The Covid Column by Foundations of Journalism

The Covid Column

Meet the frontline heroes

MEET THE STAFF Katherine Shoppa Editor-In-Chief, Writer

Melissa Uc Photographer, Writer

Eva Jordan Designer, Writer

Emma McPearce Designer, Writer

Annie Schwartz Multimedia/Graphics, Writer

Mara Caylor Multimedia/Graphics, Writer

CONTENTS

JOB CONSEQUENCES

COVER STAFF OPINIONS

PAGE 8

OPINION CONTROVERSIAL OR CANCELED?

PAGE 4

OPINION PAGE 14

ENVIRONMENTAL SIDE EFFECTS

NEWS PAGE 15

ACTIVITIES IN QUARANTINE

FEATURE PAGE 6

SELF CARE

FEATURE PAGE 12

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Hey There! In the past couple months, the world has turned upside down and our lives have transformed. We aimed to encapsulate many of the feelings going on during this time and report on the important parts of our lives happening among the COVID-19 pandemic. We explore the popular trends on social media and controversial stars during this time all the way to our cover story where we ask community leaders how their jobs have been affected. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve all been working so hard and have spent countless hours on facetime calls to make this publication possible. I hope that you find some fun in reading these articles and that you do the quarantine crossword puzzle! From my home to yours, I hope you enjoy! -Katherine

Shoppa

CONTROVERSIAL OR CANCELED? Quarantine is giving individuals more time for social media, causing its toxic culture to grow. BY EVA JORDAN

“C ANCELED”- TO MAK E SOMEONE OR SOME THING IRRELE VANT DUE TO CURRENT DR AMA - URBAN DIC TIONARY

f you’ve been on TikTok at all recently, you may have noticed something peculiar. The tension between creators is stronger than ever. From diss tracks to doxing, the once light-hearted app has become a political and social battleground. It’s gone too far. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many are following the social-distancing guidelines advised by the government. While this is necessary at a time like this, many are using this extra time to expose or “cancel” influencers, possibly because of things that happened years ago. Recently a TikToker with the handle “Emmuhlu” has been under fire for videos of her saying the n-word. The footage was from when she was younger and it was somehow dug up, bringing with it a slew of hate and death threats. Fans were shocked, as Emma is known across the app for progressive and feminist ideas, advocating for the voiceless; it didn’t seem to make sense. Emma has deleted all social media platforms except TikTok, where she has posted a series of apology videos. Calling people out on their actions is one thing, but are certain actions unforgivable? The line is thin. Being controversial is how influencers flourish. You don’t agree with them so you comment on their videos, therefore they get more views and comments. Another creator calls them out in one of their videos, their name

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MAY 26, 2020

reaches a larger group of people, they get more views. The phrase “all publicity is good publicity” is incredibly accurate in the world of social media. Similar things have happened with other influencers in the past, names like Lil Huddy, Mattia Polibia, and others have gotten hate for racist comments said on live streams and in Lil Huddy’s case, a private Snapchat sent to a friend. The difference between them and people like Emmuhlu? Emma took full responsibility for her actions. She acknowledged that it happened, instead of never addressing it. The sad thing is, never addressing it can work. Forgetting is sometimes easier than forgiving, and people with large fan bases take advantage of that. Chase Hudson has been in the social media world for quite awhile, using the name Lil Huddy. Before the Musical.ly app merged into TikTok by ByteDance Ltd. in 2018, Chase was creating short videos on Musical.ly and similar apps like Dubsmash. He’s known across TikTok for his “e-boy” persona, having chipped black fingernail polish, shaggy hair, and chains galore. In the seven or so years he’s been on social media, he’s amassed followers, but more importantly, an enormous number of loyal supporters. Why are some creators getting their platforms destroyed while others like Lil Huddy seem to not be affected at all? COMPILED BY EVA JORDAN

TIKTOK QUICK STATS

800

41%

million active users worldwide of TikTok users are aged between 16 and 24

million followers is the current record for most followers, held by Charli D’Amelio

Emma is fairly new to the TikTok app, and has gained fame only recently. If you’re like me you’d see her videos on your “For You” page, do an internal yes girl, like the video, and keep scrolling. You either love her or you hate her. Lil Huddy on the other hand, thrives off of his looks and the aesthetic appeal of his videos. you can tell yourself you don’t like him, but you almost can’t help seeing and watching his videos. If you’re on TikTok, this becomes dangerous. Are we as consumers giving in to subconscious bias towards people with a pretty face? I say yes. Influencers like him are untouchable. No matter what he does, he will have support. Chase has so many connections and so many followers on various social media platforms that being controversial benefits him. While it is not my place to forgive influencers for racial slurs, I think that new creators deserve better. Why are we letting big creators get away without apologizing while new faces are getting death threats? Cancel Culture needs to stop. No teenager deserves to be threatened to the point of deleting their accounts and being shamed for their every move. You do not have to agree with them or forgive them, but give them a chance to apologize and become a better person. Let’s use quarantine as a time to uplift others instead of bringing them down, especially on Tik Tok, where a lot of you will be heading after you are finished with this article.

