Thursday, March 11, 2021

The Cavalier Daily

Vol. 131, Issue 13

MARTHA WILDING | THE CAVALIER DAILY

2020

FEB 1

Ne w

CO V I D -19

9 22

FEB 28

JUNE 2 020

Ca ses

MARCH

Thursday, March 11, 2021

Checking in on the U.Va. community one year after COVID-19 sent students home last spring Pages 4-5

ADVERTISEMENT

2 | www.cavalierdaily.com

NEWS

The Cavalier Daily

This week in-brief CD News Staff

U.Va. cancels Final Exercises for Class of 2021 as planned, postpones graduation activities for Class of 2020 to May 2022 University President Jim Ryan notified graduating students that Final Exercises will not be held as usual this May in an email to the Class of 2021 March 3. Ryan said the decision was made based on the size of gatherings permitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia as well as travel advisories. In a separate statement, Ryan also announced the postponement of Final Exercises for the Class of 2020 until the summer of 2022.

Final Exercises for the Class of 2021 were originally rescheduled for the weekend of May 21-23, 2021 while those for the Class of 2020 were planned for May 28-30, 2021.

In a separate announcement, Ryan told the Class of 2020 that their 2022 ceremony will “combine elements of Final Exercises and an early reunion” and will provide an opportunity to walk the Lawn for those who want to do so.

This marks the second time that graduation activities for the Class of 2020 have been postponed — Final Exercises for the Class of 2020 were originally scheduled for May 16 and 17, 2020 before being canceled last March following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

3.3

3.5

3.10

RILEY WALSH | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Final Exercises for the Class of 2021 were originally rescheduled for the weekend of May 21-23, 2021.

U.Va. reports 1,653 total spring cases, of which 1,424 are students Since Jan. 1, the University’s COVID-19 tracker has reported 1,653 positive cases of coronavirus in the University community, which includes faculty, staff, students and contracted employees. University students make up 1,424 of these positive cases. Feb. 16 marked the highest number of daily reported cases since Jan. 1, recording 229 positive cases in the University community.

Since the spike in cases the week of Feb. 15 — when the University reached a record-high percent positivity rate of 4.12 percent and a seven-day average of 112.1 cases per day — cases have steadily declined. As of Wednesday, 50 cases are active. There is currently a 0.17 percent seven-day average positivity rate, which refers to the percentage of people who obtained positive test results out of all people tested, and a seven-day average of 3.4 new cases per day.

The dashboard also reports that 2 percent of the student quarantine rooms are currently occupied while 1 percent of the student isolation rooms are occupied.

These numbers are only reflective of students who have tested positive through the Student Health & Wellness or the U.Va. Health Clinic.

Board of Visitors reflects on past year, makes plans for the future during series of meetings Friday The Buildings and Grounds Committee met Friday morning to discuss a number of projects and plans for the coming years. University Architect Alice Raucher presented her schematics for the new University Hotel and Conference Center as well as a new athletics complex. Due to mold concerns, the committee also plans to replace the outdated heating and cooling units at Lambeth Field Apartments — which were installed when Lambeth was first built in the 1970s — for updated, more energy-efficient ones.

The Board of Visitors’ Finance Committee approved three action items and announced its delay in discussion of potential tuition and fees increases. Tuition discussion was delayed due to unfinalized aspects of Virginia’s 2020-2022 budget. The governor has until March 31 to propose other amendments, and the Board cannot discuss what that means for tuition until the budget is finalized.

During the Advancement Committee meeting, University President Jim Ryan announced an anonymous donation of $5 million that will go towards supporting students at Piedmont Virginia Community College who wish to transfer to

the University. $4.5 million will go towards creating scholarships through the Piedmont Scholars Program, with the remainder being used to help students successfully integrate into University life. The first cohort of scholarship recipients will be selected this spring for students attending in fall 2021.

Each year, around 150 students transfer from PVCC to the University — through this scholarship program, 25 scholarships are expected to be awarded annually.

The Academic and Student Life Committee of the Board of Visitors met Friday afternoon to approve the establishment of 11 new professorships and two new degree programs — a Doctorate of Philosophy at the Darden School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. When compared to fall 2020, the committee projected that total undergraduate enrollment will decrease by 2 percent over the next seven years.

After the Academic and Student Life session concluded, the full Board met for summary and a conclusion. President Jim Ryan remarked on the unprecedented year the Universi-

ty has had in the face of the pandemic.

“I think it’s fair to say that the year has been bumpy but successful … I think we’ve done about as well as any other University in managing the pandemic,” Ryan said. “We’ve come to appreciate even more than we have before the ingenuity, the determination, the resilience and the compassion of our students, our faculty and staff.”

Ryan then gave an overview of the priorities for the 2020-2021 year, which include advancing key initiatives of the University’s strategic plan such as the Emmet-Ivy corridor, investing in STEM research and interdisciplinary research spaces and advancing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives such as increased funding and changes to the University landscape based on recommendations from newly created Naming and Memorials Committee.

Thursday, March 11, 2021 | 3

NEWS

Jayla Hart and Mj Smith to serve as HRL co-chairs Their planned initiatives include increasing communication and emphasizing diversity and inclusion in residential committees Lauren O’Neil | Senior Writer Third-year College students Mj Smith and Jayla Hart accepted offers to serve as resident staff co-chairs for the 2021-22 academic year on Feb 23.

The positions — which they will hold until May 2022 — include responsibilities such as leading Housing and Residence Life senior staff training meetings, reviewing applications for and managing a team of 240 staffers and providing recommendations for changes to Housing and Residence Life’s mission and policies.

HRL provides on-Grounds housing for approximately 7,000 students, ranging from first-years living in dorms to upperclassmen in apartment-style housing.

In an email to The Cavalier Daily, Smith said that at first he didn’t even consider applying for the co-chair position. However, at the urging of friends and other staffers of HRL, he realized the role was a chance for him to make a difference in the program and get to know all of his fellow staffers.

After serving on HRL’s Committee on Multi-Culturalism for the last two years, Hart knew she loved acting as a leader and a coach in her own way to help staffers understand what concepts such as diversity, equity and inclusion actually look like when it comes to providing a home for all residents. The committee’s mission is to provide tools to RAs to confront

issues in their community and build connections between groups supporting diverse populations across Grounds and HRL staff.

“I think that desire to spread that feeling of home across the program in an equitable way was really the motivating cause for me applying because at HRL I had noticed how much growth we had made in the last two years,” Hart said. “I really felt that this was a good time to start pushing for even more bold initiatives, things that would show that HRL is adapting with the student body and the needs of our residents and staffers.”

For the coming year, Hart and Smith are using their positions to reorganize one HRL committee, dedicating it to addressing “Community Development and Residential Inclusion” instead of simply Community Development.

“We really do kind of set the tone for the program, and we can leverage our authority so that we can change a position like we’re doing this year,” Hart said. “This [change] was really meant to take a past Vice-Chair position and make it more tailored towards diversity, equity and inclusion, and initiatives that help to shift the direction of what we’re doing as a cochair.”

Hart and Smith both believe that complete transparency and open communication lines will make HRL an

COURTESY MJ SMITH

At first, Smith didn’t even consider applying for the co-chair position, but at the urging of friends and other staffers of HRL, he realized the role was a chance for him to make a difference in the program and get to know all of his fellow staffers.

increasingly accessible and inclusive community for students and staffers.

They are already planning to increase transparency and boost camaraderie by creating a lunch series for everyone in the program and sitting in on staffing meetings.

“I aspire to know everyone in the program, which I know is a big task, but I believe this will allow for staffers to feel seen and heard within the program,” Smith wrote. “Having a diverse group of staffers and leaders allows for more diverse stories and experiences to help HRL grow and best serve the needs of the varying staffers and residents that we serve and will continue to serve throughout the year.”

HRL co-chairs are required to serve as either a resident advisor for two years or a senior resident for one year. Hart, who lived in Brown College her first year, was a RA for one year in Brown before she was selected as the residence’s senior resident. Smith has served as an RA for the last two years in Bice House and the Language Houses.

Hart and Smith were selected after completing both a written application and two rounds of interviews. This year, the interview process was virtual, and for the first time, a group of RAs were able to sit in on the first interview. The second interview was just with professional staff, including Dean of Students Allen Groves and Associate Dean of Students Andy Petters.

“The interview process itself, it did happen virtually this year over Zoom,” Hart said. “While it was a bit interesting doing that for the first time, I think that we really were intentional about including all the voices within the program so that our co-chairs really were two people that were able to speak the best interest of everyone, not just a small group of people.”

Hart and Smith will spend this semester attending onboarding meetings, senior staff training sessions and all-staff orientation. Once a week, they will also meet with other SRs and the four vice-chairs of HRL. This ensures that Hart and Smith are able to gather concerns from all levels of staff and voice the concerns to HRL’s professional staff if needed.

The co-chairs are also responsible for making actionable changes when concerns are brought to them, and Smith and Hart have already gotten to work expanding one of the staffing positions.

Serving as an RA or SR looks very different this year than in past years because of COVID-19 and the necessary policy changes HRL has made regarding the roles and responsibilities of staffers.

The changes aim to “ultimately keep our staffers and residents as safe as possible,” according to the current

COURTESY JAYLA HART

Hart knew she loved acting as a leader and a coach in her own way to help staffers understand what concepts such as diversity, equity and inclusion actually look like when it comes to providing a home for all residents.

resident staff co-chairs, fourth-year College student Ja’Mel Reed and fourth-year Engineering student Anna Winter.

“Some of the traditional roles of the RA revolve around coverage, hosting programming, building community and being a mentor, friend and/or support system for residents depending on association,” Reed and Winter said in a joint email to The Cavalier Daily. “[These roles] have changed and remain ever changing in order to adhere to the advisory given by the health system and VDOH.” This year, RAs have served as the first line of support for first years during the pandemic and have had to enforce the new COVID-19 guidelines — including gathering limits, masking guidelines and social distancing — in addition to hosting programming virtually.

In September, many RAs anonymously published a list of demands in light of their changing roles, including hazard pay, increased personal protection equipment and co-chair accountability in the form of a democratic election rather than appointment.

“We saw with the HRL demands this past year and all the smaller moments of calling for change, and I think we’re trying to understand what that change is going to be within HRL,” Hart said. “It’s how will I, as a co-chair, work with MJ [and the rest

of our staff] to come to a consensus on what we want HRL to be? And I think that that’s going to take a lot of conversation, a lot of collaborative work.”

Hart and Smith acknowledged that the role will certainly come with challenges, namely navigating training 240 new staffers virtually over the summer and increasing the diversity and inclusion of the HRL program.

However, both Hart and Smith are staying optimistic and preemptively planning how to face their coming uphill battles.

“Alongside the uncertainty of the current pandemic, me and Jayla have had many discussions on the importance of equity and inclusion and have begun work to ensure that these are one of the main focuses into the upcoming year,” Smith said. “I know that this is a difficult time where many things are up in the air, but I am confident in our team that we will be prepared for any issue that may arise.”

Hart hopes to make clear that HRL is a constantly evolving program looking to make both notable and small improvements. Hart and Smith are looking for student and staff input into ways to improve the resident experience and forge a more inclusive program.

If a community member has a suggestion or concern that can be addressed by HRL, Hart asks that they reach out at jrh8nh@virginia.edu.

4 | www.cavalierdaily.com

NEWS

A year of cases, cancelations and continual adjustments University community members were forced to adapt to online courses, testing requirements and limited social interaction over the past year Eva Surovell | News Editor

COVID-19 at U.Va. Timeline 3/7/20: Students

depart Charlottesville for spring break.

3/11/20: The

University extends spring break by three weeks and asks students to not return to Charlottesville.

3/16/20: The first community member tests positive for the virus.

3/18/20: U.Va.

cancels Final Exercises and Provost Liz Magill announces the adoption of a default C/NC grading system.

3/19/20: Remote

instruction begins and the first student tests positive for COVID-19.

5/4/20: The

move-out process begins for students who lived on Grounds.

5/28/20: The

University announces that fall semester will begin as usual.

8/4/20: U.Va.

delays in-person start to classes by two weeks following a rise in cases.

When the University first brought back students studying abroad in Italy and canceled all outgoing study abroad programs last March, it turned out to be just the start of a brutal pandemic that would take the lives of over 500,000 Americans in one year. Students would be sent home in March 2020 only to come back five months later subject to masking requirements, gathering limits and public health guidelines previously unheard of — it was a new normal.

Now as we approach the one year mark of students’ departures on March 11, 2020, the University community is just recovering from its largest spike in COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began after over 700 cases were reported the week of Feb. 15.

With vaccine distribution providing hope for the end of the pandemic in the coming months, it’s important to reflect on the biggest milestones and challenges the University community faced this year.

