The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis since 1878 THURSDAY, JAN 26, 2023
VOLUME 144, NO. 13
WWW.STUDLIFE.COM
WU BEATS NYU
WUSTL WRITERS
Women’s basketball defeats top-ranked NYU in early conference play (Sports, pg 7)
Two WU students publish a childrens’ book (Scene, pg 4)
International students’ attitudes toward masking: individual choice versus cultural upbringing
CAPTION CONTEST
Enter the first cartoon caption contest of the semester! (Forum, pg 6)
Campus tea event to be held monthly, not weekly JAMES ELLINGHAUS SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
HOLDEN HINDES | STUDENT LIFE
Habif Health & Wellness Center is still offering COVID-19 tests and resources to students who are sick or experiencing symptoms.
JIMMY HU STAFF WRITER In the U.S., there is a common perception that individuals from collectivist cultures, or cultures that value the interests and the importance of the community over those of each individual, are more inclined to wear masks. However, many argue that, regardless of cultural upbringing, individuals adjust masking habits to the cultural environments in which they exist. As a result, international students studying at Washington University, especially those from East Asian cultures perceived as collectivist, are often understood as having an ingrained persistence for masking. Chair of East Asian Languages and Cultures Letty Lingchei Chen spoke about the difficulties of cultural adjustment for international students and the relationship towards masking this experience might encourage. “How comfortable do they feel about their accessibility to their medical care [when a language barrier exists]? How comfortable [would it be] for them to find a doctor [in cases of sickness]?” she asked. Chen emphasized how generalizing the actions of a particular cultural group leads to a “slippery slope” in the risks of stereotyping it presents. “If an international student feels intimidated or has very limited
access to medical care, then they might be more protective of themselves, so they will be more careful [in terms of masking],” she said. “They don’t even know what kind of medicine to buy in Walgreens – these are all English, foreign names to them. So I think that this is another dimension that’s beyond culture – it’s a sense of being in a foreign environment and [the interaction with it.]” Students from collectivist cultures adapt their attitudes to different circumstances as they come to the US to study, as policies regarding COVID-19 can be drastically different from those of their home countries. First-year Kyle Chen from Shenzhen, China, said that he behaves differently depending on where he is. “Living in countries with drastically different cultures, I feel as if I have two identities – I’ll be individualistic if I am in America, and I will conform to the norms back home if I have to – I believe it’s important to conform to the social norms of the country that one lives in,” Chen said. Other students recognized the cultural differences that are at play in making the masking decision. Dongting Li, a first-year from Canton, China, also reports not wearing a mask under most circumstances on campus, as he prefers the physical comfort when given the choice.
“In America, where the liberty of choice is recognized and dignified, I don’t have to adhere to certain expectations like I do at home,” Li said. “Back home, wearing a mask is always a must, as personal welfare matters much less than that of the entire public.” First-year Yunshi Qi from Beijing, China, echoed the perspective that Li shared. “My thinking tells me that the national government and its research personnel certainly know more than me -- what they say is supposed to be the truth -- and what I do is simply listening to them,” Qi said. He chooses not to wear a mask in the US because those surrounding him do not follow suit. Kelvin Kim, a first-year from Seoul, Korea, feels the division between his personal choice and his cultural upbringing. He does not wear a mask around campus, but he recognizes the necessity of doing so at home. “Korea is a very communal society — we are very prone to think about the opinions of other people and what the government says,” Kim said. “Nobody wishes to be the outlier, and because of the cultural consensus, there’s not a lot of people that are willing to step out of society’s view and not wear a mask.” Many who have had the experience of living in other countries have developed more flexible mindsets toward masking. First-year Alan Xiong, who currently
lives in Hong Kong, believes in the importance of personal choice in this matter. “Because of my cultural background of growing up in Shanghai and Singapore, I wouldn’t mind mask mandates — I would follow these policies and do so without protest,” Xiong said. Xiong does not believe that the new variant of the virus poses a serious threat to American society, but he said that he would wear a mask upon the request of others “out of courtesy” as he is “willing to make personal sacrifices to keep the community safe.” Zhao Ma, Associate Professor of Modern Chinese History and Culture, rejects the stereotype that international students from collectivist cultures are more likely to mask, saying that individual preferences direct one’s behavior more than any other factor. “I often run into students who are not Chinese or [of Asian heritage] wearing masks,” he said. “I also have friends, Black Americans and white Americans, who also wear masks all the time — it is not just an Asian thing; it is not a Chinese thing — it’s [about] people’s own decisions.” Ma warned of the danger of associating one’s place of origin and cultural upbringing to the attitude toward masking. “There are other reasons, more than just culture, that play into how people made that decision.”
