have enough data to know,” Dalton said. “So we’re working closely with the Infectious Disease Division to analyze what does come through, but we want to make sure we’re making as fully informed of a decision as possible. We don’t want to make a decision too early and then prematurely jeopardize students’ experiences for the spring, but we also want to take into account that things continue to change.” Dalton noted that her team is considering three main factors
Sophomore Mishka Narasimhan, whom the student body re-elected to Student Union Treasury last week, was disqualified from her position Tuesday due to a late expenditure report. In an interpretation request to SU’s constitutional council Wednesday, Narasimhan accused Election Commissioner sophomore Bonnie Segel of making a personally biased decision and failing to follow proper procedure. Narasimhan, an incumbent who was the fourth most popular Treasury candidate with 698 votes, received an email from Segel at 2:31 p.m. Tuesday afternoon announcing her disqualification, just hours before the 7 p.m. inauguration ceremony for new candidates. Narasimhan had failed to submit the expenditure report by Monday night’s 11:59 p.m. deadline, and instead emailed the report to Segel at 1:27 p.m. Tuesday. Narasimhan recorded no expenses during the campaign period. In the request, Narasimhan said that Student Union President junior Ranen Miao had discussed the disqualification with Segel before the decision was made, alleging that Miao and Segel treated her inconsistently and unfairly because of her vote against Segel’s confirmation as commissioner earlier this fall. “I implore the constitutional council to question the extent of presidential involvement regarding the disqualification of an elected official who opposed his appointee,” the interpretation request read. Miao declined to comment on the allegations. The election packet for candidates specifically outlines disqualification in the case of candidates not submitting expense reports. However,
CURRAN NEENAN | STUDENT LIFE
SEE OMICRON, PAGE 3
SEE TREASURY, PAGE 2
SEE ELECTION, PAGE 2
GRAPHIC BY CHRISTINE WATRIDGE
Future of spring 2022 study abroad to be determined in mid-December amid concerns over omicron variant JADEN SATENSTEIN AND GRACE KENNARD SENIOR EDITORS Washington University Overseas Programs will decide in mid-December if spring study abroad programs will go on as
planned amid rising concerns about the omicron variant. Study abroad at the University has been suspended since students were sent home during their spring 2020 programs due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The omicron variant, first
A bulletin board in the Overseas Programs office details the experiences of students who studied abroad.
WUPD increases off-campus presence following pattern of burglaries MEHEER COMMURI AND MATTHEW FRIEDMAN STAFF REPORTER AND EDITOR-IN CHIEF The Washington University Police Department in recent weeks has increased its overnight presence in neighborhoods north and west of campus in response to a string of late-night and early-morning burglaries this fall at off-campus student apartments in non-University housing. The increase is a “short-term” approach, WUPD interim chief Dave Goodwin told Student Life in an interview Tuesday. Goodwin said WUPD would maintain the expanded presence, which consists of additional officers assigned to “hotspot” areas in early morning hours, for an indefinite period of time. WUPD sent out the first security memo regarding an off-campus burglary on Sept. 23 before sending additional ones on Sept. 25, Sept. 26 and Oct. 26 about other burglaries. On Nov. 17, the department sent
out a crime alert, which is issued for an ongoing incident or trend involving public safety, Goodwin said, while security memos are meant for specific, isolated events that typically occurred off-campus. “Over the past eight weeks, WUPD has learned of several burglaries in off-campus apartments rented by WashU students,” read the Nov. 17 alert, which came after burglaries in three apartments of the same building on Washington Avenue. “In almost all of these cases, access was initially gained through ground floor apartment windows or doors by standing on chairs or nearby objects. Most of the windows or doors were unlocked, including apartments on the upper levels of the buildings.” Goodwin declined to say how many additional officers the increased presence entailed and was not sure how long the increase would last. “It really depends on if something else happens,” he said. “So far, it seems to have negated the situation, but you can never be 100% sure.”
Goodwin said WUPD officers typically do “hotspot patrols” in “areas that have been frequented” by crimes, meaning that every 15 to 20 minutes, an officer is driving through the area, passing out safety literature or otherwise “engaging the community.” The additional
officers will strengthen that existing presence, Goodwin said. “While those other officers are driving around doing police stuff and handling other calls, those [additional] officers are specifically in those areas and not necessarily subject to call. They’re there specifically to
A WUPD patrol car turns onto Forsyth Boulevard.
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just drive in those areas.” In addition to those patrols, WUPD is partnering with the University City Police Department to conduct “collaborative patrols,” Goodwin said, adding that WUPD
SEE PATROLS, PAGE 3
KIVANC DUNDAR | STUDENT LIFE