The virus escalates as students are on spring break When spring break first began the weekend of March 7, 2020, students left Charlottesville for destinations nationwide, many of them unaware that it would be the last time they stepped foot on Grounds for more than five months. At the time, most students wrote off coronavirus as a distant threat — though the first U.S. case was identified on Jan. 21, there had only been one case reported in the state of Virginia when spring break began.

That didn’t stop the situation from escalating quickly. Just three days before the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 crisis a pandemic March 11, University President Jim Ryan sent a community-wide email detailing steps the University was taking to mitigate the spread of the virus, which had then infected eight people in the Commonwealth.

“At this point in time, we plan for students to return to Grounds and to resume classes, but we will be making some modifications to mitigate against the risk of exposure to and transmission of the virus,” Ryan said, which proved to be the first of many

detailing the University’s response to the pandemic.

That plan changed when Ryan emailed again just three days later, this time announcing the extension of spring break and the suspension of in-person instruction until at least April 5, asking students to return home and stay at home if possible.

The following day, Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency after 17 Virginians tested positive for the virus, and the University later reinforced its request for students to leave Grounds following student gatherings on the Corner that weekend.

That week, the University’s athletic department also suspended all activity following the cancelation of the ACC men’s basketball tournament.

On March 16, 2020 the first University community member tested positive for COVID-19. A second community member would test positive for the virus March 18, and on March 19, the first student contracted COVID-19. Amidst all this, the University notified students March 18 of its decision on the rest of the semester more than two weeks ahead of time — all classes would be held virtually for the foreseeable future.

“It is exceedingly unlikely, based on all that we know at this point, that this virus will have abated by the end of April,” the email said. “We realize and regret that these additional steps will cause more disappointment and call for more sacrifice, but we see no other way to do our part to help confront this public health crisis.”

In the same email, the University canceled Final Exercises for the Class of 2020 — making it the first time the celebration would not be held as planned since its start in 1829.

“Graduating isn’t easy, but not graduating is even harder,” said thenFourth-year Batten student Hannah Semmes.

A virtual degree conferral featuring Yo-Yo Ma and Dave Matthews would be held for the class in June.

As of March 2021, any in-person celebration for the Class of 2020 has been delayed until May 2022, and Final Exercises for the Class of 2021 have been canceled as planned.

9/3/20: 9/8/20: 9/16/20: Students living on Grounds, including first years, begin the move-in process.

In-person instruction begins with strict social distancing and masking guidelines.

U.Va. identifies a potential outbreak in Balz-Dobie and places residents under a 24-hour quarantine.

Students and faculty adapt to remote instruction amid the pandemic And so began more than a year of mostly online instruction.

As students and faculty alike navigated the challenges of mastering Zoom, calls for changes to the regular grading system surfaced as individuals reported concern over lack of Internet access, educational quality and job security while studying at home during a pandemic. For international students who returned, this transition was uniquely challenging. Not only did these students have to adapt to often-stricter lockdowns in their home countries, but they also had to stay up into the early hours of the morning — sometimes even to 3 or 4 a.m. — to be available for synchronous classes.

“My day of classes usually starts after dinner these days,” then-first-year College student Ria Kharosekar said.

“On most days I get done around 2 a.m. It was fine for the first week after I got back because I was still jet lagged, but now it’s definitely really strange.”

Following a petition that garnered over 5,000 signatures, University Provost Liz Magill announced the adoption of a credit/no credit grading system March 18, later adding a general credit option for students whose grades fell below the grade minimum for receiving credit but above that of no credit.

To provide first-generation, low-income, international and working students with necessary resources as the pandemic progressed, Student Council launched a mutual aid network through which students could request up to $100 in funding. U.Va. Mutual Aid is still operating today, and it has distributed over $36,000 to students to date.

After several weeks of uncertainty regarding how and when they would collect their belongings, students living on Grounds were finally permitted to return between May 4 and 24 to pack up their rooms and move out of residence halls using staggered pickup times and social distancing procedures. At the time, it was unclear when — or if — students would be able to return in the fall.

To make this decision, the University created the Fall 2020 Committee — a group made up of administrators,

9/22/20:

The University drops its gathering limit from 15 individuals to five and bans travel and visitors for at least two weeks.

faculty and one student tasked with providing recommendations on the upcoming semester. After just over a month of deliberation, on May 28, the University announced its intention to begin the semester as usual, with in-person options and classes ending before Thanksgiving. Despite nationwide uncertainty surrounding when the pandemic would be over, one thing was clear — the University was planning for students to come back to Charlottesville.

“This fall will not be a normal fall, even with some students back on Grounds and some classes being held in person,” the email said. “There inevitably will be greater risk in having students return, and we will be placing a good deal of trust in our students to look out for the safety and well-being not just of each other but of our faculty, staff, and community members.”

Students return to Grounds for a fall semester like no other After a summer filled with protests and a nationwide reckoning on race, students began to plan their returns to Grounds. The University required all students coming back to Charlottesville to partake in pre-arrival testing, which revealed 36 positive cases before the start of the fall semester. To keep track of cases over the course of the fall, the University launched the first of three versions of its COVID-19 tracker Aug. 27, featuring daily case counts and quarantine and isolation space occupancy.

In response to a national and local increase in COVID-19 cases, the University announced Aug. 4 that it was delaying the start of in-person instruction and move-in for students living on Grounds by two weeks.

The country then watched as numerous clusters of cases were identified among students at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, causing the school to desert its plans for in-person instruction Aug. 17. Just an hour away at James Madison University, over 1,000 students tested positive for the virus within one week, leading the university to do the same as UNC. Coupled with rising cases nationwide, these outbreaks at neighboring universities generated calls from some

11/24/20: 12/25/20: Fall classes end and students return home for Thanksgiving and finals.

U.Va. Health administers its first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

Thursday, March 11, 2021 | 5

NEWS

difficulties focusing on finals at home.

Cases and hospitalizations mount as the start of the spring semester nears

COURTESY UVA TODAY

As we approach the one year mark of students’ departures March 11, 2020, the University community is just recovering from its largest-ever spike in COVID-19 cases.

student organizations — such as Student Council and Young Democratic Socialists of America — for the University to abandon its plans for in-person instruction and not allow students living on-Grounds to return. Despite pushback, senior University leadership confirmed in a community-wide email Aug. 28 that in-person instruction would begin as planned Sept. 8.

“There are no easy answers here, and there are no risk-free paths,” the email read. “While we can’t expect to persuade all who disagree, we can tell you that we have listened to all perspectives, have given this a great deal of thought, and are making what we believe is the best decision at this moment in time. And that is the decision to give this our very best effort.”

Just days before the start of movein, the University notified residents of the International Residential College, Johnson, Malone and Weedon Houses and Shea House that their rooms would be converted into isolation and quarantine space for the course of the semester. These residents were given just 24 hours to choose a housing reassignment or live off Grounds.

Students living on Grounds moved into residence halls Sept. 3 through Sept. 6 as many first years hoped to experience some semblance of what it means to be a student at the University. “[My parents] decided that the policies were probably good enough, that [the University] was trying hard

enough to where I didn’t think that we were going to have a massive outbreak,” first-year College student Leah Boone said to The Cavalier Daily during move in.

What followed students’ arrivals to Charlottesville was a troubling 48hour period some 10 days later during which four potential outbreaks were identified in first-year residence halls.

The first potential outbreak was identified Sept. 16 when residents of Balz-Dobie were placed under a dormwide quarantine for at least 24 hours.

The next day, the University selected residents of Lefevre for prevalence testing after wastewater testing indicated a potential outbreak. A day after that, the University reported potential outbreaks in both Kellogg and Echols, and wastewater indicators later identified the presence of a potential outbreak in Hancock on Sept. 22.

“There was definitely a lot of uncertainty for us students,” first-year College student Joseph Ascoli said.

In response to rising cases within the University community, the University dropped its gathering limit from 15 individuals to five, reinforced the need for mask-wearing and prohibited travel and visitors for at least two weeks. At the time, there were 224 active cases on Grounds.

Throughout the fall, students tried to find alternative ways of enjoying Charlottesville during a pandemic, sought companionship through fostering pets and prioritized mental

1/10/21: 2/1/21: 2/8/21: The U.Va. Health requires nursing staff to pick up extra shifts due to rising COVID-19 hospitalizations.

The spring semester begins with a six-person gathering limit.

University places Gibbons under a dorm-wide lockdown after identifying 17 positive cases within the residence hall.

health. Student groups performed theater on Zoom and overcame limitations to create community virtually. All the while, students conquered the anxieties of living in quarantine and isolation housing and learned to mitigate COVID-19 risks within their daily lives.

Despite the breakouts, the University was able to rapidly expand its testing capacity throughout the fall semester, beginning with the announcement of an asymptomatic and symptomatic testing plan, as well as the development of a saliva testing program and a wastewater testing program. Under the University’s first asymptomatic testing program, anywhere from 50 to 150 students were selected daily to report for testing. Following the announcement, however, some students cited difficulties accessing testing while athletes regularly received up to three tests per week.

By November, the University required all students living on Grounds to report for weekly testing and had expanded its prevalence testing for off-Grounds students. Before Thanksgiving break, University offered pre-departure testing before leaving Charlottesville and encouraged students to remain at home until the beginning of the spring semester. Fall classes officially ended Nov. 24, and all students were required to take finals online in December. Some students, however, did choose to remain in Charlottesville through exams, citing

2/12/21: U.Va.

confirms presence of B.1.1.7. U.K. variant in the University community and extends the six-person gathering limit.

Following an increase in cases statewide after the Thanksgiving holiday, Northam issued an executive order Dec. 14 limiting in-person gatherings to 10 people and instituting a curfew from between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m. Still, U.Va. Health was able to administer its first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Dec. 15, signaling a light at the end of the tunnel for hospital workers and staff.

Despite the hope provided by the start of vaccine distribution, U.Va. Health experienced a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations as the holidays approached and more individuals chose to hold in-person celebrations.

As the spring semester neared, cases and hospitalizations still soared across the Commonwealth.

With staff redeployed to COVID-19 units, other hospital units at U.Va. Health saw staffing shortages.

As a result, U.Va. Health instituted a policy Jan. 10 requiring all registered nurses, patient care technicians and certified nursing assistants to pick up extra COVID-19 shifts. To protect the health of patients and hospital workers, the hospital barred visitors to the hospital beginning Jan. 13, returning restrictions it had originally implemented last spring.

A delayed start to the spring semester The spring semester began Feb. 1, nearly two weeks after the originally scheduled date of Jan. 20. In an effort to limit travel to and from Charlottesville, the University replaced the traditional week-long spring break with four break days scattered throughout the semester. Students also began the semester governed by a six-person gathering limit and a weekly mandatory testing requirement, among other public health guidelines.

Though University administration warned students ahead of the spring semester that its margin for error was narrower than in the fall, after the first two weeks of the semester, there was a steep increase in COVID-19 cases.

On Feb. 8, the University placed all residents of Gibbons dormitory under a dorm-wide quarantine after identifying 17 positive cases in the building.

Three days later, the University confirmed the presence of the B.1.1.7. U.K. variant in the community and extended the six-person gathering limit until conditions improved.

Case numbers took a turn for the

2/16/21: 2/26/21: U.Va. bans all in-person gatherings after 229 cases are reported in a single day.

worst Feb. 15 when 121 cases were reported in a single day — this more than doubled the previous record of 59 cases Sept. 17, which occurred due to a testing backlog. Then, 229 new cases were reported Feb. 16, shattering Monday’s record by more than 100 cases. As a result of the sharp increase, the University banned all in-person gatherings and encouraged students to restrict movement outside of their residences to essential activities for at least 10 days.

“This is crunch time,” the email said. “If individual members of this community take this seriously for the next 10 days, we will see a decline in cases and a return to a more “normal” spring semester. The alternative is additional consequences, not only for the type of semester we have as a university, but potentially for the health and safety of the people who live, learn, and work at and around U.Va.” Speculation on social media suggested the increase in cases resulted from in-person elements of Inter-Fraternity Council and Inter-Sorority Council recruitment. The University has maintained that Greek life was not primarily responsible for the increased caseloads, but Dean of Students Allen Groves confirmed that COVID-19 violations have been brought against five fraternities, though he did not specify if any of the violations were related to recruitment events. Both the IFC and ISC have since suspended in-person gatherings due to increased caseloads and reported violations by member organizations.

Cases declined throughout the 10day period, so the University lifted its ban on in-person gatherings Feb. 26 and returned to a six-person gathering limit, encouraging students to stick to social bubbles.

Though Ryan has expressed optimism that the University will return to normal operations next fall, it still remains uncertain how and when that will happen. Some students have begun to receive vaccinations and the state recently launched a pre-registration site for Virginia residents. Living in the midst of a pandemic has become the new normal for students, faculty, staff and community members — all that is left to do is mask up, socially distance and wait.

