Daily Forty-Niner, October 5, 2020 by Beach Media

weekly digital print edition

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Vol. LXXII, Issue 7

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Monday, October 5, 2020

CORONAVIRUS ROUNDS HOME

Inside the

Niner

PAGE 2

ARTS & LIFE

SPORTS

Farmers Market flashbacks

Using Zoom for more than just class

page 4

page 13

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | EIC@DAILY49ER.COM

ON THE COVER The recent outbreak of coronavirus on campus has been linked by multiple anonymous housing students to individuals on the Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball team.

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Blair Field remains closed for the foreseeable future as Long Beach State athletics remain at a standstill.

Dirtbags players source of COVID-19 outbreak

Sports Editor Jacob Powers sports@daily49er.com Design Editor Alejandro Vazquez design@daily49er.com Advertising Manager Carter Magee advertising@daily49er.com Business Manager Hannah Getahun business@daily49er.com Special Projects Editor Peter Villafane Photo Editor Andrea Ramos Video Editor Pablo Unzueta Social Media Editor Jocelyn Torralba Podcast Editor Cameron Johnston Multimedia Assistant Luke Pajari

Sources confirmed Saturday that members of the Dirtbags baseball team are the source of the coronavirus outbreak that led to a two-week quarantine period for all on-campus residents.

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By Jacob Powers, Julia Terbeche & Madalyn Amato Staff Writers

ccording to students who wished to remain anonymous, individuals on the Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball team are believed to be the source of the on-campus coronavirus outbreak, potentially causing 11 residential students to test positive. There are another 12 students off campus who have also tested positive, bringing the total number of CSULB students who have COVID-19 as a result of the outbreak to 23, according to associate vice president of strategic communications Jeff Cook. Haylie Prochnow, a first-year theatre arts major, said she believes that it is possible she may have contracted COVID-19 in passing in the residence halls, although she is unsure of the source of her infection. “It’s been kind of like hearsay among people on campus,” Prochnow said. “I had heard that they had thrown a party, I think, just among themselves.” In relation to the outbreak originating from the Dirtbags players, Prochnow maintained that what she has heard has only been a rumor in the residence halls. Other housing students, who wished to remain anonymous, have said they are also aware of this rumor. Joaquin Alonzo, a third-year computer science major said that he has seen a few players practicing at the park next to Parkside college when he has left to go to the store. “Because they were practicing, I didn’t notice if they were abiding by the rules,” Alonzo said in reference to whether or not the Dirt-

bags players were social distancing or wearing masks. Alonzo said he wasn’t surprised by the outbreak on campus. “Though, before quarantine, I have seen people go out at night so I figured soon someone would test positive,” Alonzo said. “I have been quarantined before at Hillside because of a fever, but fortunately I tested negative and still tested negative during this quarantine.” Per sources close to the Daily Forty-Niner, the Dirtbags players traveled to San Diego State University to attend a party with other students. As of Oct. 2, SDSU has reported a total of 1,119 COVID-19 cases on its campus. It is believed that the Dirtbags players are the on-campus residents whose positive test results prompted the quarantine that was put into place last Saturday. Prochnow said her first COVID-19 test came back positive and, although her second test came back negative, she remains quarantined in Hillside College. Since testing negative, Prochnow said she has not been given any new information from Housing and Residential Life since an email was sent out notifying her of her required relocation to Hillside College from Parkside College on Wednesday. “It was just kind of interesting that although I didn’t really exhibit any symptoms, It definitely wasn’t cool to have. Prochnow said. “And like I know a lot of the common symptoms are like, fever, shortness of breath or something like that, and I had to walk carrying all the stuff to the dorms.”

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For more coronavirus coverage, refer to pages 8 and 9.

ARTS & LIFE 3 Illustartion by PARIS BARRAZA

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | ARTS@DAILY49ER.COM

Filmmakers of tomorrow At the virtual conference Women Make Film, a panel of four filmmakers prompt a look at how faculty and students in the Department of Film and Electronic Arts are in pursuit of representing women in the industry. By Rajvinder Singh Staff Writer

hen an email was sent to Long Beach State students in the Department of Film and Electronic Arts about an opportunity to sit in a discussion with four distinguished female directors via Zoom, it was a reminder that both faculty and students are examining how to better support women in the industry. And those lessons start in the classrooms. Sarah Len, film and electronic arts community engagement specialist, sent the email in September about the conference Women Make Film, featuring directors Amy Seimetz, Lulu Wang, Cheryl Dunye and Debra Granik. There, the directors deconstructed inclusivity for female students in cinema and cinema in general. During their schooling, the panel of filmmakers said that they were surprised by the amount of riveting films by women and women of color that existed. “There was stuff out there,” Dunye said. “You had to find it.” Fourth-year English literature major and film minor Noelle Awaida said film professors at CSULB are doing an adequate job, but there aren’t enough lessons dedicated to more overlooked filmmakers, including women and women of color. The most inclusive film class Awaida had sat in was Film and Culture. “Women and BI-POC are sometimes a topic we move on from quickly in classes,” Awaida said. “When classes reference popular filmmakers, whether that be through a historical context or current mainstream creators, they’re mostly white men. Of course this does depend on the professor and I think some do recognize this issue.” Awaida wants to work in screenwriting or script supervising but dreams of working as a diversity consultant in cinema. She said that as a Middle Eastern and Latina woman, she understands the skewed