EN V IRONMENTAL As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, many are starting to see the environmental impact it’s having on the world. BY KATHERINE SHOPPA

n the past few months, the world has been turned upside down. There have been over 3.2 million COVID-19 cases worldwide and on April 27, the U.S. surpassed 1 million cases and became the country with the most people infected. Towns all over the world are deserted as governments have implemented “stay at home” orders. As a result, the world of manufacturing has been halted and factory emissions are visibly lower. With less travel and more people staying in their homes, people started taking note of environmental changes. All over social media, pictures have been shared of the sky in China and India where air pollution has decreased and Italy’s canals changing color due to the lack of use. With less travel, global emissions have decreased greatly since transportation contributes 23% of greenhouse emissions. However, many doubt the change will last. “There are large quantities of fuel sources and raw materials that have stockpiled due to COVID-19,” said University of Iowa Professor R. William Field, a member of the Occupational and Environmental Health department. “Once the workforce is able to return to work, emissions will increase greatly due to pent up demand.” This has already proven to be true in China. During the first few months of the outbreak, the country reduced its emissions by 25%, but

*SIDE EFFECTS

“

ONCE THE WORK FORCE IS ABLE TO RE TURN TO WORK , EMISSIONS WILL INCRE ASE GRE ATLY DUE TO PENT UP DEMAND.” - PRO F. R . WILLIA M FIELD, U O F I as they rebuild their economy, the numbers are climbing. People are still hopeful that as a country the United States will be able to make a change once this is done. “I like to think we will see positive changes, but part of me thinks people will spring back into the ‘old ways,’” said Byron Butler, a science teacher at West. However, many are doubtful because of a similar economic situation the nation faced in 2008. That year, we faced a recession and saw a very similar pattern. “During the financial crash of 2008/2009, there was a substantial reduction in emissions,” Field said. “However, emission increased back to record levels not too many years after the financial crisis.” According to the BBC, 2020 may still see a drop in global emissions of 0.3%, which is less pronounced than the drop during the crash of 2008. If we go back to emitting greenhouses gases at our previous rate after quarantine, it is likely that emissions will increase back to where they were before, just like after the recession. “Some people may perceive that it is relatively ‘easy’ to reduce greenhouse emissions and it can be done in the future ‘if needed,’” Field said. While some people will perceive that having high emissions is easy to fix, science teacher Mrs. Head hopes it will change attitudes. “Perhaps it will be motivating to see that if we take collective action we really can make positive changes to our world,” Head says, “but the cynic in me thinks that may be wishful thinking.”

DESIGN BY EVA JORDAN AND MARA CAYLOR

While many are concerned about how gas emissions will be affected by the pandemic, many countries are taking on a more relaxed attitude towards environmental policies during COVID-19. This new attitude may cause immediate trouble. With the number of people doing online orders for food and groceries, more one-use plastics are being disposed of. Some businesses, such as Starbucks, aren’t accepting reusable cups during this time either. Not only are companies relaxing environmental rules, the government is doing the same. “The pandemic is being used as a ‘smokescreen’ to relax environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act, fuel mileage standards, toxicant releases, and for pesticide use expansion, etc,” Field said. Field was a member of the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, for eight years and shares that “the degradation of environmental laws has been going on the last three years,” but feels that it is being brought to another level. “The abandonment of environmental laws and policies has accelerated since COVID-19,” Field said. All of these factors contribute to an uncertain outcome of events. The lowering amounts of travel and power consumption point to lowering emissions while environmental laws being relaxed will contribute to a rebound in greenhouse gas levels after the lockdowns. After the pandemic and economic low is over, the world will face a choice. One option is that emissions will come soaring back up to where they were before the pandemic if countries lean into the old and dirty energy sources such as the well-known cheap oil to rebuild economies. On the other hand, U.S citizens have the option to rebuild our economies using renewable energy sources, electrical vehicles, and investments in low carbon infrastructure, we could use the stunted emissions to our advantage. No matter what happens, this pandemic and its effects will go down in history and will be something taught about for years to come. When asked if she plans on teaching the environmental impact of COVID-19 in the future, Head says, “For sure, it’s a relevant issue for all of us who have lived through this event.”