Alexa Clark, Ali Sullivan, Ava MacBlane, Callie Freeman, Carolyn Lane, Erin Rafferty, Harry Farley, Jenn Brice, Kate Bellows, Kate Still, Lauren O’Neil, Lilly Whitner, Lucie Rutherford, Mackenzie Williams, Madison Workman, Maryann Xue, Nayeon Kim, Nicole Freeman, Nik Popli, Omega Ilijevich, Patrick Roney, Raghda Labban, Sevy Van Der Werf, Sierra Martin, Tanvika Vegiraju, Zach Rosenthal and Zoya Zahid contributed reporting to this story.

The University lifts its ban on in-person gatherings and returns to a six-person gathering limit.

3/3/21: U.Va.

cancels Final Exercises as planned for the Class of 2021 and postpones in-person ceremony for the Class of 2020 until May 2022.

6 | www.cavalierdaily.com

The Cavalier Daily

LIFE

TAs cultivate connection in time of disconnection Teaching assistants work to maintain their designated roles by overcoming pandemic-induced obstacles Anna Heyse | Features Writer

COURTESY LUCY WANG

For “Software Development Methods,” the class utilizes the virtual messaging platform Discord for students to ask questions and meet with their TAs in either office hours or in their cohorts.

Due to the pandemic, teaching assistants have had to adjust to helping students through their semesters virtually, albeit without the same connections as they could in an in-person semester. However, TAs have taken this obstacle in stride by utilizing a variety of virtual platforms that have helped increase opportunities for connection with students. Whether TAs are living off Grounds or on Grounds, they have continued to help students navigate and better understand course material outside of lecture.

Introductory Chemistry TA and third-year College student Annesha Sarkar, who has been a TA since Fall 2019 and for four consecutive semesters, experienced the transition from being a TA in-person to having to shift online in March 2020. Sarkar recalled the difficulty that she and the other 24 undergraduate and two graduate TAs experienced during that time, specifically in adapting the course “Expo” sections. One of their primary roles is to help facilitate students’ broader understanding of the course material through such Expo sections, which are designated discussion times in which roughly 90 students break into smaller groups and answer class problems with the help of three TAs assigned per section.

“In the past, and even when I personally took the class, students really

felt like they benefited from having a peer-like TA to whom they can ask questions and have general support for the course as the TAs themselves had gone through the course,” Sarkar said. “However, [with] the abrupt switch online in Spring 2020, the students had lost this connection with their TAs … During that transition period, it was so hard to feel connected with the students.”

Despite these impediments, Sarkar noted that Prof. Kevin Welch’s decision to move the classes’ Expo sections to the virtual interactive platform Microsoft Teams this past fall has helped emulate this collaborative environment. One of its unique features allows 27 different TAs to switch between multiple channels of student groups in order to check-in with them and answer any questions they may have as they work through a variety of group assignments — which is especially helpful during large Expo sections.

“It was overall a time of learning how to adapt quickly to the situations we were given... to make sure that the students were able to still succeed during such a time of uncertainty,” Sarkar said. “The instructors have done an amazing job of transitioning the Expo discussion sections online to mimic what it would look like in person … Although the connections are not the same as if we were to be in person, I feel like I am

able to adequately support students virtually through the course.”

Likewise, classes in the computer science department have adopted similar solutions in order to try and combat the disconnective nature of online classes and discussion sections by encouraging students to engage with their TAs, fellow classmates and professors. The course Software Development Methods utilizes the virtual messaging platform Discord for students to ask questions and meet with their TAs in either office hours or in their cohorts.

The latter is a system that was implemented last fall as a means of replicating pre-pandemic office hours.

At the start of the course, all 60 TAs were assigned a cohort that consists of around five students each.

On a weekly basis, each cohort meets on a Discord voice channel during the class’s designated lab time for at least 30 minutes, so that students can work together on their assignments and ask their TA for help when needed.

Since this is her second consecutive semester as a TA for the class, second-year College student Lucy Wang shared how she was able to find success in cultivating an inclusive and collaborative environment for her cohort.

“This semester, when I was assigned to my cohort, it was definitely a lot better, and I was able to first

meet with the students individually,” Wang said. “Then I had them introduce themselves to each other on the first day, and I tried to facilitate communication and collaboration among them from the get go. And now we’re about a month in, and all my cohort members are collaborating and working together, so things are going pretty smoothly.”

TAs like Wang and Sarkar are paid to carry out their responsibilities for a set amount of hours per week. Both before and during the pandemic, Wang and her fellow CS 2110 TAs are paid $11 per hour and can work a maximum of five hours per week if they are a first-time TA, but this can be raised to eight hours per week if they continue as a TA in following semesters. Sarkar and the other Chemistry TAs have had both their hours and pay reduced because of a department-wide policy implemented at the start of the pandemic.

However, some TAs continue to engage with and demonstrate extraordinary dedication to students, even without pay. For fourth-year Batten student Jackie Chen, this spring semester marks her fifth consecutive semester as an unpaid volunteer TA for Professor Rick Mayes in his class, Overview of the US Healthcare System.

Over this time, Chen has made sure to prioritize students’ mental health at all times — a focus that

mirrors how Mayes advocates for a policy of openness in the class. By encouraging students to voice their mental health-related concerns, Mayes can help identify a case-bycase plan that both keeps students learning and also caters to their mental well-being. When the pandemic hit, Chen expressed that this emphasis on how students are faring beyond the letter grades and class participation is a sentiment that has never been more applicable to what it means to be a TA. “I would say I think it’s really important [as a TA] to be cognizant of students and how they’re doing, especially during this time,” Chen said. “I think there’s always been a really good policy about mental health awareness … even before COVID-19, and the follow through from then to now has been great.”

Although there are clearly limitations to virtual learning that prevent online classes from fully replicating the nature of in-person classes and office hours, this hasn’t stopped both professors and TAs from dedicating commendable time and energy to their students. From actively engaging with students on digital platforms to continuing care for students’ mental health, University TAs have demonstrated exemplary resilience to fulfilling their responsibilities as teaching assistants.

Thursday, March 11, 2021 | 7

LIFE

Giving authentic Chinese pancakes the spotlight they deserve You will never look at Chinese takeout the same way again Chuyuan Lyu | Food Columnist

CHUYUAN LYU | THE CAVALIER DAILY

This recipe may contain steps that look unfamiliar to you, but the resulting delicacy will definitely make your courage and efforts worthy!

It has been a year since the beginning of COVID-19 and quarantine. Due to the pandemic, a lot of restaurants were closed in my hometown — one of them was a small pancake restaurant called Aunt Wang’s Breakfast Shop (王大妈早餐铺), which I visited every morning on the way to primary school. It was an important part of my childhood, and I feel nostalgic whenever I think about how their pancakes tasted.

There were various breakfast diners next to my primary school.

The cooks were always busy making Chinese hamburgers known as rougamo (肉夹馍), deep-fried doughnut sticks (油条)and classic Chinese tofu drinks (豆腐 脑). Despite being busy preparing all this food, the cooks would never forget to say “Enjoy!” or “Have a nice day!” Even though it was hard to choose what to buy from the diners, a pancake and a bowl of soybean milk was my favorite breakfast pairing, and I never got tired of it throughout my six years of primary school.

They always gave me energy and made going to school much more enjoyable.

Fast forward to 2021, where quarantine has given me plenty of time to try out recipes. Naturally, I decided to experiment with the pancake to see if I could replicate this nostalgic taste. First, I tried

making them just based on my imagination and naive assumptions. I simply added water and salt to flour and was left with a mess that warped my childhood memories into a nightmare. After searching online for pancake recipes, I tried adding some oil to the pancake batter to create a few airy layers that would improve the texture and add flavor. However, the resulting pancake still wasn’t right because the texture was not as soft as I remembered.

I consulted my mother, and she advised me to add some boiling water. Surprisingly, boiling water was the magic trick that perfected my pancake recipe.

Now, you might be wondering why I went to such lengths for a pancake. It’s because this authentic Chinese staple — colloquially known as danbing (单饼), which translates to “single pancake” — is very versatile and can be paired with many different flavors. Originating in Shandong, these Mandarin-style pancakes are commonly eaten with roasted pork or duck, cucumbers and a dipping sauce. They can also serve as the perfect alternative to starchy carbohydrates like rice or noodles.

Danbing is similar to another famous Chinese staple called green onion pancakes (葱油饼), but there are a few key differenc-

es beyond just the use of scallions in green onion pancakes. For example, green onion pancakes originate from Shanghai according to legend. They are also folded several times before mixing in scallions, and they are smaller and denser than the classic pancake that I will be introducing below.

It is important to note that the success of your pancakes is determined by remembering to use both boiling water and warm water. Using cold water will lead to pancakes that are hard to chew, but boiling water will make them soft on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside.

Additionally, you can easily store leftover pancakes in the refrigerator and simply reheat them on a pan later on.

This recipe may contain steps that look unfamiliar to you, but the resulting delicacy will definitely make your courage and efforts worthy. For some more authentic pairings, I would personally eat the pancakes with soybean milk or millet congee to create a particularly nourishing breakfast.

As always, if you make this recipe, please share a picture and tag @cavalierdaily on Instagram — we’d love to see your meal!

DANBING (单饼) Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes Yields: 3 pancakes Ingredients: 7 cups of any kind of flour — preferably wheat flour 1 cup boiling water ½ cup warm water 1 cup of any kind of cooking oil — preferably soybean oil 2 teaspoons of salt Instructions: 1. Add the boiling water to 4 cups of flour in one bowl. In another bowl, pour the warm water over 2 cups of flour.

2. Fully combine both mixtures in their respective bowls with chopsticks, a whisk or a similar utensil. After, combine the two mixtures together in one bowl. The resulting batter might be a little watery, but this is normal and actually helps make the pancake softer and more delicious later on.

3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap for 10 minutes — here, the mixture should thicken until it appears relatively malleable by hand.

4. Sprinkle the remaining cup of flour over a cutting board and divide the dough into three parts.

5. Pick one of the dough pieces and press it with your hand into a very thin pancake — about 8 inches in diameter.

6. Spread some oil and salt over the pancake.

7. Lightly roll the pancake into strips so that it can be coiled up into a spiral.

8. Press the spiral into a thin pancake with your hand. Even though you will end up with another thin pancake similar in shape to the one in step five, steps six and seven are crucial for creating layers.

9. Set your pan to medium heat and wait for it to get hot.

Then, lightly coat with the cooking oil of your choice.

10. Put the pancake on the pan and fry it for a minute, turn it over and fry it for another minute.

11. Repeat steps four through nine two more times until you have finished frying all three pancakes.

8 | www.cavalierdaily.com

abCD MAGAZINE

The Cavalier Daily

Activism, art and expressions of Black strength Through film, photo, music and paint, Charlottesville artists are using art as a form of activism and expression Denise Brookman-Amissah | Staff Writer Throughout the summer, Charlottesville community members and students took to the streets alongside 26 million Americans to protest police brutality and systemic racism in America. Since then, the nation witnessed record-breaking voter turnout in the 2020 elections, the restriction of chokeholds in 62 percent of the country’s biggest police departments and resistance among government leaders to implement major reforms.

In addition, various other art forms were created to honor the victims of police brutality and advocate for change. The Black Lives Matter movement put a spotlight on the lack of diversity and representation in the media and art world. Local artists are combating this absence by documenting their experience as Black artists through their creations.

Documenting summer 2020 Eze Amos, a Charlottesville photojournalist, used his Instagram to showcase his walks during Black Lives Matter protests in summer 2020, documenting protestors in action in Charlottesville and Richmond.

“This revolution will be photographed,” Amos wrote in the caption of an Instagram post.

Amos was one of the many Black photojournalists who used their skills to document the Black Lives Matter protests. Photojournalists stood on the front lines alongside protestors and captured the spectrum of emotions sparked by protests, using their social media platforms to share moments that were not broadcast on national news.

“Folks go out in the street to protest, they write signs, they have sit-ins, they have public disobedience — whatever form of protest they adopt, our job as artists is to help them amplify whatever message they are trying to push,” Amos said.

The infamous Stonewall Jackson statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond — a grassy mall which is home to numerous Confederate statues — was removed by cranes on July 1. As the statue was removed from its pedestal, hundreds of protesters cheered in the pouring rain — Amos was there to document that historic moment. When he drove back to his home in Charlottesville, he

recounted his experience witnessing history to The Cavalier Daily.

“It’s a movement that is finally getting people to pay attention and listen to what folks have been saying for all these years about police brutality, ... the injustice of how they treat black people, implicit bias, all those things that everybody has been talking about Trump for as long as we can remember,” Amos said.

Amos stated he believed in order to create lasting change, artists must keep pushing the stories and communicating the messages of protesters that mainstream media doesn’t cover.