perceptions of who can be a success, prompting her need to change the narratives within the media. Katie McNamara, a fourth-year string bass performance and creative nonfiction writing major, said some professors are more progressive than others. She finds that today’s fiction-oriented film professors are a reflection of the curriculum they were brought up with. “The ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ [film] ending is amazing, sure,” McNamara said. “But the amount of times I’ve had to watch that one scene, I could be learning about so many different people who did astounding, groundbreaking things in the industry who aren’t male.” The film history course, McNamara said, was the most diverse class she was in. But since moving onto major-specific classes, she credits documentary courses as more diverse in terms of perspective, directors and voices. Helen Hood Scheer, assistant professor in the Department of Film and Electronic Arts, is an award-winning filmmaker behind documentaries like “JUMP!” and shorts like “The Apothecary.” Scheer is also one of the key figures behind the next generation of documentary filmmakers at CSULB. “Helen is so proactive about us getting out there,” McNamara said. “She engages in discourse about what’s happening right now in documentary, what’s changing, what needs to be changing.” Instead of attending class, Scheer recently allowed McNamara’s class to attend a virtual convention called Getting Real ‘20 that focused on different jobs and identities in documentary filmmaking. McNamara said Scheer shares information about various events and screenings with her students often. Scheer feels it is necessary to expose her students to skills from directing, recording sound, producing and more in order to build people up for an unforgiving industry. “I make sure that I train all the students to wear every hat,” Scheer said. Scheer’s insecurities with documentary filmmaking stem from being a perfectionist rather than a lack of role models in the documentary field.

“I think the problem is not so much the curriculum, the problem is what happens after our curriculum,” Scheer said. “The problem is the barriers to access in the professional world. In order to get jobs, you often need to know people and have past credit from other jobs. If you’re not getting hired, then it’s hard to grow and get promoted within the industry.” Scheer added that the curriculum at CSULB can improve and it’s something that new hires and existing faculty are working toward. Len is bringing the conversation of inclusivity to students and faculty through informative email forwards and publicity and works closely with the department chair and director, Anne D’Zmura, to keep the conversation alive. “We really strive to listen to our students,” Len said. “Opening our ears to them because ultimately, that’s how we’re going to learn to be able to create a more inclusive environment and safe environment that’s productive to their learning.” D’Zmura was unavailable to comment. Spring 2019 graduate and filmmaker Janine Anne Uyanga, who uses they/them pronouns, directed the short “Justice Delayed” in 2019, the story of a Black man’s short-lived relationship with his younger brother. The film tied for the Best Narrative award at the 2019 California State University Media Arts Festival. “Really focusing on stories and the message you want to demonstrate is definitely something I lead with,” Uyanga said. In solidarity with Scholar Strike last month, CSULB created an anti-racism resources page that includes Uyanga’s film. Uyanga believes that they’re a product of their self-determination instilled in them by CSULB’s creative fiction-writing track. Uyanga didn’t let the lack of their representation in the film curriculum skew their perception of success. “I was cognizant of the lack of diversity within the teachings that we were learning,” Uyanga said. “I knew that learning these things was the foundation for me to at least take that knowledge and then I can be the one to change that.”

4 ARTS & LIFE

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | ARTS@DAILY49ER.COM

Farmers Market vendors: Where are they now? Crystal Pure Honey, The Tamale Fiesta and Brothers Products are all vendors that used to sell at Associated Students, Inc.’s weekly market. Now, they all face the challenge of staying in business during a pandemic. By Paris Barraza Arts & Life Editor

he vendors that once served the Long Beach State community a snack before class at Associated Students, Inc.’s Farmers Market are now struggling to stay in business during the pandemic, which caused widespread farmers market closures across Southern California. ASI’s Farmers Market, held at Friendship Walk, was an anticipated monthly event, featuring vendors that sold a wide array of goods, from pupusas to fresh produce. Now, ASI’s events like the farmers market have been canceled. But for repeat vendors like Crystal Pure Honey, Brothers Products and The Tamale Fiesta, it has been just another challenge in the past seven months. Crystal Aguilar met her beekeeping husband seven years ago. Now, they own Crystal Pure Honey, a business that is reliant on farmers markets and festivals like the Los Angeles County Fair to sell their products. In March, all of that changed. “It’s sad that we don’t get to connect to our customers,” Aguilar said. “When you go out to sell in the farmers markets you go in and meet people. Every week you meet someone new. It’s a bond you have with the customers. Even with the ones we have open right now with the markets, you can’t get too close.” Every year, Aguilar’s bee farms produce 100 600-pound barrels of honey. Without customers to sell their individual jars of honey to, Crystal Pure Honey had to sell by the barrel to larger businesses. It was difficult to find a business in need of all of that honey, and selling wholesale cut into Crystal Pure Honey’s profits. Like Crystal Pure Honey, the majority of The Tamale Fiesta’s business came from farmers markets. Without them, owner Nancy Herring lost the majority of her income, forcing her family to live off of their savings. Herring tried to do online sales and deliveries, but it became clear that the cost of gas was higher than the sale of the order. Now, The Tamale Fiesta switched to street vending, but it was not a perfect solution. Herring had to lower the prices of their menu as well as well as reduce her employee’s wages. Still, it was a better alternative than leaving them without employment. “We’re trying to help them out and at the same time, even if sometimes it doesn’t leave us profit, as long as it’s able to pay for the expenses, that’s really what matters,” Herring said. The most difficult challenge for Herring’s family was not the changes in their business, but the struggle of working while her two young children are at home practicing distanced learning. “I’m out in the street working and so I have to call my mom and she’s like, ‘Well, how do you turn this on and what button do I press,’ and so it’s been difficult sometimes,” Herring said. “I’ve noticed that I have to skip work in order to stay at home to make sure that things run smoothly with the kids in the school.”

