It was the week of spring break when Saint Louis University decided to shut down in-person courses for the remainder of the 2020 Spring Semester as a result of concerns of COVID-19, instead favoring online instruction. Even though it was for the best, many students felt that the switch to just online classes was not helping them succeed academically. Hearing these concerns, SLU planned for a fall in-person semester, with undergraduate classes beginning on Aug. 17 and ending on Nov. 24, with finals being entirely online during the week of Nov. 30.

Even though a continuation of in-person courses was sorely missed during the online Spring 2020 semester, there were still ample concerns amongst students and faculty alike. Would COVID-19 cases be kept under control? Would the semester be moved to online again?

In spite of these concerns, SLU has managed to stay open and in-person for the entirety of its planned semester. However, now that Fall Semester 2020 is coming to a close, it’s time to look back at how SLU handled an in-person semester in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The University News reached out to several students, staff and faculty in order to gauge how they felt about the semester. They were asked how their experience has been personally impacted, anything they think SLU is doing well, any shortcomings that can be improved for the spring and overall how they thought SLU responded to the pandemic.

Daniel Mascarenhas

Daniel Mascarenhas, a prominent member of SLU’s Jesuit community, has an overall high opinion of SLU’s handling of COVID-19. “I have the opportunity to go to classes in-person,” Mascarenhas told UNews, “They’ve been hybrid so it’s great to have the flexibility for students who cannot come in person for any reason, they can still join, and those who want to be in person have the opportunity.” The communication SLU has provided to its community is also a high point for the Jesuit, particularly stating “That’s been really helpful to give clear guidelines as to what are the acceptable behaviors, the best practices and the general cheerleading has been helpful to maintain morale.”

However, Mascarenhas has concerns regarding the feelings of community that SLU hasn’t particularly fostered, “I don’t know what the solution to that [disconnection] is, but probably over the next three months, if the university, or perhaps campus ministry, could think of something of how to involve students so that they can feel a sense of community.” In spite of this, Daniel still believes that SLU’s course of action is for the best, “Nobody actually asked for COVID, so I think we’re responding to an external circumstance.”

Katherine Johnson

Sophomore Katherine Johnson also reports an overall positive experience, albeit with some issues. “At least from the schools from my state, they [SLU] did a lot better,” said Johnson, “but I don’t know about it compared to other states. Based on Oklahoma schools, they’ve been doing so much better, especially with cases.” Regarding COVID-19 testing at the university, Johnson told UNews that, “Letting everyone get a test when they came back is really good. But the fact that they’re charging people to get one before they leave, I think it is not a good way to handle this.”

Johnson also reports issues with dining at SLU, “Everytime I try to get food with my friends, it’s always so packed. People will stand right behind me and ignore the stickers, which is kind of frustrating.” However, regarding her whole experience this semester, Johnson still maintains that the overall impact from SLU’s handling of COVID-19 has been positive. “There could’ve been a lot worse, I could’ve been forced to stay back home,” said Johnson. “Besides, being able to come back here, see my friends again, and having in-person classes has definitely helped me stay on top of things.”

Terri Rebmann

Terri Rebmann is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Director for the Institute for Biosecurity and Special Assistant to the President. Overall, Rebmann spoke highly of the COVID-19 plan SLU’s interdisciplinary team put into action as well as the participation of students in the plan. “There’s just a huge amount of credit that needs to go to the students because our team, which was administrators, faculty, staff,and student representatives, put together the comprehensive plans and policies, but it’s up to the students to actually follow those policies,” Rebmann shared with UNews, “So the fact that the vast majority of students followed the rules and followed them consistently is really a testament to the students.” Rebmann was also really proud of SLU’s contact tracing program, “Within the same day they get a positive test result for a student, they reach out to that individual and do the contact tracing, and put the close contacts into quarantine.”