Addressing the lack of representation “It’s very important to promote creators from all walks of life,” Amos said. “[When I got to Charlottesville], it took me forever to break into the market and get people to pay attention … Black photographers and Black artists are never given the opportunity to prove themselves because, somehow, there’s just an assumption that we’re not up to par.”

The increase in exposure Amos received due to his documentation of mass protests gave him the opportunity to share his photos with reputable news organizations like the New York Times. On June 21, Instagram featured Amos in their “WHAT NOW, TAKE ACTION” campaign. However, despite Amos’ recent access to a larger platform, Black representation in art and media has historically been low.

In 2019, art historians, statisticians, professors and art curators surveyed art collections of the 18 major museums in the United States. The researchers set out to find the gender, ethnic and racial composition of artists represented in these collections. The results revealed that 85.4 percent of pieces in the collections were created by white artists and Black artists’ work made up 1.2 percent of the art in all major U.S museums. This is despite Black Americans composing 13.4 percent of the U.S. population.

This disparity isn’t just present when it comes to visual art. In the film industry, researchers at the University of Southern California analyzed the top-grossing 100 films of 2015, and their

study revealed that only four of the 107 directors were Black or African American and only nine of the movies had a Black lead or co-lead. #OscarsSoWhite began trending in 2016 on Twitter in response to the award show’s lack of minority representation in their nominations.

However, even when Black Americans are represented in media though, their portrayals are often inaccurate and stereotypical. In a literature review on the impact of media representations on the lives of Black men and boys, researchers at The Opportunity Agenda, a social justice communication lab, found that Black males are stereotyped and underrepresented in media. The report’s findings indicated that negative associations such as criminality, unemployment and poverty are exaggerated while positive associations are limited to physical achievement and musicality. These stereotypes create erroneous portrayals of Black males. The researchers concluded that producers of media must create more accurate portrayals of Black men in the media by incorporating more African Americans in production.

Charlottesville-based photographer Jason Lappa thinks that the BLM movement is broadcasting the unheard stories of minorities to the world, including those of Black artists and creatives.

“What is revolutionary are the eyes and voices behind the photographs we are starting to see in the major media outlets,” Lappa said in an email to The Cavalier Daily. “The eyes of Black and brown photographers such as Ruddy Roye, Sheila Pree Bright, Vanessa Charlot, Courtney Coles, Julio Cortez, Andre Chung and Kris Grave, The stories of Black people told by Black people — that is the revolutionary realization that is just now beginning to take hold in the mainstream.”

Amos believes that art has the power to recondition society’s perceptions of Black Americans and their stories. “[It’s like how we are all] conditioned in a dark alley to picture a shadow of a big person coming towards you [and] nine out of ten times you are picturing a black person,” Amos said. “It’s something we’ve just been conditioned to think overtime from the movies and all of the books and it’s

ALYCE YANG | THE CAVALIER DAILY

wrong. We as artists can rewrite our stories and tell them in a better way.”

The push to promote Black representation and diversity extended into the business world as well. Black community members and allies participated in an economic boycott on July 7 in what was known as Blackout Day. Participants were told not to spend a dollar at stores, restaurants or businesses unless they were Black-owned in an effort to highlight the 1.3 trillion dollars in buying power that Black Americans have in the U.S. economy.

On last year’s anniversary of the emancipation of enslaved laborers in the United States, also known as Juneteenth, Beyoncé released her single “Black Parade” with the proceeds from her single going to support the singer’s Black Business Impact Fund.

The fund awards $10,000 grants to small Black-owned businesses. The song was released along with a directory of over 700 nationwide Black-owned businesses. One business featured was the African inspired art store UzoArt, a business owned by Uzo Njoku, artist and Class of 2019 alumna.

“It was crazy — I was like,

Beyoncé!” Njoku said, laughing while reminiscing about the moment she found out she was featured in the campaign.

Njoku was overjoyed to be included among the likes of other talented Black artists and creators. Even though she expressed that more celebrities should follow suit, Njoku emphasized that strictly supporting Black business owners is not as simple as it may seem.

“We all say we should support Black businesses, but a lot of these processes, payment and shipping processes are giving money to a white man,” she said. “However, I still think support is important for Black business owners.”

Njoku’s business saw an increase in sales as a result of the support redirected to Blackowned businesses. Njoku, in turn, donated extra funds towards organizations involved with the Black Lives Matter movement and fellow artists struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the full story, check it out on cavalierdaily.com. The Winter Issue of the abCD Magazine will be published Friday, March 12 and available to be read in a digital format on The Cavalier Daily website.

The Cavalier Daily

Thursday, March 11, 2021 | 9

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT We are all citizens, we are all artists

Local artist Laura Lee Gulledge honors and celebrates the Black community with Black Lives Matter art installation and live-painting Kalista Diamantopoulos | Arts & Entertainment Editor Charlottesville cartoonist Laura Lee Gulledge never really considered herself a portrait artist until she was inspired to paint a large-scale portrait of George Floyd for a Black Lives Matter march to the Rotunda in June 2020.

“When problems feel too overwhelming it can be immobilizing figuring out how to help,” Gulledge said.

“What can I possibly do? Well, I can draw.”

After completing the portrait of George Floyd, Gulledge went on to paint 12 more paintings using india ink on cardboard. These are part of a series titled “Say Their Names” which aims to “honor and humanize” the Black people who were victims of police violence and racial injustice. Some of the subjects include George Floyd and Breonna Taylor along with local figures such as Marcus David-Peters, Sage Smith, Tony McDade and more.

Gulledge also collaborated with local rapper LaQuinn on a large-scale piece featuring lyrics from his song “Black Lives Matter.”

The “Say Their Names” portraits

along with the collaborative piece are currently on display through the end of March 2021 in the windows of Silverchair on the Downtown Mall located at 316 E Main Street, near Heather Heyer Way. However, visitors who passed by the windows the past few weekends may have noticed not only the 12 “Rest/ Recover in Power” portraits, but also Gulledge herself busily working on a new portrait series celebrating figures “Living in Peace.” These portraits celebrate the life and work of living icons, including poet and activist Amanda Gorman and Kehinde Wiley, who is well-known for his 2018 portrait of former President Barack Obama.

Gulledge chose a live-painting experience to present these works because she wanted to “inject some love and life into this emotionally scarred space in the spirit of healing.” In fact, a bomb-scare that blocked off 4th Street and led to increased police presence and K9 unit investigations Feb. 27 — the day after a Black Lives Matter protest marched through the same area

— made her “even more grateful [that she] was there to help bring positivity and hope to this site of trauma.”

Moreover, Gulledge said making art in isolation can make her feel as if she is in a vacuum which can “distort one’s perception of both your art and yourself.” Being observed by onlookers while making her art helps her feel both “accountable to the art but also seen as a human.” Gulledge also hopes that by putting herself in the public eye during her live-painting, she may act as a role model for any younger artists that might walk by.

“The stress of the moment can make it challenging to be inspired, but I want to help encourage others that they too can keep making,” Gulledge said.

Gulledge started her career as a public school art teacher and did not have any intention of becoming a professional artist. Her students and role as a teacher gave her the courage to go out and discover herself as an artist. This journey took her to New York, where she became a published

author of YA graphic novels and continued developing her storytelling. At the same time, she worked as a scenic painter, primarily in the Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue’s holiday window displays. This experience taught her about creating art as a team, worldbuilding and the importance of making art accessible to the public. For the time being, she is back in Virginia creating art.

Gulledge likes to describe herself as a “citizen artist,” a term she picked up while working at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. “It refers to artists who use their work to create a positive impact on the community,” Gulledge said. “I like this label because I always felt that there was a responsibility that came with my creative gifts.”

Gulledge prefers new terms such as “citizen artist” or even “artner” over more politically charged terms like “artivist.”

“Politics separate us, but art unites us,” Gulledge said. “For we are all citizens and we are all artists.”

Gulledge believes there is great power in the stories people choose to tell. Her mission is to use her artistic gifts to be an ally and amplify the voices of those who are underrepresented in our collective conversation. In doing so, she creates art that is “radically truthful and forward thinking” and presented beautifully in a way that is accessible to the public. At its core, Gulledge understands her responsibility to make art that is “so full of love that it is non-threatening.”

“Even if I make art about sadness, it will have hope,” Gulledge said.

As for the student artists and activists at the University, Gulledge urges them to not wait for permission to undertake creative endeavors. She believes the very conception of an idea is all the permission one needs as an artist. She also encourages doing and creating no matter how “obvious” the idea may seem, as it may not be so obvious to someone else.

You find your voice by using it,” Gulledge said. “Just remember to also pass the mic.”

Tied for First: The best mashup of all time Leaning into the unhinged Stefan Lizarzaburu | Senior Writer On Feb. 25, Post Malone dropped a cover of the 1995 hit “Only Wanna Be With You” by Hootie & the Blowfish to celebrate the Pokémon’s 25th anniversary. Ellipsis. Yep, truth be told, when this headline first made it from my oculars to my brainstem, I could instantly feel my legs start to go cold. I frantically grabbed the closest grounded object near me — my bedpost — in a semi-delirious effort to ensure my mind and my body remained as one.

Luckily, they did.

This past year has felt like the heavy-duty setting on the simulation washing machine, and that headline, of all things, was almost the straw that broke my camel’s back. 2020, by my definition, was the year of the unhinged. 2021, out of necessity, might have to be the year of celebrating the unhinged. That cover, admittedly, was pretty good.

With that said, this column entry feels, well, silly on principle. And yes, just like the Post Malone cover, a little unhinged. Right? A mash-up?

In 2021? I know. This article has gone through countless drafts, unbounded

internal questioning and, in the end, just the right amount of subconscious justifications for me to put finger to keyboard. In the current moment of our collective crawl toward the 12th month of a global pandemic, I can’t bring myself to care about convention.

This mashup of “Walk” by Foo Fighters and “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire, is unequivocally the best song of all time.

Let’s rewind for a second. First, let’s unpack the deep-seated mental mechanisms that make me silently giggle while reckoning with the fact that I’m actually writing critically about a mashup. There is an undoubted depth and richness in the legacy of mash-ups, but in the age of personalized online existences, this richness has recently amounted to one-off TikTok trends and quick-fix virality fodder. Extended remix “dubs” from Jamaica in the ’70s and fluid dance mixes from queer clubs in New York in the ’80s have built up a sturdy legacy of remixing, sampling, splicing and reconfiguring music by any other semi-ethical means.

However, these pioneers have also led us to YouTuber William Maranci, the author of our mashup in question.

Maranci has staked his claim in this seemingly ill-fated legacy by creating his own pure 21st-century mashup — perpetually unable to escape labels of corniness. Maranci’s most popular mashup? “Bohemian WAPsody,” which, by the way, is pretty impressive.

Lineage is important, sure, but you don’t need to be a disc jockey to make a mashup anymore. All that is required is a simple recipe — inspiration, audio software and a loosey-goosey understanding of beats per minute. And that, to my understanding, is the recipe that gave us “Walk But It’s September by Earth, Wind, and Fire.”

This mashup has afforded me everything I’ve ever wanted but have never received in all of music history — a stadium-funk, power-grunge progeny. Maurice White’s heaven-sent falsettos always deserved a jarring sonic juxtaposition — and the Foo Fighters’ gritty guitarwork and thudding drumsmanship fit like a glove. With this new backbone, White’s voice

sounds more immediate, urgent and, most importantly, triumphant. Both of the original songs, in their own right, rely on the invigorating power of the triumphant build — a tactic easily found in any Coldplay classic — organizing a satisfying musical plot structure, with straightforward exposition, climax and resolution. This mashup, however, happens to mostly consist of rising action.

The mashup quietly begins with a bed of gentle, jumpy guitar riffs, while White cooly makes it through the first verse and chorus. But then, the surging pum-pum-pum of the drums moving into the second verse raises the eyebrows of the heart and the soul. In this part of the imagined plot structure, the main character would be about to fall in love, land their dream job or defeat whatever could not be defeated before.

In the song, these jubilant tropes are sonically maintained, but with the animated power and prowess of, say, Whitney Houston’s national anthem performance or Prince’s Super Bowl halftime show. The ascending bridge

“ba-du’s” and “ba-du-da’s” into auditory nostalgic conquest, filling my body with those youthful, wistful feelings of pure triumph — reminiscent of when I first defeated the Elite Four on Pokémon Pearl or any touchdown caught in a gravel-coated end zone or those first few seconds of unparalleled, exploratory liberation at the Scholastic Book Fair. Innocent amusements, sure — but they were mine. My plot structures. By the time the third chorus hits, I’ve found the Pokémon guidebook I wanted, with my grubby fingers gently grasping a $10 bill, and I’m ready to check out.

Goodness gracious. OK. Deep breath. I can’t stand the fact that a YouTube mashup genuinely gives me goosebumps. But let me unpack that.