Kristina Aguilar, Crystal’s mother (top), offers free sample of honey, March 4, 2020. Containers of hummus sit in an ice bath (left) from Brothers Products, a business that used to attend farmers markets Tuesdays through Sundays before the pandemic. PARIS BARRAZA Daily Forty-Niner

Ayman Ammar also has a family he works for. He and five of his brothers own and run Brothers Products, which sells homemade hummus and spreads. Ammar explained how for now, all he could do was to keep pushing through for the sake of him and his brothers’ families. “We lost so much business,” Ammar said.

“Thank god [my family is] safe, that’s our main concern right now.” Brothers Products began to do deliveries to help mitigate the loss of revenue and reached out to grocery stores so that they could continue selling their products. But the closure of farmers markets was not the only loss Brothers Products experienced. Their own storefront in Garden

Grove closed after one month of being open, which had been under construction for six months prior. “When you see all these machines, when you see the lights off, when you see the ice makers, when you see the dream you’ve been wanting to do start to fall in front of your eye, it hurts,” Ammar said.

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6 ARTS & LIFE

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | ARTS@DAILY49ER.COM

Taking education t

Recipients of the Sally Cassanova Pre-doctoral Sch pursue graduate programs and the resear

By Jireh

The Sally Cassanova Pre-doctoral Scholars Program seeks to provide fundin uate school and pursuing a doctorate. Scholars will also be provided with in career and professional development. The 2020-21 scholars include 12 students from Long Beach State. Here a

Kylie Foster, fourth-year psychology major

ylie Foster knew since her first year in college that she wanted to pursue a doctoral degree. That was affirmed when she fell in love with research in psychology. Programs like Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity catalyzed her progression in undergraduate research. Through BUILD, Foster met her research mentor Danielle Kohfeldt, who also helped her transition from studying social psychology to her current interest in neuropsychology with professor Yada Treesukosol. Foster has taken advantage of another pre-doctoral program, the McNair’s Scholars Program, a federally funded TriO program aimed at supporting low-income and underrepresented students. She said that the directors, Keri Klima and Janette Mariscal, have played a critical role in helping her apply to Sally Cassanova and supported her growth as a student. Foster said she loved the opportunity to dabble in both the quantitative and qualitative sides of psychology research. “[What’s] really important to me is interdisciplinary research,” Foster said. “[If] you’re not getting the whole picture, you don’t understand what’s going on in the whole issue you want to look at.”

Foster said she eventually wants to study epigenetics, the impact of environmental factors on inheritable genes, to dive straight into the heart of the nature-versus-nurture debate. She said she understands that there’s a lot of competition between experts’ views of nature or nurture being more influential in a person’s life, so she hopes to demonstrate that neither are mutually exclusive. In spite of Foster’s large aspirations and hopes for the future, she said she still wants to stay grounded. “I think it might be the fact that I’ve done so much already for being so young, that sometimes when I doubt myself, I kind of have this thought process of, ‘Kylie, you’re really young. If you stumble and if you make mistakes, that’s obviously going to happen,’” Foster said. Foster said that she’s a workaholic and has been struggling to adapt to the new pace of an online workspace. She said it has helped her focus on her identity outside of school and the values that have made her successful as a student. “I am a lot of things,” Foster said. “I am a first-generation student, I am a woman in STEM, that means alot to me. I’m mixed, I’m Hawaiian, Japanese and Mexican. I also come from a very, like, low-income community and low-income family.”

With these identities, Foster acknowledged that the research field still has a lot more work to do to be inclusive. She said that research has shown that caring personally about this issue can add to bias, but it can also be a good thing. “Research has to be personal for you to care about it in the way that you need to, for you to understand all the repercussions for people,” Foster said. She said she feels it can be frustrating to see outsiders, who do research on ethnic communities, try to represent people they might not fully understand. “Diversity in research really matters because only you and your community know what’s really going on in that community,” Foster said. When Foster enters a doctoral program this fall, she will be 22, one of the younger members of her cohort. She isn’t an anomaly, she said, but rather one of many students of her generation who are interested in change. “I feel like [older generations] had a very individualistic mindset when it came to higher education and resources and getting ahead,” Foster said. “I think this generation is way more focused on the collective, and I’m so proud of that and I’m so proud of all the programs that encourage that and allow us to to really build that up.”

Everett De

s a first-generation college st Everett Delfel’s higher edu journey meandered before he his calling in research. “My parents were totally su ive, but they didn’t really know to go about this stuff,” Delfel said. “‘You can do ever you want. But we don’t really know how t you.’ So that was the biggest piece of adversity. He didn’t declare psychology as his major halfway through his third year as a criminal major at Long Beach State. Delfel found his niche in studying human be and actions after taking a course in criminal theory with Robert Schug, a forensic psycholog Delfel has worked on several projects with m professors through his undergraduate and gra career. With Schug, Delfel’s research studied psycho a personality disorder relating to criminal beh He has worked on studying the role of stres cognitive aging within HIV positive population April Thames, a professor at the University of S

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | ARTS@DAILY49ER.COM

ARTS & LIFE 7

to a higher degree

holars Program share why they were inspired to rch they plan to conduct in years to come.

h Deng

ng for students in the California State University system interested in gradndividual guidance from CSU faculty members as well as opportunities for

are four of the 12. This is the second edition of the series.