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MAY 26, 2020

FEATURE MAY 26, 2020

STAYING HEALTHY IN QUARANTINE

B Y M E L IS S A U C These past couple of weeks of isolation have brought varying emotions and results for different people. We now have more time alone than usual and we can reconnect with ourselves and step back from the rigorous expectations that were once set on us in the school environment. Being in our own domain offers a new routine and cause for adaptation on everyone’s part. Difficult times show different coping mechanisms for everyone and we will be exploring how some West students have chosen to use their extra time. An upside to having more time at home during these unsure times has been more focus on health because of a less rigorous work schedule. This is because the district is only allowing high school courses to give a total of three hours per week on each class. This totals to about 21 hours of work in total rather than around 35 when we had in-person schooling. Students have been able to focus more on health because of the excess of time in following this change. For example, Raina Pfeirfer ‘22, who has a fitness Instagram page (@raisfuel) in which she shares recipes and how she stays active throughout the day, shares how she has been ensuring the upkeep of her health. “To stay active I’ve been lifting for volleyball and going for runs throughout the week,” Pfeirfer says, “I’ve also been going on long walks to keep my Raina Pfeirfer ‘22 ‘s Instagram fitness account, @raisful. puppies happy.” Pfeirfer adds that her physical health has improved since West has moved to online schooling, “I’ve been working out a lot to pass the time and I can spend more time making nutritious meals.” Although physical health may be ideal, mental health can be harder to focus on because of how many unknowns there are now.

Anna Prouty ‘23 explained what she has been doing to keep busy, “I have created a work out routine to stay active and have been going for jogs and shooting baskets.” Prouty is a varsity girls basketball player at West High who has had time to have additional practice on her own for her sport. A downside, Prouty mentions, is, “Because of a less consistent schedule my mental health has been more inconsistent.” This is a problem lots of kids are facing nowadays. Lack of structure can make it increasingly difficult to find a routine that works best for you when you are more free-range than you would be at school. News outlets such as USA Today have been publishing articles consistently on how to stay than you would be at school. News outlets such as USA Today have been publishing articles consistently on how to stay physically and mentally active while staying home. It is so important to make sure that you are doing well in the current state of our world, now that we all have more time on our hands this is a great time to reflect on productivity and take time to care for ourselves. For more information on the mental health aspect of quarantining check out pages 12 & 13!

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MAY 26, 2020

Anna Prouty ‘23 practicing basketball.

JOB CONSEQUENCES Katherine Shoppa ‘23 and Melissa Uc ‘23 ask community leaders how they have been handling responsibility during the age of COVID-19. DESIGN BY EVA JORDAN AND ANNIE SCHWARTZ

BY KATHERINE SHOPPA AND MELISSA UC

he pandemic has changed everyone’s routines, but especially those who are leaders in their job sectors. From people on the frontlines dealing with COVID-19 patients, to the educators of the next generation who are dealing with the indirect impact of the pandemic. These community leaders describe the changes that they have made in their everyday lives.

The people at the front lines. Gaining support from the community, adapting, and continuing their increasingly hard jobs as health care workers in the midst of a pandemic. The Chief Executive Officer of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, or UIHC, Suresh Gunasekaran, shared his experience in hopes to shed light on how the medical world in Iowa has handled the pandemic. “Candidly, although we’ve prepared for a lot of emergencies, we never prepared for a broad scale pandemic,” Gunasekaran said. “We have to deal with the fear of the unknown, the fear for

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everyone’s safety, and to make sure that we have enough equipment and supplies.” Because COVID-19 spread so quickly, medical professionals have had to adapt faster than ever before. Gunasekaran explains how it has changed his mindset on the hospital’s role in the community. “[COVID-19] has made me think more deeply about the responsibility we have at UIHC to be the safety net for our community and to stand strong regardless of the obstacles,” he says, “It has also put me on the front lines of thinking about the safety and well-being of our entire staff that is confronting this great challenge.” It has changed the protocol that the hospital must follow to keep as many people as safe as possible. In order to communicate these changes to the rest of the staff at the UIHC, Gunasekaran walks the floors of the hospital and keeps in touch with staff via email and with the commu-

nity via online forums. The UIHC has taken many precautions to ensure the safety of the patients and doctors. “We temperature and symptom screen every employee. Every employee has a face shield and all of our workers on the front lines also have

a medical mask as well,” he explains, “We have made it easier to socially distance and perform hand hygiene across the whole enterprise. We keep all of our COVID-19 patients in isolation, away from other patients and staff.” Because of these precautions, Gunasekaran is confident in the community and in his staff to stop the spread of COVID-19 and feels that we will grow from it. “I think our hospital and the community will be stronger as a result of all the preparation and learning from this crisis,” he says, “I really feel that we are the safest place in Iowa to visit and receive medical care.”

As the number of people infected with COVID-19 rise, it begs the question: what are healthcare workers doing to stop the spread? The division head of pediatric gastroenterology at the UIHC, Aliye Uc, elaborates on new patient procedures and new challenges in the wake of coronavirus. “In response to this, we rapidly postponed

clinic visits, and quickly turned to phone visits or video visits, so we rapidly had to learn how to do these and these are not always easy to do on our end, and also on patients’ end,” she says, “They sometimes bring a lot of frustration, but we still have to provide care to our patients.” To prepare for patients, Uc explains the new sanitary practices in place at the hospital. “We are provided face shields and masks, we have to make sure that before and after seeing a patient, we wash our hands, don’t touch our faces, not that this wasn’t being done before but we must be more vigilant,” Uc says, “So, I mean it has been a tremendous change and I can’t believe how those things change in just a matter of days and weeks.” Within the operation that is her division, Uc explains how she spreads information to the people that she works with, “I communicate with my coworkers, initially it was daily now on a weekly basis, you have to make sure that you disseminate the information and you consult with them.” Communication is becoming increasingly important, while there are so many unknowns, Uc must also find a way to ensure the wellbeing of her staff, “You check on them so that you know that everyone is doing okay.” Another side of worry for Uc is shortages in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for herself and her staff. In order to keep the usage of the already rationed supplies to a minimum she has

