@cwuobserver, cwuobserver.com
Vol. 117 NO. 3 September 29 - October 6, 2020
Students quarantined after testing positive for COVID-19, CWU confirms Bailey Tomlinson News Editor Sixteen students were confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19 by an email sent to the campus community by President James L. Gaudino on Sept. 24. According to the email, most of the students are living and isolating off-campus and “appear to be weathering the effects of the virus well.” The email confirms that the healthcare capacity of Kittitas County has not been strained by these positive cases. Information was not provided on how long after the school year began students began to test positively, if the 16 cases were associated or isolated incidents, or whether the university has a threshold at which it will switch to entirely remote learning.
“The tracing reports underscore the vital importance of maintaining physical distance from one another,” the email reads. “Our experiences and those at colleges and universities across the country show that social gatherings, often off-campus, pose the most significant risk of widespread infection.” This is the first public report CWU has made regarding any number of students testing positive. Sept. 24 marked the 10th day of instruction for fall quarter. “After consulting with academic leaders, health professionals, and campus leadership, it is clear that the virus is likely to pose a significant health risk through the academic year,” the email reads. Along with the positive case number, the email outlined a tentative plan to continue emphasizing hybrid class modes,
university employees working from home if they are able and prioritizing health and safety protocols through both winter and spring quarter 2021. “The uncertainty will remain for a while longer because we do not yet have answers to vital questions such as the availability of federal aid, the impact of flu season, our willingness to continue social distancing, and the availability of an effective vaccine,” the email reads. “There is one certainty – that we will persevere. ... We can and will overcome these and future challenges by working collectively and by having confidence in the strength we possess as a community.” The email included a reminder to avoid gathering in groups and to practice health and safety measures, such as wearing face coverings, maintaining social distance and washing hands frequently.
moved there after a planned remodeling. “We’re planning to turn that building into a multicultural center, just a sneak peak,” Espino said. He hopes that they can move APOYO back to that building as a permanent place instead of the temporary situation. The main point of the move to the New York Teriyaki building would be for APOYO to have time to figure out a permanent residence.
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Ty McPhee Staff Reporter
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Casey Rothgeb/The Observer
The APOYO food bank is still looking for a new permanent location on campus. ASCWU Director of Governmental Affairs Edgar Espino said his position was to get more of ASCWU involved in the matter and that he had proposed the idea of moving APOYO from temporarily being housed in the New York Teriyaki building to permanently being housed in Old Heat. “It just doesn’t sit right with me, the fact that they want to evict a food bank off a university during a pandemic,” Espinio said. Old Heat was APOYO’s previous building before its current lot. It would be
Jayce Kadoun Staff Reporter Despite the majority of classes being held remotely this quarter, many of the on-campus amenities remain accessible to students both in physical and online form. The Recreation Center in the SURC, Dining Services around campus and an array of activities and opportunities through Student Involvement continue to be available for students. University Recreation Director Matthew Boyer said the Recreation Center has opened most of its services this quarter, though it feels much different now than it did in the past. “The biggest changes, aside from spacing all equipment out, are that we require facial coverings at all times while in our facilities and that each person is receiving a cleaning bottle and towel when they enter,” Boyer said. According to Boyer, the climbing wall is open for bouldering, and personal training is accepting clients. Intramural sports are offering small scale tournaments, esports and virtual events. Sports clubs are having practices and meetings and Outdoor Pursuits and Rentals is renting equipment for students to create their own adventure. Boyer said the Recreation Center has decreased their hours slightly in the evenings to allow for the staff to do a thorough cleaning. Over the weekends, they are closing earlier as well to perform the same cleaning procedures and are open nine hours fewer per week than last year. Dining Services Director Dean Massucio said main dining operations at Central Marketplace,Cat Trax East and West, Holmes Dining Room, Panda Express, Northside Cafe and Market and Jimmy B’s in the library remain open. “These first couple weeks have been a kind of trial and the next couple of weeks we’ll continue to be monitoring just how active those locations are, so they are all contingent or subject to change I guess I would say,” Massucio said. Massucio said Dining Services has introduced mobile ordering to campus
CWU and APOYO still in talks to move to new location on campus Allied People Offering Year-round Outreach (APOYO) is still waiting to hear from CWU on its potential relocation to the New York Teriyaki building after its lease with CWU was not renewed. APOYO is a no-paperwork, no questions asked food bank offering support to those in the Ellensburg area. CWU recently did not renew its lease on the building APOYO is currently housed in. Prior to the pandemic, APOYO distributed clothes along with food to those in need of it. Since then, it has only been distributing food, most of which comes from Northwest Harvest, a Washington state hunger relief agency. When talking about APOYO moving to the New York Teriyaki building, Patricia Garrison, secretary and treasurer of APOYO, said it would be a much larger space and a nice change for the food bank. Currently, the distribution center is located in a small house right next to CWU’s Challenge Course. The New York Teriyaki building located on East University Way is the current proposed temporary location that CWU is planning to move APOYO to.
What’s open on campus?
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Clubs looking for new members
Online mental health training
Local team on chopping block