Alicia Castro, second-year graduate student and psychology major

he jump straight from high school into Long Beach State’s dorms was difficult for Alicia Castro as a first generation student from a tight-knit family. She struggled to find her niche as a biology major, but then found her passion for psychology. In her second year, Castro realized she needed research experience if she wanted to apply for a graduate program. Castro had to overcome a brief moment of fear when she reached out to her statistics professor, William Pederson, to ask if he had any research opportunities for her. Pederson has now seen Castro grow throughout her undergraduate and graduate programs at CSULB. Now, she also works with her advisor and research mentor Bradley Pan-Weisz. In her current research with Pan-Weisz, she’s studying first generation college student experi-

ences, much like her own. The barriers for these students are not just changing students’ mindsets, she said, but are also changing the ways in which faculty and administrators interact with students to make themselves approachable and accessible. She recognized that success for first generation students also means a chance to rise in socioeconomic status, but that can be difficult, she said, if students already feel they are behind. “I grew up low income,” Castro said. “And when I went into the college community, I started realizing that not everybody came from that same background.” She said she noted that the pressure mounts when there’s a feeling of competing with peers who have greater advantages. Castro identifies as Latinx. Her community is mostly collectivist, which has contrasted her expe-

riences in academia that oftentimes focuses instead on the individual. She recognized that change is not easy and that institutions are reluctant to adjust their practices that have been working for so many years. She wants to be a part of the change in culture within higher education, which is why she plans on returning back to university as a professor. “I just want to be a professor and a researcher at a university, and then be able to teach,” Castro said. “It is one of my biggest passions.” Castro said she recognized the potential she has as a professor to mentor other undergraduate and graduate students. She wants to see universities where every student can succeed, regardless of their background.

elfel, second-year graduate student and psychology major

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ern California. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Delfel had to adjust all of his work with William Pedersen, a CSULB psychology professor studying social psychology, to online studies. Juggling these different research interests has solidified Delfel’s appreciation for the expansive and multi-faceted opportunities within the research of psychology. Delfel is now interested in neuropsychological assessments and neuroimaging. He said he hopes to eventually examine gray matter in the brain to evaluate what contributes to risky behavior. “I’m just so fascinated that every part of us and our personality comes from the brain,” Delfel said. “We’ve been putting so much effort into trying to better understand it, but we’re still struggling. There’s still so much contradiction.” While working with Thames, Delfel has interviewed test subjects and conducted MRI scans of their brains to draw a complete picture of these individuals. Eventually, Delfel said he wants to come back to a university like CSULB to inspire and mentor other

students. As a first-generation student, he recognizes the value in having diverse faculty. “In psychology, our goal is to create interventions to help people,” Delfel said. He acknowledged that what might actually work as an intervention for one ethnic group might not work in another, and that there’s a variety of experiences from people he interacts with that he may not be familiar with. Delfel said it’s important to keep an open mind so that he can do his job properly to represent the experiences of his research subjects. As a Korean American, Delfel has also noticed a dearth of Asian American males pursuing the specific branch of clinical psychology. He wants to contribute to the destimagatization about mental health specifically in the Asian American community. “Somebody could be searching for a psychologist, and they want someone from a similar ethnic background from them, or same gender or something like that, just because they feel comfortable with them and know that they can connect on some similar experiences,” Delfel said.

Grace Ocular, second-year graduate student in the College of Education studying dual language development race Ocular began her journey in higher education as a human development major as a Long Beach State undergraduate. When she graduated in 2016, she took on other jobs for over

three years. Despite the busyness of her schedule, Ocular has continued to volunteer at Kimberly Kelly’s Child Language Interactions and Memory Lab, where she is the longest-serving research assistant since starting in 2015. Her work has focused on the language development of early childhood and parent-child language interactions. Ocular said that her continued passion for this research comes from her own background as an immigrant. “I came from the Philippines,” Ocular said. “I grew up there, and I moved to the U.S. at the age of 13 years old. So my academic experience has not always been easy. Language was a barrier in the beginning.” She said she remembers taking remedial cours-

es at the start of her college career and struggled throughout her education to catch up with her peers. Individuals such as her research professor and mentor, Kimberly Kelly, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and the principal investigator of the CLIaM research lab, was a huge supporter of Ocular and encouraged her to expand her expectations of her educational trajectory. “Just her believing in my potential was something that sparked something in me,” Ocular said. “Like, ‘Oh, I didn’t [know], I can actually think about doing research.’” As the first in her family to pursue a doctoral degree, Ocular feels that the support from her research professor and CSULB as a whole has played a large role in her success and ability to come back and pursue her masters after three years. Ocular hopes to conduct research on multilingual families and how they interact with educational spaces.

She explains how the socioeconomic status of these families can bar access to informal learning environments such as museums and aquariums. “I want to do research on those so that I can create a community or a bridge between informal learning institutions and these families that are typically left out of research in this field,” Ocular said. Ocular has already started working toward exploring those ideas of educational success. Since 2019, Ocular has contributed to institutional research as a graduate assistant for Beth Manke, interim dean of student success, evaluating the best practices to support student success as part of the Data Fellows program at CSULB. It has helped Ocular realize that her work can inform administrators and educators on how to better support students. Ocular’s dream is to become a professor so she can help mentor students and support them in their journeys just like she was.

8 NEWS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | NEWS@DAILY49ER.COM

On-campus residents are tested at a mobile testing site in lot G1 at Long Beach State on Monday, Sept. 28, 2020.

Nine dormitory students relocated to Hillside Following an outbreak of COVID-19 on campus, all residential students who have tested positive or are considered at-risk for contraction are being forced to move into a quarantine space in Hillside College.