“ THESE ARE UNPRECEDENTED TIMES. I THINK E VERYBODY FACED SHOR TAGES IN PERSONAL PROTEC TIVE EQUIPMENT, AND THE HOSPITAL HAD TO PRESERVE THAT FOR THE MOS T NEEDED. ” -ALIYE UC, DIVISION DIREC TOR OF PEDIATR IC GA S TROENTEROLO GY

ALIYE UC WEARS A FACE SHIELD ON THE JOB had to make changes in the patient care routine. “These are unprecedented times. I think everybody faced shortages in personal protective equipment, and the hospital had to preserve that for the most needed. That was the reason why we postponed visits and procedures unless they were absolutely necessary,” she says. When asked the hardest part of adjusting to the new reality of her job, she says, “Not knowing what’s gonna happen there are just a lot of unknowns, personal safety, family safety, dealing with emotions, and dealing with not only your personal emotions and safety of yourself, but also being concerned with the safety of the personnel that you are responsible for,” she continues, “You’re responsible for keeping emotions in check, and you’re responsible for your family, while also doing all of this from home.” Even though Uc and her division, as well as other health care workers, have done their best to fight the spread, a lot of the responsibility still lies on the community. “I’m semi-comfortable honestly. I still see people who are outside who don’t always observe social distancing or I will also see some people not wearing masks. It’s pretty much left to people’s individual choices and you are relying on people making the right choices. So, at this point, I’m not sure,” she says. Adjusting to changes has been hard for people all over the world, Uc gives us a glance into what her new day looks like, “My work shifted into more administration, planning, and learning about COVID-19 related safety procedures so there were days I was putting in more than 10-12 hours a day just for COVID-19 related things.” Even though it seems that you are alone a lot of the time, Uc reminds us of the scale of the pandemic for our country, “This is not an Iowa issue, this is a nationwide issue.”

Even though medical professionals are on the front lines, they are not the only ones having to adjust to these changes. West High School Principal Gregg Shoultz describes the problems he’s faced with transitioning into mandatory online learning. “The hardest [part] has been trying to plan around the guidance of the Iowa Department of Education,” he explains, “They are mostly a regulatory agency and they were not built for quick response in a crisis. They have been slow and inconsistent which has meant that we had to tread water until they were ready with their new rules and regulations.” Dealing with these changes has been difficult, but Shoultz has found ways to communicate and adjust with his staff. “I have learned how to conference call from my cell phone, but mostly we Zoom in very often, once a day on average,” he says. Although lots of things have had to come to a halt, construction has been able to continue in schools.

“[IT IS LIK E ] WRITING, EDITING, ILLUSTR ATING AND PUBLISHING YOUR OWN STORY WITHOUT ANY HELP.” - GREGG SHOULT Z “The school is kept clean, but construction is going on at a more rapid pace, so that is still a challenge for our custodians,” he explained The pandemic has brought up questions on what the future may hold after experiencing a new kind of schooling. “I think it will change schooling quite a bit,” Shoultz said. “I think we will always have a large component of our classes online, going forward. I think we will need to have options for students to work at home or attend less frequently and still keep up with their learning.” In knowing that some students will not have the same knowledge as some of their peers, the school system has had to think about people in all circumstances. “This is going to be a big challenge for all of us,”

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Shoultz says, “We will need to concentrate our efforts on students who have been hurt the most, that is for sure.” When asked about how his experience has been like having more work than usual, Shoultz compared it to, “writing, editing, illustrating and publishing your own story without any help.”

High school principals are not the only ones having to make changes, elementary principals have too. People working in school districts have also been asked to make drastic changes in the way they live their lives. Borlaug elementary school principal Celeste Shoppa is one of the many dealing with these changes. “The pandemic has changed what I do on a daily basis hugely,” she says, “typically as a principal you go to work and greet kids and work the breakfast room and go to meetings and support teachers and visit classrooms and work the lunchroom and have IEPs [Individualised Education Programs] and meet with parents, and all of that has to be done virtually.” As we are in a new age of social communication we must adapt to our new reality. Shoppa no longer is able to do so many of the things she would normally do in a day. With all the new technology she uses, she gives a glimpse into her new life and responsibilities. “So, on a day to day basis I wake up, go into my office which is now the dining room at our house and I am on emails and zoom meetings pretty much throughout the entire day,” she says, “Then on top of that having to create all kinds of virtual documents to keep track of everything that we’re doing and being able to support teachers and be important support families.”