Guilty pleasures are just that — pleasures. And there’s no guilt in leaning into what breathes life into my heart and limbs. So I’ll relax, and allow myself to let the simple things be simple.

And I’ll allow this song to continue to oil my creaky hip-gears, alone in my room, as I get out of bed and imagine a world where we can dance again.

10 | www.cavalierdaily.com

In honor of the one-year mark of COVID-19 sending students home in March 2020, The Cavalier Daily asked community members to share their last memories on Grounds before the pandemic began. These were what some of the responses were on Twitter.

For many students, these memories were ones that passed by without

The Cavalier Daily

a second thought — they were meals on the Corner, visits to Bonny Cat and hangouts with friends. For others, they were bigger moments — celebrating love on Valentine’s Day, filming for a project at Women’s Center and cheering on a men’s basketball win over Duke. But regardless of people’s last memories here, one fact is undeniable — every University and

Charlottesville community member has been impacted by the events of the last year. At times like these, it is important to remember these small moments. This is The Cavalier Daily’s first step towards that.

Design by Noah Holloway | The Cavalier Daily

COURTESY @_ARIANAAGS

“getting roots with @alecscicchitano right before we went on a spring break getaway in shenandoah”

COURTESY @SHELBAAAAAY28

“One of the best night ever. Not a mask or care about germs in sight.”

COURTESY @MAXUVALAC

“Last day we had students using the @UVaWomensCenter, this group was filming for @_ThatGirlLizz’s final project.

March 7, 2020 #classof2020”

COURTESY @_AJCASTILLO_

“miss this day”

The Cavalier Daily

Thursday, March 11, 2021 | 11

ADVERTISEMENT

COURTESY @THE_JOHN_GARZA

@ERINEEDGERTON

“what should of been a packed hall during uva lunch rush”

COURTESY @ELISEIDDINGS

“whatever happened to the castle cat i need to know if she’s okay”

COURTESY @KIMBERLYYNOVAK

“:/”

COURTESY @RCALCORN

12 | www.cavalierdaily.com

OPINION

The Cavalier Daily

In anticipation of next week’s student-wide elections, the Editorial Board interviewed the candidates and read through platforms — here are our endorsements.

Honor Committee CHRISTIAN SMITH Third-year CLAS Smith has served two terms as an Honor Representative. He understands how the system works, and how to effectively make Honor a more equitable system. Smith has seen the inequities within Honor and how it disproportionately affects marginalized students. Smith’s biggest goal is working towards abolishing the single sanction. However, he knows that he cannot do this himself — he plans to work with different organizations to set up a working group.

He hopes to have legislation written up for the coming year to address the issues within Honor so that students are finally able to have a system that works for them. Smith clearly believes in listening to students, allowing him to implement the changes students want to see.

GABRIELLE BRAY Second-year CLAS Bray currently serves as a Support Officer, workBray currently serves as a Support Officer, working as an investigator and a counselor. She understands how the system works and how it impacts students. She wants to make Honor better, and she has tangible ways to do this. Bray discussed how the IR affects students in different ways — students who cannot afford to take the two semesters off face the full extent of Honor, while those who can do not. She wants a thorough reevaluation of the process, gathering a more ac-

curate polling of the student body. She has a very clear understanding of the issues within Honor, and her experience and ideas prove that she will be able to address these issues in a meaningful manner as a representative.

ANDY CHAMBERS Third-year CLAS Chambers serves as an Honor Representative for the College and as the Vice Chair for Hearings.

He’s been involved in Honor for over two years.

He co-led selections, pushing for more diverse support officer pools. He understands Honor’s faults. He claims that the main issue with the single sanction is that it does not work. He hopes to move towards a multi-sanction system, having students vote on what these different sanctions would be. Chambers notes the IR has issues, disproportionately affecting students who cannot afford to take the time off from the University.

He proposes eliminating the IR or reforming it significantly. Chambers’s experience and his recognition of Honor’s issues make him qualified to make a more equitable system.

CHARLOTTE PAULUSSEN Third-year CLAS Paulussen has been on Honor for over two years, and was trained in all three roles. She focuses on the advising role, as she is drawn to helping students and professors going through the process.

A senior advisor, Paulussen clearly believes in

making Honor work for the student body. Her advising role showed her major inequities, with Honor serving as multi-sanction for those who can afford to take an IR and single-sanction for those students who are unable to do so. She notes that her ultimate goal is to make sure that the sanctions with the IR are educational — whether this be community service or education requirements. If the leave of absence has to remain, she wants to make sure students are equipped with the necessary resources to be able to return to the University — in her eyes, students going through the process need to be prioritized. Paulussen also recognizes the disproportionate levels of reporting against marginalized communities, and wants to work with different student organizations to make this issue a priority. Paulussen cares about the students — she understands the issues and knows how to address them.

JACK STONE Third-year COMM Stone has been a Support Officer since his first year, serving as both a counselor and an investigator. He wants to streamline the case process.

He also hopes to eliminate the single sanction to create a more equitable system. While the current system claims to be single sanction, Stone believes it operates as multi-sanction. In eliminating this, he hopes to see more consistent results. He plans to propose a triple-sanction

system — a one semester suspension, a year-long suspension or expulsion. He wants committee panels to choose sanctions on a case-by-case basis. Stone recognizes how Honor reporting disproportionate affects marginalized students, hoping to implement proper training, removing the student panel and increasing diversity within Honor. Based on his experience and ideas, we believe Stone is a qualified and admirable candidate.

MAGGIE REGNERY Third-year COMM Regnery joined Honor as a first-year and is currently serving as an Investigating Coordinator.

She aims to work towards finishing Honor cases more quickly. Additionally, Regnery believes the single sanction system is ineffective, saying that a multi-sanction system would allow for more people to face accountability for their actions — such as cheating. She also believes that there needs to be increased communication with the University community since these outcomes directly impact them. Further, Regnery also aims to increase diversity within Honor by reaching out to CIOs and improving outreach during the application process. She hopes this will increase the number of LGBTQ+ students and ethnic minorities applying to be on Honor. With goals to run for VCI, the Editorial Board believes Regnery is qualified and dedicated to the position.

THE CAVALIER DAILY MANAGING BOARD Editor-in-Chief Jenn Brice Managing Editor Carolyn Lane Executive Editor Zachary Pasciak Operations Manager Ankit Agrawal Chief Financial Officer Malcolm Mashig

THE CAVALIER DAILY The Cavalier Daily is a financially and editorially independent news organization staffed and managed entirely by students of the University of Virginia.

The opinions expressed in The Cavalier Daily are not necessarily those of the students, faculty, staff or administration of the University of Virginia. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the editorial board. Cartoons and columns represent the views of the authors. The managing board of The Cavalier Daily has sole authority over and responsibility for all content.

No part of The Cavalier Daily or The Cavalier Daily online edition may be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the editor-in-chief.

The Cavalier Daily is published Thursdays in print and daily online at cavalierdaily. com. It is printed on at least 40 percent recycled paper. 2020 The Cavalier Daily Inc.

HAVE AN OPINION?

EDITORIAL BOARD Zack Pasciak Jenn Brice Thomas Driscoll Hailey Yowell Jessica Moore Bryce Wyles

The Cavalier Daily welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns. Writers must provide full name, telephone number and University affiliation, if appropriate. Letters should not exceed 250 words in length and columns should not exceed 700. The Cavalier Daily does not guarantee publication of submissions and may edit all material for content and grammar. Submit to opinion@cavalierdaily.com or P.O. Box 400703, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4703

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS To better serve readers, The Cavalier Daily has a public editor to respond to questions and concerns regarding its practices. The public editor writes a column published every week on the opinion pages based on reader feedback and his independent observations. He also welcomes queries pertaining to journalism and the newspaper industry in general. The public editor is available at publiceditor@cavalierdaily.com.

FOLLOW US @CAVALIERDAILY WWW.CAVALIERDAILY.COM

Want to respond?

Submit a letter to the editor to opinion@cavalierdaily.com

JUNIOR BOARD Assistant Managing Editors Isabel Barney Pauline Povitsky (SA) Hanna Preston (SA) Grace Eberhardt (SA) Lana Kweon (SA) Morgan Kemp (SA) Nicole Freeman News Editors Eva Surovell Maryann Xue (SA) Ava MacBlane Submit a letter to theZach editor toRosenthal opinion@cavalierdaily.com (SA)

Want to respond?

Sports Editors Akhil Rekulapelli Sarah Pettycord (SA) Joe von Storch (SA) Jude Nanaw Life Editors Elise Kim Nayeon Kim (SA) Aaron Doss Arts & Entertainment Editors Kalista Diamantopoulos Loree Seitz (SA) Darryle Aldridge Health & Science Editors Astha Kulshrestha Isabel Weir (SA) Alexa Clark (SA) Anika Iyer Magazine Editors Kyndal Harrison Vani Agarwal Podcast Editor Nabeel Raza Opinion Editors Thomas Driscoll Hailey Yowell (SA) Bryce Wyles Humor Editor Eshaan Sarup (SA) Emily Porter Cartoon Editor Audrey Lewis (SA) Caroline Abel

Production Editors Ethan Fingerhut Noah Holloway Flora Kim Graphics Editors Anisha Hossain Martha Wilding Photography Editors Khuyen Dinh Ariana Gueranmayeh (SA) Tapley Borucke (SA) Ava Proehl (SA) Sophie Roehse (SA) Abby Sacks Social Media Managers Isabel Carino Begum Genc Translation Editors Aldo Barriente Lily Lin (SA) Diana Albarracin (SA) Maria Corvalan (SA) Lucy Hoak (SA) Xi Chen (SA) Weining Wang Finance Manager Jenna Carpenter Advertising Manager Katrina Yankovich

Thursday, March 11, 2021 | 13

OPINION

Student Council NOAH STRIKE Third-year CLAS Noah Strike — who has several semesters of administrative Student Council experience — emphasizes that the role of representatives is to help students. Student Council representatives do not exist to further specific political agendas. Hence, he wants a representative position so that he can defend students against discriminatory rhetoric. Noah Strike believes that both representatives and CIOs should be held accountable for their actions.

He specifically mentions the CIO involvement with anti-queer discrimination and surges in COVID-19. To rectify the current discriminatory rhetoric, he wants to educate these groups about the harmful impacts of their actions.

Furthermore, while he understands that Student Council is limited in the actions they can take against CIOs, he urges student council members to apply ethical and emotional pressure to limit discriminatory behavior by CIOs. ELLA TYNCH Second-year CLAS Ella Tynch serves as the communication chair of Young Democratic-Socialists of America at U.Va. In this role, she has advocated for a tuition freeze in light of the COVID-19 pandemic’s hardships and has successfully fought for a credit/general credit/no credit policy for Summer 2020 classes. While wanting to keep an open mind to a diversity of opinions, Tynch plans to advocate for students and workers.

Her policy proposals include providing payment for Student Disability Access Center notetakers and providing students involvement grants so they may volunteer without interference from having to work a job to cover personal expenses. She also hopes to be in contact with The Cavalier Daily in order to reach its alumni readership and source potential funding. Tynch says that she plans to be available to the student body and local community — via town halls, public feedback sessions, holding calls and keeping her inbox open.

VIOLETTE CADET First-year CLAS Violette Cadet currently serves as chair of the First-Year Council’s diversity and inclusion board, during which she has planned events for her class and created lists of inclusive clubs on Grounds. In high school, she created a cabaret charity, in which she gave a stage to performance art in order to raise money for a women’s group. Cadet identified a recurrence of resolutions within the current Council, but if elected, she hopes to move from resolutions to actual action. By putting Student Council

in direct conversation with Contracted Independent Organizations — clubs and various groups in the University community — Cadet wants to better identify inefficiencies across Grounds and within Council. She also wants to institute an open-door policy in Council so that student and community demands are better heard.

BOOKER JOHNSON Second-year CLAS Johnson believes that it is students’ voices that matter most — that’s why a huge part of his platform is focusing on making sure that student voices are no longer pushed aside and are amplified by representatives. His is a voice that would be incredibly valuable to Student Council, as he explicitly notes his intention to protect Black women as a representative.

His main focus will be on furthering equity and inclusion, partnering with other representatives and organizations to seek support for first-generation and low income students.

Booker’s voice is one that Student Council needs right now, fighting for those students who have been most ignored.

GABRIELA HERNANDEZ Second-year CLAS An incumbent, Gabriela Hernandez already has experience working on legislation as a Student Council representative. She is running to retain her seat on Council. Hernandez’s sponsored resolutions include a denouncement of administrative negligence in regards to Greek life’s endangerment of the student body during this semester’s recruitment process. She also served on the Council’s diversity engagement committee, on which she researched the makeup of Black and Brown students at U.Va. to work towards increasing representation in the student body. Additionally, Hernandez is co-chair for the community cohort in Political Latinxs United for Movement and Action in Society. Two of Hernandez’s specific policy proposals include making textbooks free for low-income students, if not all students, and securing funding for minority organizations so that they have financial resources on hand.