By Madalyn Amato & Nick Eismann Staff Writers

ong Beach State students living on-campus who have either tested positive for coronavirus or who are considered to be at risk of contracting the virus are being relocated to Hillside College, according to President Jane Close Conoley. Beth Lesen, vice president of student affairs, said that a total of nine students have been relocated. All but one tested positive for COVID-19, and the other is awaiting test results after their initial test proved to be inconclusive. All on-campus residents were living in Parkside College and were being relocated to Hillside College if needing to quarantine, according to campus officials. All residential students had to be tested and were offered on-campus testing Monday with the aid of the Long Beach Health Department. A total of 150 students were tested and results are made available in 48 to 72 hours. The university has since set up another testing site on campus which is currently testing students who are displaying symptoms or who have come in contact with positive cases. Once in the dorms, students were given instructions on how or when to leave to do tasks such as laundry or getting food. Students are only allowed to use their assigned restrooms and they must sign up for time slots if they wish to do laundry. Only one student is allowed in the laundry room at a time and all sharedtouch surfaces must be sanitized after each use. Students were issued pillows, blankets and a mattress upon arrival to their

rooms at Hillside. A student, who wished to remain anonymous, said he has tested negative for COVID-19 as of Sunday but requested another test. “The inside of the dorms look like a fucking prison,” the student said. “I just want to go home.” Residents were given a one to two hour block to gather their belongings before moving to their quarantine room. Housing and Residential Life sent out a list of recommended items students should bring with them for the two week period, including supplies for school work, medications and face masks, extra clothing and hygiene items. Each room will be equipped with trash bags, toilet paper, a mini fridge, a microwave and personal linens. Students will not be allowed back to their rooms until they are cleared by health officials. All items brought during the transfer are the only items students will be permitted to have access to. Dining services will be making room deliveries, and students are not permitted to leave their isolation spaces to get food. Students are being provided with a meal form at 8 a.m. each morning that they must fill out to receive food. For those with emotional support or service animals, a member from outside the campus community must come take the animal for walks or individuals must isolate off campus for 14 days with their animals. No guests of any kind are permitted into the dorms, as officials have mandated before. Housing and Residential Life warned of overpacking in the event that another move may have to be made or, due to COVID-19 regulations, students will face the possibility of rooming with another student come spring semester.

On-camp in quara

In an effort to slow the s have implemented a ma

By Iman Palm Staff Writer

tudents residing in Parks lege have been forced to tine for two weeks after fi Beach State students tested positive for the co rus. There are now 11 onresidents who have tested and 12 off campus, bringing the total to among CSULB students. The mandatory shelter-in-place o scheduled to end on Oct. 9, accor on-campus residents. “All cases have been traced to offgatherings. There has been no eviden anyone in the resident halls have passe illness to fellow residents at this time,” s ry Colonna, director of Housing and Res Life. While in quarantine, housing reside under strict regulations and can only lea room for essential reasons, such as food medical emergencies or to use the restro Those who have tested positive for CO

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | NEWS@DAILY49ER.COM

Campus officials confirmed new cases of the coronavirus affiliated with the university following the outbreak in the residence halls last Saturday. By Julia Terbeche News Editor

JULIA TERBECHE | Daily Forty-Niner

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NEWS 9 23 confirmed CSULB cases

have been relocated from Parkside to Hillside College. This includes Haylie Prochnow, a first-year theatre arts major. Living across the hall, Prochnow came in direct contact with the five residents who first tested positive for the virus. Now that she’s in isolation, Prochnow said she knows that she has to quarantine to protect other housing students. “It’s really boring and hot to stay in your room all day, but in the end it’s protecting other people, and my ability to care for the well-being of others is what gets me through it,” Prochnow said. Prochnow said her first COVID-19 test came back positive and, although her second test came back negative, she remains quarantined in Hillside College. “They said they trusted the positive test more and that it’s more likely that I got a false negative than a false positive,” Prochnow said. “It was just precautionary and I’m fine with it.” Residents who tested negative are allowed to stay in their rooms in Parkside. Joaquin Alonzo, a third-year computer science major, said he wasn’t looking forward to staying in his dorm room for the majority of the day. Although he tested negative, he remains in

quarantine for the two-week period. “It’s a bit irritating I guess,” Alonzo said. “Certain days I used to go out to the store to restock but right now for me I’m actually running out of water. I typically drink about seven or eight bottles a day. For now, I’m just resorting to just getting waters from the meals they give us.” Instead of visiting the dining hall, residents now obtain their meals from the Parkside College common room at select pickup times. Housing officials send residents an email that includes meal options, from which residents place their orders. In effort to maintain social distancing standards, residents were given personal signs to indicate when the bathroom is being occupied. ”We have to, on our own, be precautious,” Alonzo said. “Where [my room is] at, it’s really not that bad. I’m typically alone whenever I go in [the restroom]” Even with the shelter-in-place orders, Alonzo said he is planning to stay in the dorms through the spring semester. “I really don’t like living back at home,” he said. “It’s too crowded there, many of my family members are there, I really couldn’t focus on school.”