“ZOOM HAS JUST BEEN WONDERFUL AND WE’ VE BEEN ABLE TO GE T PRE T T Y PROFICIENT AT THAT PRE T T Y FAS T” - CELESTE SHOPPA , PR INCIPAL OF BORL AUG ELEMENTARY

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With all the new changes and struggles with doing everything online, Shoppas has been very grateful for the popular way of communicating: Zoom. It’s an online video chatting app that allows you to hold meetings online. “Zoom has been just wonderful and we’ve been able to get pretty proficient at that pretty fast,” she explains, “When meeting, we share screens and we share documents. During IEPs, we’re sharing the IEP documents, the graphs, recording things right then and there. For our different meetings too if people aren’t able to attend we’re able to record those and share those out.” Not only have online resources been helpful for her, but she feels like her upper management in the district has been doing so much to help everyone adjust. “Central office has been very supportive. They’ve been very responsive and able to answer questions quickly or find out the answers if they don’t know,” Shoppa says, “I can’t say enough about the level of support that they’ve given to us.” Another one of Shoppa’s duties during the pandemic has been to help with lunch distribution. A couple times a week, she goes to one of the several locations and hands out lunches to kids for an hour. While helping the community, there are also precautions she takes to keep herself and her family safe. “We use PPE or personal protective equipment, so we have our face masks and gloves that we use. Before I leave I carefully take those off and leave them in the garbage, so not to bring anything home and when I get home I wash up,” she says. There are many precautions Shoppa takes to keep her building safe and clean during this time. While the school is going under construction, similarly to West High, she tries her best to keep the school in the best and cleanest conditions it can be. “We have our custodial staff going in and doing daily checks and we don’t have people in and out of the building other than those custodians and the people who are working on construction,” she explains, “it’s very hard for us to take care to be sure that [the construction workers] are doing what they’re supposed to be doing.” As the cases and the seriousness of the pandemic rose, she has eliminated as much travel

in and out of her school as possible by creating a system to stop anyone other than custodians into the building. “We actually have a different system where the custodian gets in and retrieves whatever the needed item might be,” she says, “they coordinate a time for that teacher or staff member to get what they need. They don’t even do a handoff because a custodian leaves it, watches, makes sure the person picks it up and there’s not anybody even coming into the building that way.” Among changing building codes and helping out her staff, she has also been helping parents. Shoppa gets many emails from parents asking what was going to happen. When school was first cancelled, she received many emails asking what would be happening as far as virtual learning. When the district decided on elementaries doing voluntary work, the focuses have shifted. “You know parents really haven’t asked any question that wasn’t reasonable, they’ve just got so much on their hands now as far as what schooling looks like at home,” she recalls the parents who have reached out, “Oftentimes having to work from home, or if they’re essential workers, having to find childcare for the children, so our school facilitators and our family advocates

have been excellent in helping teachers get resources to our families.” Many parents have also been concerned for what will happen in the ‘20-’21 school year now that learning is voluntary. The concerns of stu-

“ WHEN IT’S RE ALLY TAK EN AWAY FROM YOU SO ABRUP TLY, IT MAK ES YOU RE ALIZE HOW LUCK Y WE ARE TO HAVE E ACH OTHER” - CELESTE SHOPPA dents being behind where they need to be has arisen. Shoppa has worked on communicating what next year will look like and how they plan on helping students. “We’re going to be there to support our kids regardless. We’ll take assessments when we get back to school in both reading and math, see where they’re at and we’ll take them from where they’re at and move them forward,” she explainsShoppa and many people within the Iowa City Community School District have been working on ways to directly address the missing information. “The other thing that we’ll need to do is look at the standards that were not directly taught at each grade level, give that information to the next grade level so that when they get to those standards, they’re going to be able to scaffold that learning for the kids that need it,” she says. In looking towards the future, Shoppa feels that this will change what we do forever, including how we use technology in schools. “One thing we’ve become very quickly good at is Zoom meetings, and how it is that we virtually respond to needs and help our kids through technology,” she explains. As summer approaches, many are starting to think about if they’ll be going back to school in the fall. Shoppa knows that the future isn’t certain but feels like looking at countries who have already reopened will be a good indicator of what will happen. “We’re going to need to look to countries who have done this ahead of us, the European countries having kids come back already with half the amount of kids allowed to come in, taking temperatures when kids come, or what social distancing looks like with a five year old and a kindergarten class, let alone a sixth grader,” she

says, doubtfully. Needless to say, Shoppa misses what her life used to be like and has had a hard time adjusting to the new norm. When asked about the hardest part of adjusting, she started tearing up and shared the struggles. “Not seeing the kids, not seeing my staff, that human connection you take it for granted,” she answers, “When it’s really taken away from you so abruptly, it makes you realize how lucky we are to have each other. [...] but it’s that day to day connection and missing the kids, the hugs.” For her, the future is uncertain as the district continues to adapt to the changes that are needed to compensate during this tough time. As far as the future can tell, she feels we will never be the same. “I think it’s changed us forever, Shoppa says, “I think it’s made us realize what’s truly important in life and that’s our people, our family, and the people that we work with.” Even though healthcare professionals and educators are dealing with their own struggles, they are both trying their best to deal with the impacts of COVID-19.