RAND PERRY Third-year BATTEN Rand Perry has served as a Resident Advisor since his second-year, which inspired him to run after seeing how difficult the past year has been on students. In Student Council, he served on the Outreach Committee as a firstyear and was also a Chair on the Financial Committee. If elected, he aims to work on eq-

uity in admissions, which he says has been explicitly designed to privilege certain groups of people. His goal is to increase diversity at the University while simultaneously supporting the already diverse student body in order to ensure all groups are represented. Perry’s goal to increase representation starts with everyone having a seat at the table by having access to their representatives, he says. He plans to hold regular office hours, take advantage of the already existing community structure and implement an anonymous form for people to fill out. He emphasized the importance of ensuring a continued effort of initiatives that will leave a lasting legacy and not simply die when he graduates.

LILIAN ROJAS First-year CLAS Lillian Rojas highly values minority inclusivity. Though she has no experience with Student Council at the University, she intends to rely on her unique perspective as a biracial student.

She believes that this identity will allow her to effectively interact with diverse perspectives and ensure she adequately represents University students. With this in mind, she intends to specifically support lower income, DACA and Latinx students. In order to accomplish this broader goal, she is interested in using social media and reaching out to multicultural CIOs to better gauge student input. She notes that another marginalized voice within Student Council is first years. Rojas believes that first years should be much better informed about the role of Student Council, its goals and the action Student Council is taking to accomplish those goals. To conclude, she reiterates that her main goal is to help marginalized students feel included and wants to ensure that all voices are heard.

RYAN ALCORN Third-year CLAS Ryan Alcorn — who has one year of Council experience and an extensive lobbying background — proposes a much more accessible and active Council. He explains that Council representatives should communicate more effectively with thes student body. After all, if Council doesn’t have the input of the student body, they are limited in the progress they can make. One way Student Council can increase student body involvement is by taking advantage of mass emails. Another of his proposed methods is to encourage representatives to interact with CIOs. While input is crucial, Ryan Alcorn explains that the student body must also understand how the Student Coun-

cil functions. On this note, he proposes a more accessible legislative process. For instance, he wants to create a one-pager describing parliamentary procedure. And, he wants to require a brief summary and goals of action attached to each piece of legislation. Ultimately, Ryan Alcorn believes that a more accessible Council will make it more active and effective.

AMELIA DELPHOS Third-year CLAS Amelia Delphos demonstrated a clear underAmelia Delphos — a third year with a clear understanding of the limitations of student government — demonstrates passion towards better racial equity and increased mental health services at the University. She has no prior experience with Student Council. However, she cited her extensive experience as a journalist and believes that her dedication to students and her journalism skills — especially attentiveness and non-judgemental listening — will ensure her success as a representative. If elected as a representative, she wants to make Student Council more accessible, inclusive, and equitable. For instance, she plans to proactively reach out to minority organizations on grounds and is interested in legislation that supports students seeking additional mental health services at the University.

NINA SANTANA First-year CLAS Nina Santana is a member of the Black Student Alliance, which has allowed her to work with PLUMAS and undocUVA and has given her insight into Black, Indigienous, and Latinx communities. Santana served as president of her high school’s student council, and she hopes to use her experience in advocating for the removal of Confederate statues across Grounds, an official land acknowledgement to the Monacan people and increased funding for ethnic studies courses. She would also like to restructure the perception of Student Council among the student body and ensure that student voices are actually heard on Council, possibly through holding events where students can come and speak about their experiences to inform Council members.

Editor’s note: Noah Strike, Booker Johnson and Amelia Delphos are current members of The Cavalier Daily staff. The Editorial Board’s decision to endorse these candidates was made impartially and without consideration of their affiliation with our publication.

University Judiciary Committee ADAM YOUNGER LAW Adam Younger brings to the table a wealth of experience and insight. During his time as an undergraduate at Case Western Reserve University, Younger was the chair of the Student Conduct Board. In addition, he is also a graduate of the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University and has recently been tapped to serve as a judicial intern with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. If elected, Younger hopes to empower victims, particularly as it relates to matters of sexual misconduct.

MADELEINE FRANK Second-year CLAS Although currently not a part of UJC, Madeleine Frank highlighted issues of transparency and poor communication with students on Grounds and the wider Charlottesville community. If elected, she plans to push for increased diversity within the support officer pool and to release more statistics concerning adjudicated cases. Additionally, Frank also hopes to reform the reporting process for violations that occur within Greek life to avoid many of the issues that were on full display earlier this semester.

LAUREN KIM Third-year CLAS Lauren Kim emphasized in her platform a holistic approach to sanctioning students. As the Vice Chair for Sanctions, Kim has worked to implement a streamlined process for adjudicating cases in light of COVID-19. If reelected, Kim hopes to adopt further reform measures including the addition of mental health resources for accused students and counselors, as well as increased outreach and engagement with the wider University community.

SLADE SINAK Third-year CLAS Slade Sinak, an incumbent representative, spoke candidly about issues of prejudice within UJC cases. As the Vice Chair of Trials, he implemented a formal program for bias mitigation and has stressed the importance of empathy. If reelected, Sinak plans to run for Chair internally and hopes to use this position to uplift the voices of those he represents.

14 | www.cavalierdaily.com

HUMOR

The Cavalier Daily

What happens inside an all-male isolation suite Dateline — Tuesday morning, Feb.16, 2021.

I woke up to a text message from the Virginia Department of Health informing me that I had contracted the COVID-19 virus. My unfortunate reality quickly set in and I began organizing my things for the not-so-long journey to isolation housing. After talking with Student Health, an associate dean and the Department of Health, I was off to begin my 10-day stay.

I must note that I have remained in strong health throughout my quarantine with very minimal symptoms. I am doing well, and I know that makes me fortunate. I recognize the severity of the current situation at the University and nationwide and do not wish to offend or minimize the struggles of others.

With that being said — I was the first of my quarantine cohort to arrive at our new housing.

I quickly arrived at a rather dismal fear — I was about to spend the next

10 days with nine other male college students without any proper cleaning supplies. My fear quickly turned into a reality when within the first day, one of our two toilet seats had been vandalized by urine. After a thorough investigation, the case remained unsolved and we were forced to proceed without even a modest quantum of justice against the villain. Then came the case of the serial non-flusher.

Someone — likely one of nine male first-year University-student suspects — was unwilling to simply bend over and flush his waste away. If not the seat-urine culprit, this was a perpetrator copycat of sorts. Again, our investigation ran cold, and we thought there was no hope. But one afternoon — just as we were about to drop the inquiry — the culprit made a mistake.

He forgot to flush while another was in the bathroom. Arrest made, mystery solved. Punishment to be carried out after release from isolation.

Soon after arriving in isolation,

we discovered that the University had mistakenly not provided us with hand soap. And being male college first-year students, not one of us brought any.

This led to the inability to properly wash our hands. Clever as we are, we resorted to spraying COVID-19-killing solution onto our hands for all hygiene purposes, which provided us with a false sense of cleanliness. But in a late-night epiphany, one of my isolation brothers announced “We already had COVID-19, how much worse can it get?” Half of the suite began boycotting even using the COVID-19-killing solution. Thankfully, one of our more intellectually inclined peers in Courtenay was nice enough to drop off some of his surplus soap after hearing about the situation. We have three days left in quarantine and four slivers of soap bars for 10 of us – that should work.

Another problem arose when we realized that none of us liked Pepsi, let alone Diet Pepsi. However, the University was unaware of this and

continued to provide Pepsi to us with every single meal. Do the math — that is a lot of Pepsi in just a few days. As the conservationists that we are, we refused to throw out full cans of soda. What could we possibly do with them? We are really bored at this point, so we discussed the matter for hours and hours. Inspiration struck — soda pyramid. What better way to spend our days than demonstrating our support for the School of Architecture by crafting a Pepsi structure?

Our masterpiece was underwhelming at first, but as the days went on and the soda cans rolled in, it slowly grew to breathtaking heights and our boredom remained in check.

Another struggle with dorm cleanliness came when we realized that the members of our cabal who were inclined to stay up late and sleep in late were a lot less inclined to maintain cleanliness than their counterparts.

For an early riser like myself, this meant waking up in frat- house-like

CARTOON Mr. Midterm Boogey Monster Teresa Michael | Cartoonist

conditions every morning and being faced with the moral quandary of whether I should clean up or let those late night “gentlemen” sit in their filth as a punishment for their actions. The obvious problem was that I had nowhere else to go, and thus I was also stuck in their filth. I was beaten. Several days of pleading and discussion with other members of the suite confirmed that there was no end to their filth toleration and I would be forced to clean our common spaces if I had any hope of remaining sane.

Though I have a few days left in my stay I am optimistic about the possibility of further growth in our dorm maintenance and an enhanced ability to avoid any further issues. Oh wait, my suitemate just locked himself out of his suite because he was having a mustard fight -- I’m screwed.

MALACHY DWYER is a Humor columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at humor@cavalierdaily.com.

The Cavalier Daily

Thursday, March 11, 2021 | 15

PUZZLES WEEKLY CROSSWORD PUZZLE Aaron Rose | Puzzle Master

* THE SOLUTION TO THIS PUZZLE CAN BE FOUND IN THE NEXT ISSUE

Across

1. To hold in high regard, to respect.

5. A sound that is high-pitched, perhaps annoyingly so; can describe the sound made by old hinges as a door closes.

9. Following the rules of a game; also, the name of a South Carolina locale. (Two words) 10. Works, exerts.

11. A state of social isolation meant to stop the spread of diseases like COVID-19.

12. Video conference platform on which the majority of University classes have been conducted since March 2020.

13. A momentary rest; a break.

16. French oblong pastry filled with cream and covered in chocolate.

17. Common succulent with long green leaves found in arid regions of the Americas. (plural) 19. To remove money from a bank account.

21. Face covering used to curb the spread of COVID-19 through air particles.

22. Investment option that pools together money from multiple investors to invest in a diverse portfolio of stocks, bonds, etc.

(Two words) 25. A type of cloud that produces rain and/ or other forms of precipitation.

26. To clear out from an area of danger.

27. Exits; Goes out from a place.

28. Someone who emigrated from their home country to another for political reasons; borrowed from French.

Down

2. A snag or obstacle in a plan; was originally an acronym.

3. A mistake.

4. Blend or mixture; derived from French.

5. The outline of buildings and/or nature against the horizon.

6. To ease pain or discomfort.

7. To steal money entrusted to you. (past tense) 8. Small, pocket-size wind instrument commonly found in blues. jazz, and country music genres.

14. Something (like an image or word) carved into stone or wood.

15. Able to be rescinded or reversed.

18. South Asian savory pastries filled with meat, potatoes, vegetables, and/or cheese.

19. Wilts, dries up.

20. Cookie or small pastry paired with tea.

23. Chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden; also, director of NIAID. 24. White mineral form of potassium nitrate.

1

2

3

4

5

9

6

12

14

15

16

17

18

21

22

25

8

10

11

13

7

19

20

23

24

26

27

28

* SOLUTION FROM FEB. 25 ISSUE

A D O G I A V E R A E R I G A T R G U N L A C C O R D I R E R

S S Z B M A T E E T O T U M L R R C R P O U T W E A R S A C E M N O A A I N B O U N D G I N G T N E A A L P H L A U R E N E E U E C G O U L A S H E A R N S U S T A R O U G H E N N I C E N X A R E E D G I A N T P E R I L M E S D

16 | www.cavalierdaily.com

SPORTS

The Cavalier Daily

A journey through student-athlete injury recovery Beyond the physical impairments associated with injury, athletes often deal with the mental challenges of being sidelined Akhil Rekulapelli | Sports Editor

HEERAN KARIM | THE CAVALIER DAILY

In the spring of 2019, then-sophomore swimmer Paige Madden was all set to compete in the World University Games in July, having finished the season with an ACC Championship in the 800-meter freestyle relay, All-America honors across five events and a second place finish in the 500-meter freestyle at the NCAA Championship.

“It was two months out from the World University Games, which I had qualified for the year prior and so I was looking forward to that for a whole year,” Madden said. “It was in Italy, which is really exciting and a chance to compete internationally.”

Nonetheless, catastrophe struck as she fell down a set of stairs and woke up the next morning with sharp pain in her knee. Madden found herself unable to practice, let alone kick in the water.

“Based off of Google alone I kind of like knew what it was, but it wasn’t until I went with my trainer into the doctors [and] got an MRI … when they called me to confirm the diagnosis,” Madden said.

The diagnosis was a meniscal tear, which with rehabilitation can take up to three to six months to recover from according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons — potentially sidelining her from her trip to Naples. However, prior to her surgery, doctors informed Mad-

den of a second option — a meniscal debridement or meniscectomy — to remove the damaged tissue and shorten her recovery time to only six weeks.