ong Beach State has a total of 23 new positive cases of the coronavirus linked to campus, university officials confirmed Saturday. These cases, according to Jeff Cook, associate vice president of strategic communications, are a result of “social gatherings attended by Beach students over the past month in violation of prevailing public-health guidance and directives from the university.” As of Saturday, an additional 18 CSULB students have tested positive following the diagnosis of five students announced Sept. 26. Of the total positive cases, 11 have been confirmed to be on-campus residents and twelve are off campus. According to Cook, 206 of the 328 housing students remain on campus at this time. “Those living off campus have been asked to self-isolate in coordination with public health officials,” Cook said in an email. “On-campus residents have been in quarantine since Saturday, with those community members who are positive now living in a separate building.” On Saturday, Sept. 26, all on-campus residents were forced to quarantine in their rooms in Parkside College as they await the results of coronavirus testing and contact tracing. “At this point they should not be leaving their residence halls,” said Corry Colonna, director of Housing and Residential Life. “And really should only be leaving their individual [or] private rooms to go to the restroom, hit up the water fill stations, and grab the food that is delivered to the lobby lounge each day.” Following the outbreak last weekend, CSULB officials arranged to have the Long Beach Health Department conduct mobile COVID-19 testing on Monday, Sept. 28 where a total 150 students were tested on campus, according to Jennifer Rice Epstein, media relations lead of the city’s Joint Information Center. Epstein said that the health department first learned of the positive cases “late last week through case interviews and communication from CSULB officials” and that officials did not find out about the five initial cases all at once. The mobile testing yields results within 48 to 72 hours, according to Epstein, so none of the cases were found based on the testing session that Monday. “Some people [who tested positive] we found through contact tracing who had close contact with the CSULB cases at a social gathering,” Epstein said. Kimberly Fodran, chief of medical staff at Student Health Services, said in an email that those who tested positive were either asymptomatic or had mild symptoms. Some students who tested negative, she said, have decided to quarantine off campus. “My colleagues in Student Affairs will be reviewing appropriate disciplinary action for those who placed themselves and our community at risk,” Fodran said. Cook also said that the school will continue monitoring the infected students and is “in the process of establishing a surveillance testing program for the other residents.” According to Epstein, several gatherings have occurred in the city with a wide range of attendees, and the health department found that students were congregating with other Long Beach residents. “We need folks to refrain from gathering and follow the safer-at-home order,” Epstein said. “It’s super important, both on campuses and in the community, to try to do everything we can to prevent community spread, and that the sacrifices we make now will pay dividends in the future as we’re able to resume something that resembles normal life.” Cook said that the school maintains a “conservative approach” to the fall semester as the dorms are only at 12% capacity and 2.79% of courses are being offered face-to-face. “While the university is profoundly disappointed in the conduct of the students who violated public health guidance and will pursue disciplinary action as appropriate, our priority continues to be their health and safety and that of all members of our community,” Cook said. “Even with those measures having been in place, we will work to effectively manage this new challenge.”

10 OPINIONS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | OPINIONS@DAILY49ER.COM

First-generation students: we belong To be educated is a privilege that first-generation students worked relentlessly for.

By Grace Widyatmadja Staff Writer

y parents have always been my sound, foundational pillars. The bravery they exemplified by moving to America was one that pushed me into the fear of the unknown. They left everything for the hope of something better, so why couldn’t I do the same? College was my unknown. First-generation students connect over the shared experience of navigating a world that wasn’t built for them. Most first-generation students come from immigrant backgrounds, families of color or those of low income, and not out of choice. We’ve been told throughout history that education is a privilege and one that was afforded by the wealthy and white. The highest prestige was honored, and opportunities were almost exclusively given to those with higher education. But barriers have broken and we are rising. To be a first-generation student is not taboo or uncommon. But I felt like a pioneer in my own family, being the eldest daughter born in America to two immigrants from Indonesia, and the first to attend college. It sounds like an accomplishment that I should have been proud of, but honestly, I was scared. Life beyond high school was always so difficult to imagine. I felt uncertain about anything that had to do with my future but it was quickly becoming something I had to face whether I wanted to or not. There was so much apprehension because I didn’t know where to begin. I didn’t know what the importance of an SAT score was. I didn’t know how to choose a major, or what choosing one would even mean. I was under the impression that I’d spend the rest of my life in debt because I didn’t know financial aid existed. The process alone of applying to colleges was so daunting and felt so out of reach. I envied how certain my peers and classmates seemed like they had such a solid grip on what they wanted for the future. It was easy to fall under the impression that I had to look like I had my life together, so that’s what I did. I told my friends that I knew exactly what I wanted to do and that I knew exactly what colleges I wanted to attend because I didn’t want to feel any less compared to them. The process of applying to college is tedious. I was told I had resources, but was never given any direction on how to actually utilize them. My high school guidance counselors assumed that I had someone at home to show me, and that I would ask questions if I had any. But I didn’t know what I was supposed to even ask. I remember my mom and I sitting on the floor of our living room staring at her

PHOTO COURTESY OF GRACE WIDYATMADJA

“I remember my mom and I sitting on the floor of our living room staring at her laptop screen trying to figure out what to do. “ laptop screen trying to figure out what to do. We spent that night looking at different colleges and I settled on only applying to two, knowing that we couldn’t afford the application fees to apply to any more than that. The cost of college is one that hinders so many from pursuing it. We were left to our own devices but by some miracle, we figured it out. Being a first-generation student gave me many opportunities and I’ll especially be grateful that it gave me a chance to navigate my identity. Growing up I constantly struggled with the notion that I was too American to be Asian or too Asian to be American. I was made to feel that I could never fully immerse myself in my Indonesian culture because I was always told “You grew up in America. You wouldn’t understand.” But living in the United States I felt just as lost because I could never fully engage in the social dynamics because my parents raised me under traditional Indonesian influences.

It wasn’t until I came to Long Beach State that I finally felt like there was a place for me. Long Beach State is home to a diverse community of people from countless backgrounds. I learned from professors and peers that helped me understand that the world wasn’t made for one kind of person. It’s home to all of us and we all have our own journey. The fact that no one in my family went to college before me didn’t determine that I would be any less. I knew that regardless of my background, I deserved to be there just as much as anyone else, and I knew that college was a chance for me to find my place in the world after so much toil of uncertainty. This understanding helped me solidify my choice to pick journalism as my major. Journalists give us a sense of empathy and understanding to societies that we otherwise wouldn’t know of. There’s a responsibility they hold to find and share countless, untold stories. To me, this was a meaning-

ful career because they help connect us to one another. Being a first-generation gives you a clear example that there isn’t a singular path to success. Each student’s experience tells a unique story of overcoming trial and tribulation. I could have easily turned into a tragic story about a girl that excelled in high school only to give up on any possibility of going to college just because I wasn’t brave enough. I could have let the fear of being in debt for the rest of my life or failing as a student push me away before letting myself even try. But I didn’t. I stayed resilient in the face of opposition because I wanted to make my parents proud. I wanted to make myself proud. I may be first-generation but I am a student first and foremost. I am a student that worked relentlessly to make it this far, and I know that I am exactly where I’m meant to be.