Regarding any potential improvements for the spring semester, Rebmann states that SLU will be figuring that out over the winter break, “There are lessons learned from this fall that can help us develop or enhance our plans for spring. We need to keep campus safe, but there are possibly additional things we can add, such as more organized social activities if we do them in a very safe manner.”

Dan Kozlowski

Communication Department Chair Dan Kozlowski also spoke very highly of SLU’s handling of COVID-19. “I mean it’s been a challenging environment, I think for both students and instructors,” Kozlowski told UNews. “When the semester started, I had some skepticism as to how things would go and I think, all things considered, we did pretty well.” Particularly regarding the flexibility SLU gave students about being online or in-person, Kozlowski held many praises, “The sense that the University got, I think, from the survey they had done over the summer is that most students prefer in-person classes, but some students, for a variety of reasons, needed to take classes online and I think SLU did a good job accommodating that.”

Kozlowski overall did not really have many problems with SLU’s handling of COVID-19. “I mean I don’t think there’s anything that I’ve seen that has been a glaring omission,” says Kozlowski, “I think the University will have to make sure to keep reminding and encouraging folks to keep following COVID protocols if we’re going to have a successful spring semester too.” Kozlowski, however, has struggled to juggle engagement for both online and in-person students, “I always want my classroom experiences to be positive for everyone, and I’ve struggled at times to make sure that students who are online, either on a given-day or for the whole semester, are still engaged with the class, that they’re still learning and having a positive experience.”

Weronika Grajdura

Freshman Weronika Grajdura believes that SLU has handled the pandemic well, all things considered. “There are some things that I’m not completely satisfied with or I thought they could’ve done a better job with,” Grajdura said, “I feel like we did better than other schools in that our infection rate was very low compared to other schools.” Similarly to Kozlowski, Grajdura also praised SLU for the flexibility that they gave students, “I think it’s nice they gave students the choice to Zoom into classes when they weren’t feeling well.”

Weronika definitely had some issue with some other students, “I definitely heard of some instances of partying and some people getting off easy, so that could have definitely been better.” Though she maintains a good opinion of SLU’s handling of COVID-19, Grajdura did report to UNews about that the lack of active clubs felt unnatural, “It’s not the typical college experience and could’ve been better, but I feel like with COVID, SLU did a pretty good job.”

What Does It Mean For SLU?

Overall, it would seem that SLU has handled COVID-19 pretty well, all things considered. This handling was not perfect, as evidenced by complaints regarding areas such as dining and a lack of community events, which means there is still plenty of room for improvement. However, by their demonstration of transparency, flexibility with regards to taking classes and comprehensive guidelines, it would seem that SLU is certainly on the right track for handling an in-person semester during the pandemic.

In the mist of the current COVID-19 pandemic, it is paramount to be able to prevent the spread of the virus and identify individuals who are infected with it. When in-person classes began to resume at SLU back in August, viral spread was a major concern. Even now, in spite of having an initial low percentage of students with COVID-19 during the move-in, SLU still has concerns about the virus given how students still move around on and off campus. One method that SLU is currently utilizing to track the virus is #CampusClear.

#CampusClear is an app that enables students, faculty and staff to regularly report any of 11 symptoms of COVID-19, as well as if they have tested positive for the virus or have been in contact with someone who has. The app is available for iOS and Android devices, and students are required to use the app daily in order to access parts of SLU’s campus. Depending on their responses, they will either be cleared to attend classes and come to campus or will be instructed on what to do next. 

Just as it’s vital to develop new methods to track COVID-19, it’s also equally as important to assess student opinions regarding their new methods. For the most part though, it would seem that the overall opinion regarding SLU’s usage of #CampusClear seems to be positive. Sophomore Jonah Wright, who previously had to quarantine as a result of his roommate getting COVID-19, spoke well regarding SLU’s usage of the app. “I think it’s a good thing to do,” said Jonah, “I think at least the attempt to keep people accountable for how they’re feeling, whether they’re asymptomatic or not, is probably good.” An anonymous upperclassmen also reported having positive emotions of SLU’s use of the app, “I think it’s pretty smart that we’re using it. I think it’s definitely helpful in keeping track of cases.”