Madden was also told that she wouldn’t know what surgery was performed — and if she’d have a chance to swim at the World University Games — until after the surgery.

“I was really anxious about the surgery and the outcome when I woke up,” Madden said. “So actually when I woke up that was my first question, I asked which procedure they did and luckily it was the [meniscectomy].”

However, when it comes to major injuries like a meniscal tear, it doesn’t just become a question of if they’re able to return to walking and swimming leisurely, but one of if they can return to a high level of competition. Stephen Brockmeier — one of Virginia Athletics’ three team orthopedic surgeons — understands this intricacy, having worked with Virginia student-athletes for over 10 years.

“The stakes are a little bit higher for a high level athlete, because their needs, their goals, their long-term outlook is certainly going to be kind of higher, frankly for some of these athletes than some of us weekend warriors,” Brockmeier said. “[While] it’s important to every patient, the injuries and the management of these injuries … from the standpoint of this being

their livelihood or their career or something they’re pursuing in that regard, [that] may not [always] be the case.

For Madden, being able to return to her ACC-winning form meant a six-week grueling rehabilitation process where she would spend upwards of two to three hours in treatment, forcing her to drop a summer volunteer commitment.

“It was pretty much eat, sleep, swim, rehab,” Madden said.

For the first week of rehab, Madden wasn’t able to get into the pool because the stitches in her knee could have become infected. Even once she started to swim again, she could only pull with her arms for a week, before starting to kick lightly. Guiding her through the process was one of U.Va. Sports Medicine’s athletic trainers, who provide consistent care for athletes involved in rehabilitation and injury prevention.

“Athletic trainers are able to stay involved in the athletes’ care by seeing them on a regular basis,” said Andrea Fortunati, assistant athletic trainer for swim and dive. “We work with the athletes during rehab and treatments to better prepare for training, and monitor their progress as they increase their volume and training time.”

Beyond swimming in the pool with restrictions, Madden also worked on balance training in order to restore strength in her

injured knee. A self-proclaimed poor balancer, Madden was often frustrated with that component of rehab and felt the process took not just a physical toll, but also a mental toll on her.

“I’m not very good at balancing to begin with and there’d be points where I’d just get really frustrated, and my trainer had to remind me ‘you have to stay positive, it’s not worth your energy to worry’ which is hard for me sometimes,” Madden said.

Beyond athletic trainers and the athletes themselves, there is a similar understanding among physicians that physical injury elicits both physical and mental challenges for student-athletes.

“The mental health component of [injury] is oftentimes every bit as significant as the physical component,” Brockmeier said. “When you look at an injury, it’s not a knee, it’s a person … and these are people who are very used to performing at a high level.”

Furthermore, particularly for high-achieving athletes like Madden who know what it feels like to be at the pinnacle of their sport, it can be tough to grapple with sitting on the sidelines and being unable to contribute to the team.

After devoting countless hours towards rehab for six weeks, Madden was given the allclear to rejoin her teammates and swim at full speed just two weeks prior to the World University Games. The abbreviated time at full speed didn’t slow Madden in the slightest, however, as she won a team gold as a part of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay squad and a silver in the 200-meter freestyle.

Despite the impediments the time away from swimming threw at Madden, she recognized the newfound perspective it gave her on the sport.

“I think we get caught up with ourselves a lot because practice is hard, it’s grueling physically and mentally, but when that gets taken away from you ... it allows you to take a step back and really appreciate what you’re missing,” Madden said.

Following the World University Games, Madden had a strong 2020 season. She notched five ACC titles — three individual and two relay — and ACC Swimmer of the Year honors, all while

battling chronic synovitis in her shoulder at points in the season.

Madden’s experiences with injury — the meniscus tear and aforementioned synovitis — helped her recognize the importance of understanding her limits.

“For me personally I kind of know if too much is too much … so I know if [my shoulder pain is] coming on, and I’ll go and talk to [my trainer] and get treatment for it,” Madden said. “It’s really just [about] knowing my limits.”

Throughout the 2021 season, managing chronic pain has been a fruitful endeavor for the now-senior, as Madden once again secured five gold medals at the ACC Championship and was named ACC Swimmer of the Year for a second straight year.

The Mobile, Ala. native now looks towards the NCAA Championship later this month, where she hopes to lead No. 2 Virginia women’s swim and dive to their first-ever national championship.

Further down the road are the U.S. Olympic Trials in mid-June, where Madden and fellow teammate sophomore Kate Douglass are strong candidates to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics this July.

While Madden’s successes — especially in the face of injury — may come as a surprise to the casual fan, it’s rather a reflection of the remarkable resilience Brockmeier witnesses on a daily basis while working with student-athletes.

“I never cease to be amazed by the level of character and the level of determination and really just the level of time commitment associated with our student athletes here at U.Va.,” Brockmeier said. “It’s really an amazing group of individuals.”

Madden and the Cavaliers kick off their pursuit for a national championship Wednesday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C. All events will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

Thursday, March 11, 2020 | 17

SPORTS

Men’s basketball preview: the ACC Tournament The Cavaliers enter as the tournament’s top seed and hope to capture Coach Tony Bennett’s third ACC crown Jude Nanaw and Joe von Storch | Senior Associates Coming off of a 68-58 win against Louisville, the No. 16 Virginia men’s basketball team secured the ACC regular season title. Clinching the championship as well as the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament was made possible following Florida State’s loss to Notre Dame.

The Cavaliers (17-6, 13-4 ACC) will have under 24 hours to prepare for their first game in the contest which will be Thursday against Syracuse, as the Orange (15-8, 9-7 ACC) defeated NC State Wednesday 89-68.

With the expectation that the tournament will be wide open this time around, there are a number of factors that will be crucial in the team’s pathways to the title.

Virginia’s keys to success Control the tempo It was evident in the Cavaliers’ late-February rough patch that being forced to play at a faster pace cost them a number of those games. Historically, Virginia has been known for playing at one of the slowest paces in the country. This factor was key in allowing the team to be dominant leading up to their 2019 NCAA Championship victory.

However, against Florida State, a game in which the Cavaliers lost 81-60, falling behind early led to Virginia having to speed things up on the offensive side. The Seminoles led 45-25 at halftime and, although the Cavaliers closed the gap at a point in the second frame, they were ultimately unable to dig themselves out of the deep hole.

“Those are two very good teams — Florida State and Virginia Tech,” Coach Tony Bennett said. “Florida State took it to us, and when we went to Virginia Tech, the last eight minutes they really pulled away.”

In the ACC Tournament, Virginia must set the tempo from the get-go and play from ahead in order to have success. The Cavaliers proved to perform at their peak in a number of their early February games against Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech and North Carolina.

Throughout each of those matchups, Virginia established the speed of play and ran their mover-blocker offense to methodically pick apart the opposition. A steady flow of buckets on offense allows the Cavaliers to set up the pack line defense on the other end of the floor.

Contain dominant opposing scorers Having played 17 conference games this season, Virginia will certainly have a lot of tape available to look over in preparation for the tournament. In games in which the Cavaliers have fallen short, it has typically

been due to one opposing player being incredibly dominant.

Against Virginia Tech on Jan. 30, that player was junior forward Keve Aluma who posted a 29 point and 10 rebound double-double that paved the way for a 65-51 Hokie win. Similarly against Duke on Feb. 20, it was sophomore forward Matthew Hurt’s 22 points that allowed the Blue Devils to steal a one-point win in Durham, N.C. Heading into their first game of the contest this Thursday, Virginia is slated to take on either No. 8 seed Syracuse or No. 9 seed NC State.

While the Cavaliers knocked off the Orange in convincing fashion, 81-58 on Jan. 25, it will be worth keeping an eye on sophomore forward Quincy Guerrier if the two teams meet again.

“We just would love a chance to get to that championship day, but there’s so many more things to worry about,” Bennett said. “We need to be prepared and ready for Syracuse or NC State.”

Likewise, if Virginia is to face the Wolfpack, freshman guard Cam Hayes and senior forward D.J. Funderburk will be among the players to lock down.

Feed senior forward Sam Hauser As the Cavaliers closed out the regular season March 6 against Louisville, Hauser was lethal throughout the game. In 30 minutes of play, the Marquette transfer shot an impressive nine-of-14 from the floor and was perfect from the free-throw line. The stellar showing totaled 24 points and eight rebounds while leading Virginia to a win.

“It was just one of those games where you get a couple to go and the basket kind of opens up and begins to look bigger,” Hauser said. “I think I got a couple good, easy ones early and that sprung me forward for the rest of the game and I hit some big ones.”

This season, Hauser has led Virginia in points per game with 15.8 and has connected on the most three-pointers on the team at 59.

Hauser is additionally second on the team in rebounding, averaging 6.8 boards per game.

Looking ahead, it will be absolutely critical for the Cavaliers to feed Hauser in order to fulfill their scoring needs. Hauser has shown the ability to make incredibly difficult shots falling away from the basket as well as being able to catch fire and go on hot streaks.

Possible paths to a title for Virginia Quarterfinals — Syracuse After claiming the top seed in the tournament, Virginia will prepare for

EMMA KLEIN | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Virginia looks to sweep both the ACC Tournament and regular season titles in the coming weeks.

a midday tilt against eighth-seeded Syracuse.

Virginia lit up the Orange back in late-January to the tune of an 8158 blowout victory. Syracuse’s infamous 2-3 zone defense was no match for the Cavaliers’ sharpshooters, including Hauser and junior guard Trey Murphy. Hauser drilled seven three-pointers, making up for half of the total three-pointers the team made that night.

The good news for Cavalier fans following Syracuse’s drubbing of NC State is that the Orange likely present a more favorable matchup for Virginia. The Cavaliers are undoubtedly capable of going cold from long-range, but Syracuse’s defensive style has always been susceptible to teams that can shoot from long range, one of Virginia’s offensive strengths.

Semifinals — Georgia Tech or Clemson If the Cavaliers can take care of business in the quarterfinals, they are likely to face either fourth-seeded Georgia Tech or fifth-seeded Clemson. The Yellow Jackets (158, 11-6 ACC) and the Tigers (16-6, 10-6 ACC) split their regular season matchups with each other, and both squads have been hot recently, winning a combined 12 of their last 13 games.

Virginia demolished Clemson 85-50 in mid-January, but the Tigers appeared to be in an uncharacteristic lull at the time, losing three straight contests by a combined 72 points.

Since then, Clemson has righted the ship and seems to be much closer to

the team that reached as high as No. 12 in the AP Poll in January.

The Cavaliers swept the season series with Georgia Tech, pulling out close victories in each game. Headed

by Moses Wright — senior forward and ACC Player of the Year — the Yellow Jackets presented a tough challenge for Virginia, allowing just over 60 points per game in their two matchups.

Taking down Georgia Tech for the third time in as many tries or a Tiger team rounding into form would not be easy for Virginia, but as the top seed, it certainly is fortunate to avoid drawing other ACC rivals such as No. 22 Virginia Tech, Louisville or North Carolina on its side of the bracket.

Finals — Florida State or Virginia Tech The most-likely ACC Tournament finals scenario would pit No. 15 Florida State against the Cavaliers.

It is also possible that Virginia could meet up against in-state rival No. 22 Virginia Tech. As should be the case in a conference finals matchup, either team would present a formidable challenge, as the Cavaliers lost their lone contests against each by a combined 35 points.

The Seminoles (15-5, 11-4 ACC) likely feel they blew an opportunity at claiming the tournament’s top seed by losing to an ACC bottom-dweller in Notre Dame on the regular season’s final day of competition. Florida State has had solid outings against Virginia in recent years, handing the 2019 National Championship team its only non-Duke loss of the season

in the ACC Tournament. This season was no different, as the Seminoles blew the doors off the Cavaliers in a 81-60 rout.

As is often the case under Coach Lenoard Hamilton, Florida State utilizes impressive depth — evidenced by their nine players who average at least 15 minutes per game. Virginia likely has a better performance in store than the one displayed Feb. 15, but it will have its hands full, and do not be surprised if the Seminoles head into this potential matchup as the odds-on favorite.

Since joining the ACC in 2004, the Hokies (15-5, 9-4 ACC) and Cavaliers have only faced off once in the ACC Tournament and never in the finals. A matchup between the two rivals in the finals would undoubtedly make for great television, and Virginia would hope to avenge their late-game collapse earlier in the season against Virginia Tech.

The Cavaliers are set to begin their ACC Tournament run Thursday at 12 p.m. against Syracuse in Greensboro, N.C.. The game will be televised on either ESPN or ESPN2.

18 | www.cavalierdaily.com

HEALTH & SCIENCE

The Cavalier Daily

Virginia streamlines equitable vaccine distribution Roadblocks compelled the state to redesign registration protocol and increase distribution to underserved populations Brigette Meyer | Staff Writer COVID-19 vaccination in the state of Virginia has proven to be a logistical and organizational challenge, but officials on the forefront are leading initiatives to streamline the process and construct solutions.