OPINIONS 11 Illustration by JIREH DENG

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | OPINIONS@DAILY49ER.COM

The Presidential Debate: If you were surprised, you haven’t been paying attention to the past four years. By Jireh Deng Assistant Opinions Editor

was 16-years-old when I watched the 2016 presidential debates alongside my peers in our high school library. It seemed like a joke back then, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as caricatures and larger than life figures jabbing at each other in rhetorical stunts. In all honesty, I was disconnected from the politics that seemed to operate in another world. I was not old enough to vote then, and if the president’s actions did not affect my ability to eat, sleep and study for school, I was not inspired to protest a man that a majority of Americans already agreed was unfit for office. A lot has changed in four years and moving to college fundamentally shifted the way I view politics. One would think that attending such a large public school you would end up flailing in a sea of 38,000 faces, but in actuality, the diversity of the lived experiences that surrounded me, supported and challenged me to grow as a person and live more authentically. My circle of friends has expanded, from the homogenous and myopic community I grew up in. I care about what happens in politics because I can see it’s living impact on the people of color, the religious communities and the LGBTQ+ community that I love. It’s my Jewish friends who understand the stakes of antisemitism that is being propagated by white supremacists like those at Charlottesville shouting “Jews will not replace us”. It’s my Muslim friends who understand that claiming a religious affiliation can paint a target on yourself for violence and misplaced retribution. It’s my undocumented friends who are criminalized for living in a country that is determined to see them as our pres-

ident describes “rapists” and criminals coming across the U.S.-Mexican border. It’s my Black friends who are subjected to the daily anti-Blackness that is woven into the fabric of our nation. It’s my trans friends who face not only gender-based violence but also erasure in the media that contributes to their invisibility. This is the Amerikkka we live in. A country that still refuses to take down statues and monuments that represent slavery and the colonization of indigenous communities. Some people have already learned how to swim when some people don’t believe the ship is already sunk. We have already acknowledged and accepted that amnesia of this country, the violence and the misrepresentation of our loved ones and communities. So when I watched the live presidential debates this past Tuesday evening, I was under no illusions. I had seen the last four years of outrageous tweets, scandalous grand juries, questionable presidential pardons and,of course, the hullabaloo around the “Carmen San Diego” of Trump’s tax returns. I watched that night as Trump pivoted and swerved at every tangible hard question that was posed on his policies. Instead, he chose to dig into Biden’s family history, ignoring for the umpteenth time the allegations that he had not paid his fair share of taxes and refusing to denounce white supremacy. Biden tried to maintain his cool, but the debate devolved into a squabble with poor Chris Wallace attempting to corral the conversation into anything meaningful or of relevance to the American people. Despite expecting these antics, I was emotionally drained after watching the chaos I witnessed on screen. Forget scripted television, the unimaginable and fictitious was unfolding before my eyes. It was like watching a Reddit debate come to life on national television. But for many, this is just another blip on their horizon as they are trying to make it through the hardships of the coronavirus pandemic and protest police violence in their

communities. They, like myself, were under no illusions that Trump or Biden were going to magically sprout fairy wings and save us all. America has continued to fail its communities. It’s failing people of color, it’s failing the LGBTQ+ community and yes, it’s failing middle-class white America that is turning to conservative dogma in the hopes that market fundamentalism and protectionist policies will renew economic prospects for our futures. Here’s the thing, Trump knows he lost the popular vote last election and he’s even more unpopular now. The only way he wins is if people stop voting, if people are so shocked by his morality, that they are immobile with despair. I get it. The systems are bureaucratic and opaque, and Biden, if elected, will help us break a new record for the ‘oldest white man’ to become president. His vice president, Kamala Haris for some, feels like a diversity stunt when individuals take a closer look at her track record as a prosecutor and criminalizing truant children and Black men. But if we have another four years of Trump, we have another four years of a clown in office, another four years where our democratic establishment becomes less and less responsive to the American people. We have another four years where we fall deeper into authoritarianism and political divide. After the debate, I promptly sent my younger sister the link to register to vote. I didn’t ‘cancel’ any of my conservative friends on social media. I expressed my disappointment and hoped that some part of them understood the distaste had been displayed on the debate stage that night. We push to have Biden and Kamala win, we push to get them into office and then for the next four years, we hold them accountable to issues of climate change and racism. Because what matters most is this: A seat at the table is better than none. Register to vote.