CELESTE SHOPPA WORKS DILIGENTLY FROM HOME

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MAY 26, 2020

H O W T O M A N A G E C O V I D -1 9 A N X I E T Y BY EMMA MCPEARCE With the COVID-19 outbreak, many people’s lives have drastically changed. From working from home to shopping online, there’s a lot of stress in day to day life that we haven’t had before. This makes it so important to manage COVID-19 related anxieties and everyday stressors we now have to deal with. Half of Americans have reported that the virus is harming their mental health in a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll. Many are terrified about the uncertainty of the future and the wellbeing of others, but there are ways to cope with this stress and anxiety. Dr. Laurie McCormick, MD advises, “limit the amount of news you’re watching because it’s almost always very negative…it gives people tension when there’s not that much positive news out there.” It’s important to stay informed and up to date with the news, but don’t check obsessively, and if needed limit your news time to a certain amount everyday. Additionally, try to stick to reliable sources for news, such as the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Panic can spread wildly through social contagion. Dr. Judson Brewer, MD describes social contagion as, “if I’m sitting with a patient and they’re anxious, I could catch their anxiety through social contagion. Here, I become anxious, and then I try to do something to fix them to make myself feel better when, in fact, the best thing that I could do is simply to listen.” Social contagion happens through the spread of misinformation and stocking up on groceries, which causes widespread panic. This panic causes excessive anxiety and confusion. “When this scarcity mode kicks in, it can also spread panic and fear th1Wrough social contagion,” Brewer says. With lockdowns and cancellations of events, it’s hard to feel like you’re in control. But it’s important to focus on what you can control, such as washing your hands, self isolating, and following recommendations from the CDC on how to stay safe. McCormick advises asking yourself when else has life stood still? “It just doesn’t happen that you get to hit the pause button on life. So do the things that you want to do. Create good habits, like meditating, learning a new instrument, learning a new language,” McCormick says. Being self-aware of your feelings and anxiety is key to managing your stress.

FEATURE MAY 26, 2020

Make sure to be kind to yourself, and recognize that this is a scary time and that it’s normal to be worried. “If we can step out of that shame spiral, our thinking and creative brains come back online, and then we can think about what skills and talents we have that can be useful,” Brewer said. Most people are working from home, and students are working online, which has drastically changed our everyday routines. “It’s really important to establish a routine so that you can keep some sense of normalcy. Going to bed at the same time, waking up at the same time,” McCormick says. It’s important to try to keep to your regular schedule; have meals at the same time, work when you typically would, and try to keep it as similar as possible to before social distancing. It can be hard when you’re focusing on social distancing, but keeping a routine helps you maintain a sense of normality. If you feel that you need help containing your anxiety, you can reach out to a mental health professional.

More therapists than ever before are moving their practices online. If you search for therapists in your area, their websites may tell you whether they participate in telehealth,” Dr. John Sharp, MD, said. Online therapy companies had an increase of users by 65% from February to March. There are many professionals in most communities along with numerous online therapy sites. of 65% from February to March. There’s even a website designed just for COVID-19 anxiety; www.virusanxiety.com. This website has meditations and answers from common questions, ranging from financial fears to dealing with xenophobia. It’s hard to feel certain about our future, but it’s important to take steps to manage your anxiety. Sharp shares steps to manage fears; “Separating out feelings from the past, reminding yourself that you have the strength and ability in the present to prevail, seeing a path forward for yourself and setting yourself upon that path is the way forward.”

C O V ID C O L U M N ’S E D IT O R IA L B O A R D ’S O P IN IO N S DESIGNED BY EMMA MCPEARCE

H O W T R U M P IS N ’T H A N D L IN G C O V ID -1 9 W E L L BY ANNIE SHWARTZ During times of need, people look towards their leader to guide them, and a pandemic is no different. But what happens if your leader is just as clueless (or even more so) than everybody else? Well, we may find out. The United States is currently number one in the world in both coronavirus cases and deaths, and both those numbers are still rising. Trump has made several tweets and speeches over these past months concerning coronavirus and many of them have been controversial, to say the least. In a recent speech, he said “And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it (coronavirus) out in a minute, one minute, and is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that.” If you didn’t quite understand that, he recommended injecting yourself with disinfectants such as Lysol and bleach to kill coronavirus (please don’t do that!). After said quote, the Maryland health hotline was so flooded with callers asking about it, that the Emergency Management Agency had to issue a warning. He has also made statements telling churches to open up for Easter, and much more. Just a couple of days ago he speculated that China made coronavirus in a lab and released it by mistake. This statement caused a rebuttal from China and he ignored the multiple scientists who insist there is no evidence that points to a human-made virus. Now especially, the world has to work together to eradicate the virus and not create more conflict, and remarks like that aren’t going to help. Trump has handled this pandemic in an extremely poor way, guided by lies, poor choices, and refusing to listen to scientists and doctors. Please listen to scientists and doctors who’ve spent their entire lives learning about diseases and illnesses, follow the guidelines set in place in your town, and stay safe. We will get through this, but it will be with very little help from our president.