The roadblocks have included inefficient online registration, difficulties distributing vaccines to geographically isolated locations, and issues with equitable distribution and inadequate vaccine supply.

The release of the PrepMod pre-registration system, the integration of local pharmacies into the grid of vaccination sites and legislation dedicated to increasing infrastructure and vaccine access through data mobilization are being put into effect and modified to help avoid scenarios resulting in inequitable vaccine distribution.

With regard to the new pre-registration system which was introduced to simplify the process, Gov. Ralph Northam notes efforts to increase efficiency and accessibility by utilizing technology.

“Virginia is delivering,” Northam said. “[On Feb. 16], we launched the website and preregistration tool. The response has been very strong.”

Currently, the site averages 150 pre-registrations per minute, totaling 240,000 registrations since its launch.

The new system also integrates a call center focused on pre-registering individuals over the age of 75 as well as those who speak Spanish.

The call center also offers call-back services for over 100 other languages.

Yet the preregistration system has not been without problems.

Since the system is replacing local health departments’ former databases, the transfer of pre-registration data has been slow and individuals are still waiting to see their data transferred to the new database.

Dr. Danny Avula, director of the Richmond City and Henrico County health departments, recommends that individuals continually check the website to see if their information is added but also potentially re-register, as any duplicate data will be deleted.

Additionally, PrepMod generates appointment sign-up links which can be shared with other individuals who may not be eligible yet to receive the vaccine. This led to the issue here in Charlottesville — as well as in three to four other districts, by Avula’s estimate

MARTHA WILDING | THE CAVALIER DAILY

— where a larger-than-expected number of individuals, many who signed up via shared links, showed up at designated vaccine sites.

However, only 1,500 vaccinations were allotted to be administered at a BRHD Kmart clinic held on Feb. 17, so several eligible individuals were turned away as a result. Those turned away did not meet the qualifications of either being over 65, an essential healthcare worker, or over 16 with a preexisting condition listed on the Virginia Health Department website.

To prevent future issues like this one, the BRHD held an After Action Review of the clinic to “avoid repeating [these] mistakes,” according to a statement released on Feb. 17.

BRHD also appealed to Northam to fix the link-sharing issue. For the time being, both Northam and Avula are appealing to individuals to simply not share the links in attempts to avoid further inequitable vaccine distribution.

“Otherwise, if you sign up off a shared link that was not intended for you, you should expect to have your appointment canceled and be turned away,” Avula said. Clinics are steadily implementing ID checks to ensure the correct person shows up to each appointment, and

those not meeting group 1a and 1b qualifications are turned away.

Another substantial challenge to the vaccination effort in Virginia has been the geographic distribution of vaccine sites. In order to combat the challenges of vaccinating in remote areas of Virginia, such as the Tidewater region, the Virginia Department of Health is partnering with pharmacies such as CVS, Walgreens, Harris Teeter, Kroger and Walmart, among others.

Avula hopes these partnerships will expand access in more remote areas.

“In those selections, [we tried] to prioritize geographic spread, making sure that was access in parts of the state … which is why there was a big focus on Walmart in particular, and then the independent pharmacy network of places like Southwest Virginia,” Avula said.

As well as prioritizing access for geographically separated parts of the state, the Virginia Department of Health has been prioritizing overall equity in vaccine distribution. Janice Underwood — chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer for the Commonwealth — notes that “certain communities have had to carry the burden of COVID-19 more than others.”

In Virginia, the communities being referenced include Black,

Latinx and Indigenous populations, who have a statistically higher chance of contracting the virus due to certain socioeconomic factors.

In order to ensure these communities have access to the vaccine as quickly as possible, Underwood emphasizes a data-driven approach to the distribution of the vaccine.

As of now, the rate of marginalized communities receiving vaccines in Virginia are approximately 7.3 percent for Black citizens and 6.3 percent for Latinx citizens, compared to 12.4 percent White individuals who have received vaccines.

“The health equity working group … is looking at data and using a data-driven approach to discover who is most vulnerable to COVID-19 and create an equity methodology to determine where our vaccination sites should be,” Underwood said.

Part of this data comes directly from vaccination sites, where new legislation in the state of Virginia signed by Northam on Feb. 17 dictates that demographic information must be collected on the vaccine recipient.

This same piece of legislation also includes a provision allowing healthcare workers previously unlicensed to administer vaccines, such as dentists and medical students, to volunteer to administer the vaccine

at various sites.

Allowing for more medical professionals to vaccinate primes Virginia for an influx in vaccine doses, which Northam is pushing heavily for. In concert with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Northam has pushed President Joe Biden to increase the weekly allocation of doses to states. So far, Virginia is only obtaining one-third the weekly allocation it needs to achieve the goal of herd immunity in accordance with the Biden administration’s goal of fully vaccinating all Americans by July. Virginia ranks 10th out of 50 states on its vaccine distribution rates as of Wednesday.

Eric Swensen, public information officer at U.Va. Health, agrees with Avula and Northam on the major issue being of supply.

“The major challenge — which is a challenge faced nationally — is a need for a greater supply of vaccine doses,” Swensen said.

Northam is optimistic, however, given the recent FDA authorization of the single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine and the premonition that AstraZeneca’s will be approved soon. He continually emphasizes that Virginia’s infrastructure is ready for an influx of doses.

There is no distinct timeline yet as to when the general public, which will include many University students who fail to meet earlier vaccine qualifications, might receive doses. Due to high demand and low supply, groups 1a and 1b — the latter which includes people over the age of 65, individuals over the age of 16 with preexisting conditions and frontline essential workers — are the only ones eligible at the moment. Group 1c is up next, which includes other essential workers. Explicit timelines for the vaccination of each group as well as group designations past group 1c have yet to be set on the VDH website.

There have not been updates on any other groups yet.

In the meantime, though, as Virginia waits to achieve herd immunity, Northam continues to emphasize the guidelines which have been in place since the beginning of the pandemic.

“People need to continue to follow these measures of wearing their masks, of social distancing and keeping their hands washed and that is when we can finally put this pandemic in the rear-view mirror,” Northam said.

Thursday, March 11, 2021 | 19

HEALTH & SCIENCE

COVID-19 antibody cocktail gives short-term immunity Clinical trials indicate that antibody cocktail may give immunity against household transmission Brightney Varghese | Senior Writer U.Va. Health is participating in phase three of a clinical trial for a COVID-19 antibody cocktail to stop transmission of the novel coronavirus in households where one individual has tested positive. The drug is administered to household contacts of a COVID-19 patient who have been exposed within a four-day period. It has shown promising results of immunity against symptomatic infections.

U.Va. Health is one of 150 sites in phase 3 of clinical trials for the drug created by Regeneron, a biotechnology company. The cocktail, which includes two different monoclonal antibodies for the spike glycoprotein of COVID-19, can be delivered as a self-administered injection.

When a patient is infected with COVID-19, the virus invades the body and multiplies copies of itself. The body’s immune system responds to the foreign material with white blood cells, which produce antibodies that react to the foreign material if the virus enters the body again. Monoclonal antibodies are copies of the antibodies that are made in a laboratory setting and target specific foreign substances.

William Petri, professor of Internal Medicine and Pathology and leader of the clinical trials at U.Va. Health, said that the spike glycoprotein, found on the outer surface of the COVID-19 virus, is essential for attachment of the virus to human host cells.

“The spike glycoprotein is the Achilles heel of the virus because [the COVID-19 virus] needs that spike glycoprotein in order to attach to the human receptor,” Petri said. “ If you can have an antibody that binds to a spike glycoprotein, it can totally prevent the ability of the virus to get inside of a cell, and in fact, that’s a real advantage of the approach.”

The addition of two different types of antibodies against the spike glycoprotein of the coronavirus decreases the chance of the virus evading the body’s acquired immunity. Additionally, it ensures a level of protection against variants, including the U.K. variant, which arrived in the University community in February.

It was important for U.Va. Health to join Regeneron’s scientifically driven approach to analyze the potential role of the antibodies, according to Petri.

Rebecca Carpenter, fourth-year Medical student and sub-investigator for the study, worked on the project after the pandemic altered her medical school plans, allowing her to continue researching in

Petri’s lab during this demanding time.

“I missed interacting with people in the clinical environment and looked forward to getting to do that again,” Carpenter said. “I particularly looked forward to getting to interact with people who are fearful and get to encourage and care for them in the midst of a lot of uncertainty.”

Physicians from the study reached out to household contacts of COVID-19 patients who had been exposed for a period of four days or less and had not received a previous positive COVID-19 test result.

“This study was set up that way because [researchers are] trying to prevent [transmission of] COVID-19,” Petri said. “The longer that you’re exposed, then, the less ... opportunity [there’s] to prevent the infection.”

Carpenter was responsible for enrollment of patients for the trial, physical exams and documentation efforts under the supervision of a study physician.

“I swabbed patients for COVID-19 [and] I was frequently told that I was the favorite swabber, which I got a kick out of because I never thought that would be a skill I would perfect,” Carpenter said. “I also helped with study documentation, monitoring after drug administration including vitals and study follow-ups in conjunction with the clinical research coordinator.”

Carpenter described that during a patient’s initial visit to the clinic they took a rapid PCR COVID-19 test, had their blood drawn and received a physical exam. The drug choice was randomly assigned to a patient and then administered.

Afterward, the patient would stay in the clinic for an hour so that physicians could monitor their vital signs in case an adverse reaction occurred.

Following the visit, patients received a weekly COVID-19 test during the first month and were monitored for any adverse effects.

After that period, Igor Shumilin, clinical research coordinator for the study, said that further testing only occurred if a patient experienced COVID-19 symptoms during their 7 months with the study.

Although Regeneron has not filed an emergency-use application to the Food and Drug Administration yet, Petri notes that preliminary data for the study’s first 400 patients indicate promising results.

Twenty-four of the study’s 3,500 patients were enrolled at U.Va. Health.

Results indicated that the antibody cocktail is 100 percent effec-

SHELBY LAWTON | THE CAVALIER DAILY

tive in prevention against symptomatic COVID-19 cases, and 50 percent effective at preventing infection overall when factoring in asymptomatic cases. If a patient develops COVID-19 following the cocktail treatment, they are likely to have an asymptomatic case and be infected with lower amounts of the virus.

Petri indicated numerous benefits of the antibody cocktail including self-administration that would be similar to how diabetes patients use insulin. Fundamentally, he notes that this is the first drug for COVID-19 that enables individuals to care for their loved ones who are infected with the virus without putting themselves at adverse risk.

Furthermore, it is an effective treatment given the variability in cases as individuals get vaccinated and new variants emerge.

“It’s like a stopgap until everybody is vaccinated,” Petri said. “In part, it’s something that will always be useful because there are always going to be situations where the vaccine’s not 100 percent effective or there’s a new variant.”

Unlike the COVID-19 vaccine, the antibody cocktail only provides

temporary, artificial immunity while the body begins to naturally form antibodies. Petri notes the half-life of the antibodies from the drug is approximately two weeks and serves as a way to jump-start the immune system.

“The antibodies are not long-lasting and so this is going to provide protection only for that period of time in which like your roommate or your spouse is infectious,” Petri said. “That’s an important difference from a vaccine, which we’re hoping [provides] very long-lived protection.”

Petri notes a challenge of the trial was conducting the clinical study in a safe manner that did not put other U.Va. Health patients at risk as COVID-19-exposed participants visited the clinic. He mentioned the key collaboration with Debbie Shirley, division head of Pediatric Infectious Disease and leader of the COVID-19 clinic, to reduce potential exposure to other hospital patients.

Patients adhered to precautions by wearing masks while the clinic’s staff used personal protective equipment to ensure safety. Additionally, Petri mentioned that pa-

tients could easily access the clinic outdoors, and thus did not have to enter the hospital, further decreasing the risk of exposure to others.

Petri indicates that the team has been following up with patients since mid-August and will continue to screen them every four to five months, to ensure the safety of participants. As of now, the cocktail has been tolerated well, and researchers have only seen reactions at the injection site.

Carpenter notes that the next steps for the trial will include determining where resources should be allocated. She is thrilled about the prospect of distributing the drug to places facing extreme isolation such as nursing homes and retirement communities.

“I think the next step is identifying which communities and situations would most benefit from this cocktail to prevent COVID-19 infections and subsequent morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 and also allow maximum return to normalcy in our communities,” Carpenter said.

20 | www.cavalierdaily.com

ADVERTISEMENT

UC050-2021_CavDaily_Print | .125” bleeds | 10” W x 12” H, Line Screen: 150 | CMYK | 1 of 4

Do the right thing for your friends, your family, and your community.

ME G A N W I L S O N FOURTH YEAR

FOR ALL OF US