Campus Life’s “Tuesday Tea @ 3” event, previously hosted on a weekly basis in the Danforth University Center (DUC), will now occur once a month during the Spring 2023 semester. Tuesday Tea will happen on the third Tuesday of each month and will continue to operate in Tisch Commons from 3 to 5 p.m. The decision to change Tuesday Tea from a weekly event to a monthly event was intended to make space for other Campus Life events and activities, Associate Director of Campus Life, Peggy Hermes said. The event provides students with an afternoon break from work and classes, offering up hot tea and scones. Hermes said Tuesday Tea “is a partnership with different student groups, departments, and sponsors” that sign up to host the event. “We bring folks in to have tea, and then there is a host [organization] that gets to highlight their involvement opportunities,” Hermes said. Tuesday Tea is a tradition at Washington University, one that “has been going on for about 12 years,” Hermes said. “Tuesday Tea started when the Danforth University Center was looking for programming to activate the building,” Rob Wild, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, said. “When we were looking at the rest of our Spring 2023 programming budget, [altering the Tuesday Tea schedule] was a decision we made to re-imagine programming,” she said. “We wanted to make sure that we were emphasizing other types of programming, while still maintaining Tuesday Tea.” Wild explained that Campus Life receives a small programming budget from the University, as the department’s main function is not to host their own events. Therefore, Campus Life wants to “be innovative and try different things” with their programming funds, especially after the lull in student activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Coordinator for Programming and Marketing Jasmine James added that Campus Life is exploring their programming options. Most recently, Campus Life hosted several events for their Winter Welcome Week, such as a trivia night.
SEE TEA, PAGE 2
An Update on Spring WILD AVI HOLZMAN SENIOR NEWS EDITOR After the cancellation of the Fall 2022 semester’s WILD, administrators discussed how their planning process has changed and why they are hopeful that Spring WILD will be a success. Spring WILD is currently scheduled to take place on Friday, April 28. Fall 2022 WILD was canceled after capacity constraints on Brookings Quadrangle forced Washington University’s Student Programming Board (SPB) and administrators to try to find lastminute solutions. Despite the fact that the event is more than three months away, planning for WILD
is ongoing. Rob Wild, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, described the cancellation as something he “wish[es]” did not happen but could serve as “a learning experience.” According to Jasmine James, who serves as SPB’s advisor and Campus Life’s Coordinator for Programming and Marketing, SPB and administrators are trying to find solutions to ensure that the event takes place. Student Life reached out to the student leadership of SPB, who declined to comment on this story. SPB President Miri Goodman stated in an email, “[We] don’t really have many updates at the moment for WILD. We are still in the process of
planning for the spring and working with our campus partners to make sure the event is successful.” James wants to make sure that SPB feels “comfortable” throughout the planning process. She attributed the lack of comfort some SPB members felt last semester during the planning process to the loss of organizational knowledge during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I [don’t] think that they’re uncomfortable, but they’ve never seen a WILD, they haven’t planned something to the scale before so I want them to feel comfortable in doing all of this,” James said. “I feel like [planning WILD is] a kind of adult work, which isn’t always what students are used to.”
To remedy this issue and provide students with the resources needed to run the concert, James has stayed in contact with SPB during winter break. The group’s first meeting with campus partners took place on Monday, Jan. 23. In addition to having more time to plan out the event, SPB student leadership and James will be attending a conference run by the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) in Louisville, KY next month. Peggy Hermes, the Associate Director for Campus life, hopes that attending the conference will help rebuild some of the institutional knowledge lost during the pandemic. The conference aims to teach students how to run events on
CONTACT BY POST
CONTACT BY EMAIL
CONTACT BY PHONE
ONE BROOKINGS DRIVE #1039 #320 DANFORTH UNIVERSITY CENTER ST. LOUIS, MO 63130-4899
EDITOR@STUDLIFE.COM NEWS@STUDLIFE.COM CALENDAR@STUDLIFE.COM
NEWSROOM 314.935.5995 ADVERTISING 314.935.4240 FAX 314.935.5938
their campuses in a way that is safe, successful and entertaining. Hermes described NACA as “an international organization that includes members that include different college campuses, industry professionals, vendors, agencies, artists, etc.” SPB had attended the event pre-COVID; James said that the knowledge of the NACA conference’s existence “was lost during COVID, too,” further accentuating the importance of attending this event. One contentious aspect of fall WILD’s planning was determining if the event should be ticketed, so that
SEE WILD, PAGE 2