OPINION MAY 26, 2020

Z O O M R E V IE W BY KATHERINE SHOPPA You wake up and check your phone to see an email from your teacher telling you that you have a zoom meeting in three minutes. You quickly put on clothes and get onto zoom, relieved when you click “no video” while connecting. You get into the meeting full of black screens with your classmates’ names on them while your teacher awkwardly sits there saying “we’ll wait a few more minutes to let everyone in.” By the time the meeting starts, you’re already deep within social media on your phone while your teacher talks about who knows what.Zoom has popularly been used betweenteachers and students to hold meetings weekly. It is a very useful site for teachers to be able to see and hear from their students directly and with its features such as screen sharing, it can be see and hear from their students directly and with its features such as screen sharing, it can be a good way for teachers to review the past week with students. While there are many positives, Zoom doesn’t always work the best. For many students they have trouble getting logged in, and if their home has poor internet connection, Zoom can glitch and they get kicked out of meetings. If you’re hosting a meeting and you accidentally remove somebody you don’t mean to, there’s no way to get them back in. It is also extremely easy to get distracted while on the meetings, especially when teachers have no restrictions on using your camera. There are also many many problems between audio and video, especially when using chromebooks, which schools provide for high school students. I have experienced lots of trouble with audio on zoom. I’ve tried changing the setting, using earbuds with a mic on them, turning off my video while I talk, and still my audio lags. It can make it a challenge to use for group projects. However, when it comes to zooms with teachers where they’re mostly teaching, it’s useful for getting a direct lesson. The chat feature also helps combat audio problems and makes it easier to ask questions if your audio isn’t working. Overall, Zoom does have its glitches and problems, but it is a useful tool for communication within the community. I would give it a three and a half out of five stars.

T V A N D M O V IE R E C C O M E N D A T IO N S BY EMMA MCPEARCE

“Outer Banks”

Following John B, who is trying to find treasure related to his missing father, this show seems like a basic teen drama, but it slowly unfolds to have an intriguing plot. The farther you get in the show, the more it strays from a typical teenage drama.

“The Half of It” :

Paul enlists Ellie to write a love letter from him to Aster, who they both fall in love with. This movie is a coming of age story that deals with sexuality in a small religious town. It takes a spin on a cliché, but takes the story one step further.

H O W T O C U R E Q U A R A N T IN E BOREDOM BY MARA CAYLOR

One way to cure your boredom is uncovering a new hobby. Whether it’s drawing, skateboarding, or even learning a new instrument. This can take up time and you could find something interesting that you might end up liking. I’ve tried calligraphy, which is really cool, takes some time, and is easy to learn. Another fun thing to try is to make something creative, this could be tye-dying a shirt or making a scrapbook to share some of your favorite memories. You could also start a journal to remember all of these crazy times, and it could help you relieve any stress you have with doing school online. If you are looking for something more productive to do, you can try to organize your room. This will help you feel less stressed knowing everything is picked up, and it could be something you dedicate your day to doing. If you ever run into a problem, you can always watch a Marie Kondo video about decluttering. If you have baking ingredients sitting around you could bake something, anything. You can look up a recipe online, or create some of your own It will take up time in your day, and you get a sweet reward at the end. Some days you might not feel like doing anything, and on those days the best option is to binge-watch Netflix. Grab your favorite snacks, some blankets, and go watch. It might not be the most productive thing to do, but it will kill some time.

“Tiger King”:

This eight part Netflix documentary focuses on the world of big cat (tiger) breeders and the mysteries in it. You get to see into an eccentric world and the minds of the people in it, while having to think about the ethical dilemma of breeding.

“Dangerous Lies”:

WILL WE GO BACK TO SCHOOL IN THE FALL?

A caregiver inherits a large estate after a wealthy man dies, and discovers secrets and danger in return. It is filled with many twists, and may have a slow start, but the ending is a big shocker that makes it worth watching.

“Murder to Mercy: Cyntoia Brown”:

THE COVID COLUMN EDITORIAL BOARD VOTED WE WILL GO BACK TO SCHOOL

This documentary focuses on Cyntoia Brown who was convicted at sixteen years old in 2004 for killing a man in claimed self-defense. It follows from 2004 through 2019, and shares her story of mental health and trauma, and how that took part in her incarceration.