However, just because student opinions overall seemed to be positive, that didn’t necessarily mean there weren’t any concerns to be had. One worry echoed by some students is the dishonesty regarding self-reporting, which sophomore Anna Richards shared with UNews. “People could be not being truthful about their symptoms just so they don’t have to quarantine,” told Richards. Another issue brought up is how some students don’t participate in using the app. The anonymous upperclassmen who reported positive overall opinion of the app also had this concern, “I’m concerned about that [students not using #CampusClear] because we are trying to keep our cases low to stay on campus, and if not everyone’s doing it, kinda a concern.”

However, in spite of these concerns, it seems that SLU students still believe that, to a certain extent, the usage of #CampusClear is effective in helping the university monitor students with symptoms of COVID-19. “I think it is effective because it holds people accountable to check their symptoms every day… to step back from the rush of college life to ask themselves about how they’re feeling,” Richards told UNews, “but only to a certain extent because students are not being tested as frequently as they should be.” Wright also shares in this sentiment, “It’s hard to say. I think it’s probably effective to some degree, so I think it’s a good thing that it’s in place. But, I don’t think it’s a hundred percent effective obviously. I would say, yeah at the end of the day, it’s effective, but it’s not a hundred percent effective obviously.” These concerns again tie back to student honesty regarding #CampusClear’s self-reporting, though for SLU students it seems, any way to help identify COVID-19 cases would be welcome.

“Books of Blood” was the anthology book series that helped to launch now famous horror novelist Clive Barker into the forefront of the horror genre. Now, Hulu attempts to adapt Barker’s work into an original film for their streaming catalog. Directed by Brannon Braga, the film, similar to last year’s “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” is split up into several separate segments that all end up connecting to one another. The first is about a young woman named Jenna (Britt Robertson), who suffers from misophonia, the extreme irritability towards particular everyday noises, on the run from her controlling mother which leads her to a strange and disturbing bed and breakfast. The second is about Mary Florensky (Anna Friel), a psychic researcher, who enlists the help of Simon (Rafi Gavron) to communicate to her deceased son Miles (Etienne Kellici). Simon claims to be able to talk to the dead. Lastly, the third segment is about a hit-man named Bennett (Yul Vazquez) and his hunt for the legendary Book of Blood. 

If there was a word to describe the overall feeling of Hulu’s adaptation, it would most certainly be dull. Nothing about this rendition of “Books of Blood” feels engaging, and instead just feels like any other generic horror film. A big part of this feeling stems from the acting within the film. Nearly every single character within the film, regardless of which segment they’re in, is portrayed in the most monotone way possible and displays nothing that even resembles emotion. For instance, within the second story regarding Mary Florensky’s quest to communicate with her son, there are several scenes in which she is supposed to feel anger and distress regarding attempting to communicate with her son and whether or not his messages are real. However, Anna Fiel’s performance within these scenes never feels genuine, and as a result the viewer does not really care about Florensky’s struggles. The only individual that does somewhat succeed in conveying some emotion is Britt Robertson’s portrayal of Jenna, namely when she tries to escape from the tortuous location she winds up in. However, even this can only demand so much praise as it has been done in other horror films and has been done better.

The music also contributes to the generic feeling of the film. Even though it initially gives off eerie vibes during the early stages of “Books of Blood,” as the film continues on the initial eerie feelings become lost as the viewer gets acclimated to the music and as there’s no real variance within the music, the overall atmosphere of the film shifts from somewhat disturbing to extremely bland. This also makes every one of the three stories feel exactly the same, in spite of how different these stories are. Jenna’s struggles to get away from her controlling parents should feel unique from Mary’s wishes to talk with her son, yet they do not.