12 SPORTS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | SPORTS@DAILY49ER.COM

OPINION: What are you, blind? By Jacob Powers Sports Editor

PHOTO COURTESY OF JACOB POWERS

Jacob Powers makes a call while umpiring a youth baseball game

ave you ever been called Stevie Wonder and had five dollars thrown at your feet while officiating a youth little league game? Well, I have. It was an overcast, humid afternoon that had the sweat running off my forehead like Usain Bolt in the 2016 Olympics. To add insult to injury, it was my third game of an almost 100-degree day and my wits were fading, fast. Upon making a caught-looking strike three call, the opposing manager came charging down the line quicker than a cheetah hunting its prey in the safari. He was promptly tossed aside like an unapologetic cheating girlfriend. According to USA Today, over 15 million kids played youth baseball and softball in the United States in 2018. I have been blessed enough to have been officiating youth little league and travel ball as a home plate umpire for over nine years. Due to the coronavirus though, this is the first year I’ve not been able to officiate games year-round. In my time behind the dish, I have officiated over 300 games all over the Southern California area. Being a former athlete, walking away from sports was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in my

personal life. As an athlete, sports becomes your identity and shaking the complex of the competitive nature takes a lot of time. As a home plate umpire, every move you make intentionally or unintentionally has a consequence to someone in the audience. Not every strike called looks like a strike. Umpiring will also teach you a very useful life skill: patience. In years prior, I have been threatened to be jumped following the end of the game for doing what I was paid to show up and do. When parents purposely live through their kids by enrolling them in youth sports, this portrays the worst of people. In my service time, I have had to console kids following verbal abuse from parents after a poor performance that mommy and daddy drove them super far to play. Acting as a big brother figure to the kids I officiate is worth more than any check I’ve ever received from showing up to work. As a kid, baseball was my life. Playing for over 14, the game taught me a how to overcome big pressure I lived on the road, and I understand what these kids have felt because I was once in their shoes. Instilling good morals and values in my kids is why I strap up and get barreted by parents constantly on end in the beating sun under 10 pounds of gear. It also doesn’t hurt my ego sometimes to police grown men screaming over a 12-year-old competition.

Los Angeles Angels approved to stay in the city of Anaheim through 2050 After numerous failed attempts to keep the team in the city, the Angels will be able stay at home. By Jacob Powers Sports Editor

he Anaheim City Council voted last week to keep the Angel Stadium of Anaheim in the city through 2050. Following unsuccessful attempts in 2014 and 2016 to relocate, the Angels will be staying in the city they’ve been playing in 1966. The approval includes selling the stadium and the surrounding 150 acres of land for $320 million which is slated to be developed as an urban village with homes, hotels, offices, jobs and public transit. In 2018, the team explored options to relocate to Long Beach, but were denied. The decision comes a year after negotiations between the city and SRB Manage-

MICHAEL CHAN YEE | Daily Forty-Niner

Blair Field will be one of the Los Angeles Angels’ new summer camp training ground in preparation for the modified 2020 season.

ment LLC composed of Angels owner Arte Moreno and Angels Baseball LP. The $320 million purchase price stems from the anticipated cost of the 466 affordable apartments, totalling $123.7 million and 7-acre flagship public park anticipated to cost $46.2 million. On Oct. 6, Anaheim City Council will hear two parts of a plan regarding the agreement covering development of the land and an amendment to the zoning. According to a statement issued by the City of Anaheim’s mayor, Harry Shidu, the city has “made history.” “What have been far too many years of uncertainty and inaction in Anaheim are now over. We have secured baseball while freeing our city from the costs of stadium ownership,” Shidu said. “Our residents will benefit for years to come as valuable, underutilized land gives way to a stadium area we can all be proud of.”

SPORTS 13

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | SPORTS@DAILY49ER.COM

JULIA TERBECHE | Daily Forty-Niner

Instead of meeting in person, the men’s water polo team has been meeting virtually to maintain players’ bonds.

Treading virtual waters The men’s water polo team utilizes Zoom to stay physically and mentally fit during a canceled season. By Jacob Powers Sports Editor

he Long Beach State men’s water polo team has experienced a distinctively different way of building team chemistry this season amid the coronavirus pandemic. With some teammates out of the country like attacker Rafael Vergara, who is currently back home in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the team has relied heavily on Zoom while trying to adjust to being completely off campus. “I don’t like the online Zoom classes. It’s hard to organize the time to get everything done,” Vergara said. “In the spring, we had two months of classes and I was doing well. I think I will be way better than expected as the semester goes on.” Not being allowed to utilize school facilities, teammates still in the area have actively been working in coordination with the athletics department’s strength trainers on curated workouts. According to head coach Gavin Arroyo, the team has gotten creative with working on their own individual regimented workouts. Players have gone as far as filling up sandbags and using them as weights at home. “Our strength trainers have set them up for success,” Arroyo said. “One thing that we’re really trying to focus on is the magnitude of the situation we’re in. The administrators are trying to get us back to play in a safe environment as soon as possible.” To combat not being able to practice at the Ken Lindgren Aquatic Center like nor-

Daily Forty-Niner

The Beach men’s water polo team uses Zoom to remain connected despite physical and geographical distancing.

mal, utility Garret Zaan has been setting up a shooting cage outside of Huntington Beach harbor for teammates to hold socially distanced practice. “You really start to realize how out of shape [you are] and the muscle memory you lost when practicing again after a while,” Zaan said. “I’d say it’s been a big challenge with COVID-19. It’s hard to communicate and it’s way easier in person to keep everyone in line.” Vergara, a fourth-year business marketing major, said he has been fortunate to have daily access to a gym and pool in his hometown of Sao Paulo. To keep himself occupied while not in class or training, Vergara has been indulging in economic books about the stock market. “In the beginning of the semester, it was really hard for me to get adjusted. I’d come back and try to work out and get distracted easily,” Vergara said. “I miss my teammates a lot. Right now I’m going to have some coffee and go run, I’m just trying to get something to do.” Arroyo said that despite the setbacks the team has experienced thus far, he feels the team is still collectively gearing for a season even if it may not be this year. “You know, the infection at some point is going to go away. We’re going to be able to train and play at some point, so everything that we’re doing now is just going to put us in a better place for the future,” Arroyo said. “This definitely makes you hungry to practice and appreciate the practices that we were able to do in the past, and I just think when the floodgates open, it’s gonna be really great.”