OPINION

MAY 26, 2020

ECONOMY PROTESTS BY MELISSA UC As businesses closed down to ensure safety of communities, so did some people’s income. The unemployment rate is through the roof and is rivaling with that of the unemployment rate in The Great Depression according to The New York Times. This has led to riots and mobs of protesters demanding that the government reopen the economy. The interesting thing about these protests is it has increased the partisan issues during this pandemic. The president has been re-tweeting photos of people holding Trump signs at protests and encouraging this behavior, as well as company owners such as Elon Musk in a tweet Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib summed this up sent on April 29, “Give people their freedom very well by saying, “Coronavirus kind of showed back!” (among with many more tweets in the days its ugly divide. You know, economic divide, strucfollowing). People in power are cheering these tural racism.” We see the economic dividethat people on for their own monetary gain. shapes the political party differences, we see the racism in the police forces of our major cities

“CORONAVIRUS K IND OF SHOWED ITS UGLY DIVIDE.” -R ASHIDA TL AIB

the differences in police handling majority black protests versus majority white protests. History has consistently shown that when race is involved, it is usually handled differently. The New York City Police Department is the not-so-perfect, perfect example of this. Majority white group people are seen, not following social distancing as a police officer hands out masks in a park in NYC. In another case in the same city, a police officer is seen punching a black man in the face during a social distancing arrest. Similar situations but one was handled with kindness and the other with violence. The situation that we are in as a country right is shedding more light on racial disparities in America. The fact of the matter is, the economy will one day recover but the people that have died because of other people’s anger toward the stay at home orders will forever be lost.

ONLINE SCHOOL REVIEW In the ever-changing lives of high-schoolers, one thing has always been certain; school. The place where you get assigned work you don’t want to do, eat your lunch in the cafeteria, do sports after school, do your homework late into the night, preparing to do it all over again the next day, until now. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school district has established a new plan to move school online. It’s a difficult adjustment for students to make, and the motivation for “excellence” is at an all-time low. The district is doing the best they can to help individuals continue their learning during this uncertain time. Many teachers had offered optional learning activities and zooms for weeks, but it was optional, right? I found that I was constantly tired and unmotivated to do the work, and the uncertainty about school and COVID-19 made my stress increase. After weeks of waiting, the school district came up with two options for their students. One, an individual could decide to take a “P” or “pass” the class if they currently had a passing grade. This meant that they would not be working for a letter grade on their transcript at the end of the year. Essentially, they had finished the class. The second option was to continue with the class, or do the assigned work on Canvas for a grade on their transcript. I chose to continue all of my classes. Teachers scrambled to create a curriculum for the last four weeks of school, but sure enough, the next Monday, online school began. It started off a little strange, conversing with teachers and classmates virtually took some getting used to, but it was starting to work. As the teachers gave me assignments for the weeks to come, I started thinking, this isn’t so bad. It was a hell of a lot less work than we’d be getting in regular school, but online school had challenges that were unknown to me at the time. As time progressed, the unique stresses of online school had been getting to me, and I assume others as well. The only motivator to open your Chromebook is your pure willpower, and what’s keeping you from Minecraft, or sleeping until… 1 PM? We have all the time in the world, yet it seems to be slipping through our fingers. My assignments are still being completed minutes before the due date on Canvas, my sleep schedule is as crazy as ever. Our obligations have been decreased, yet the tasks ahead seem to be darting in all directions like a rabid bunny. In the midst of all this craziness, the school district has managed to hold the fort down through it all. They developed a running but still imperfect system in a matter of weeks. Online school is nowhere near ideal, but it’s what we have right now. All we can do is buckle up for the ride, and hope the 2020-2021 school year is the best one yet!

BY EVA JORDAN

OPINION

MAY 26, 2020

COV ID-19 CROS SWORD: 1

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5. You can have this on your transcript if you don’t want 1. What makes online school possible. 2. You can make these at gomeout of coffee filters and banto continue working danas. 7. This billionaire is getting backlash for naming his new3. The country with the most coronavirus cases and deaths. born son X Æ A-12 4. This is causing snow and freezing 9. What you may be experiencing due to these changes 6. Social distancing is meant to ‘flatten the ______’ 10. A huge problem a lot of people are facing with busi8. ‘America’s Doctor’ who has helped with AIDS and now nesses being shut down he’s helping with coronavirus 13. A giant, terrifying insect that likes to kill bees 12. Our president talked about injecting this into your body 15. It’s sold out almost everywhere to kill coronavirus 17. The reason why we are social distancing 14. The world’s biggest sporting event that is postponed 18. The country of origin for coronavirus until 2021 19. You can pick this up at many locations (including 16. It is important to wash your hands with ____ and water West). And it comes with breakfast! 20. What the theme of the 2020 Met Gala was going to be

Answer key: 1. Zoom 2.Masks 3.USA 4.Polar vortex 5.Pass 6.Curve 7.Elon Musk 8.Fauci 9.Stress 10.Unemployment 11.Michael Jordon 12.Disinfectant 13.Murder hornets 14.Olympics 15.Toliet paper 16.Soap 17.Coronavirus 18.China 19.Free lunch 20.Time