While on that subject, the biggest overall issue with “Books of Blood” is the stories themselves. There is no real coherency even within the individual stories themselves, instead appearing as if events are occurring at random. One notable example of this happening occurs within the third story during Bennett’s quest to find the Book of Blood. His partner, Steve (Andy McQueen), eventually ventures off within a haunted neighborhood because he claims to be talking to his deceased mother. This detail pops up out of nowhere, making the event just come off as a forced way to deliver some uneasiness and scares within the third story. Pacing is another issue that is prominent throughout the film. The first story with Jenna drags on too long, soaking up around 46 minutes of the film, with the other two stories taking less time than that. 

In fairness to this movie, some aspects of the sound design, particularly how it portrays Jenna’s misophonia by emphasizing sounds like chewing, is kind of clever. At the end of the day, though, Hulu’s “Books of Blood” does the unthinkable: it makes Clive Barker boring. For casual viewers and horror buffs alike, there are better ways to be spending your October.

After failing to move forward with the Dark Universe of classic monsters, Universal Studios rebounds with more individualized storytelling in their latest rendition of “The Invisible Man.” Loosely based on the H. G. Wells novel of the same name, the film depicts Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) and her struggle to get away from her abusive boyfriend, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). After Cecilia manages to get away with aid from her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer) and their childhood friend James (Aldis Hodge), Adrian takes his own life but leaves Cecilia a large portion of his fortune. After a series of bizarre events unravel, it soon becomes evident to Cecilia that Adrian may not be as dead as she thought and is now tormenting her.

This movie excels in its creation of tension through its score, its handling of scares and the cinematography and camera work. The way scenes are set always gives the eerie feeling that someone is watching. Long shots and unbroken shots are used to great effect, often showing Cecilia or one of the other protagonists from another room or following them through the environment. This creepy feeling is also aided by the movie’s soundtrack. The slow-burning music, aided by clever usage of instruments like piano or violin, helps to keep you at the edge of your seat. Given that this is a horror movie, the scares have to deliver, and for “The Invisible Man,” it does. Moving items, Cecilia and crew being attacked despite the visible danger, reveals of the Invisible Man and a particularly unnerving scene involving a phone call help add to the eerie presence of our antagonist.

Of course, a technically well-made movie is not worth much without solid acting, and in that regard, “The Invisible Man” also doesn’t disappoint. Aldis Hodge is believable as the childhood friend to the Kass sisters, a cop and the father to Sydney (Storm Reid). Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Michael Dorman both do a solid job as the film’s antagonists, bringing sinistry and uneasiness to their to the story. However, the standout is without a doubt Elisabeth Moss. She anchors the film with her convincing performance of a victim of an abusive relationship, someone looking for escape. She really begins to hit her stride toward the climax of the film when her character is sent to the asylum, as you can see through her facial expressions that she has been through hell, that she is emotionally fractured, yet can still recover to be a fierce and determined individual. If there is a weak link in the cast, that would easily be Harriet Dyer as Cecilia’s sister Emily. When she is helping Cecilia, you really are not that convinced that she cares for her younger sister, and when she begins to distance herself, you also don’t quite buy the fact that she is angry with Cecilia.

While on the subject of the movie’s weak points, the ending of the film leaves a lot to be desired. There’s a difference between a complex ending that gives thought towards the film and a sloppy finish, with “The Invisible Man” falling towards the latter of the two. The twists that director Leigh Whannell throws seem to attempt to mirror his previous work with “Upgrade” (2018). However, the twist this time feels just, well…what?! The film ends much more naturally on the scene after the final confrontation, but what continues afterward feels really unnecessary and calls into question previous events in the film. There are also a couple scenes, particularly near the end, where it was obvious to viewers that security cameras would catch Griffin as he begins to kill people in front of them.

Overall, “The Invisible Man” is a good movie, but short from great. While it is technically well made, has overall solid performances and plenty worthwhile scares, several story elements that arise toward the climax of the film prevent it from reaching its full potential. If you’re a fan of horror movies or just want something decent to watch, then this film will be worth your time.