Kentucky Kernel: February 22, 2021

kentuckykernel

Monday, February 22, 2021 est. 1892 | Independent since 1971 www.kykernel.com @kykernel @kentuckykernel

SNOW PLACE LIKE THE BOWL

TENNIS WEEKEND RESULTS • 2 | IMPEACHMENT • 5 | BOARD MEETING • 14

UK athletes, Olympic team

6

New passions in historic building

10

Loan relief: hope or hopeless?

12

Monday, February 22, 2021

sports

Split results for UK tennis against no. 23 LSU

By Hunter Shelton sports@kykernel.com

In what is going to be a grueling 12-game SEC slate, men’s and women’s tennis both looked to start conference play on the right foot against the LSU Tigers this past weekend.

At a perfect 8-0, the women’s team had yet to give up more than two points in a match and had only allowed four points the entire season.

No. 23 LSU women’s team stood undefeated themselves, yet to receive a challenge from any competitor.

Both teams would find their first worthy opponent of the season on Saturday.

LSU took the first step to claiming the doubles point on court three, as No. 57 duo Lesedi Jacobs and Anastasia Tkachenko fell to LSU’s Paris Corley and Taylor Bridges, 6 - 4. This was the first loss for any UK tandem this season.

Kentucky’s other doubles matches were wins, with firsttime pair The Cats would fire back on court one, thanks to first-time pair Akvile Paražinskaite and Carlota Molina firing back on court one against LSU’s Eden Richardson and Nina Geissler, 7-5. The final doubles point would be decided by on court two, where Carla Girbau and Elizabeth Stevens faced off against Maggie Cubitt and Safiya Carrington in a 7-6 (7-3) bout to claim the all-important doubles point for the Cats. Kentucky is still yet to lose a doubles point this season.

LSU would tie the match at

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one, claiming the first singles win of the day via No. 83 Carrington who won against Molina 6-4, 6-3.

But wins in doubles for the Cats were overpowered by LSU’s singles performance, despite multiple lead changes.

UK would answer on court one thanks to undefeated Paražinskaitė, who defeated No. 41 Bridges in a 3-set battle. The graduate student from Lithuania fell behind after losing the first set but surged back to finish 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. This was Paražinskaitė’s first ranked singles victory of the season.

LSU’s Richardson took the next singles in a three-set match of her own against Stevens 7-5, 3-6, 6-1. UK would take the lead for a third time following Jacobs victorious three-set victory over Corley. Just a point shy of winning their first SEC match, against a ranked opponent no less, Kentucky faced defeat in its finals singles match as LSU’s Cubitt. Cubitt beat Girbau in two sets.

Geissler was the ultimate hero of the day for the Tigers, clinching their victory with a dominant win over UK’s Fiona Arrese, 6-2, 6-3. With the final singles match decided, LSU ended up with 4-3 road win, handing the Kentucky women’s team its first loss of the season.

The No. 16 men’s team hoped to fare better than the women the following day, as Kentucky and LSU faced off on Sunday with the men’s matches.

After taking their first loss of the season against No. 1 USC, the Cats bounced back to vanquish

MICHAEL CLUBB I STAFF Akvile Parazinskaite stretches for a ball during the University of Kentucky vs. Louisiana State women’s tennis meet on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021, at the Hillary J. Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, Kentucky. UK lost 4-3.

in-state rival Louisville 4-2 on February 14, 2021. Kentucky had a stellar10-1 record heading into Sunday.

The 8-1 LSU men’s team came into the match fresh off a win in their conference opener against Vanderbilt on Friday.

The Tigers are no stranger to ranked opponents, having scored a 4-0 road win over No. 23 Texas Tech in early February in Dallas, Texas.

LSU struck first in doubles play on court three, as Nick Wat-

son and Boris Kozlov defeated Alexandre Leblanc and Liam Draxl 6-2. Watson and Kozlov are undefeated as a duo in dual play, sitting at 7-0.

UK answered with their second duo Millen Hurrion and Yasha Zemel, who avoided disaster against Joao Graca and Joey Thomas. With UK leading 5-1, Graca and Thomas rattled off four consecutive games to tie the match at 5 all. Hurrion and Zemel held strong for another two games to win 7-5, leaving the doubles

point to be decided on court one with UK pair Cesar Bourgois and Gabriel Diallo.

Bourgois and Diallo began the year on a 7-0 tear before dropping two consecutive matches against USC and Louisville. Their chance to snap get back on track was against the no. 60 doubles team in the nation, LSU’s Rafael Wagner and Ronald Hohmann, who carried a 5-2 record in dual matches.

See TENNIS on page 16

Monday, February 22, 2021

LOOKING BACK, MOVING FORWARD

kentuckykernel

CONTACT Editor-in-chief: Natalie Parks editor@kykernel.com

SECOND ROUND OF FEDERAL AID FOR UK STUDENTS Students who are eligible for emergency funding under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) will be notified by the university of their grant by Feb. 19, 2021, according to an email from UK president Eli Capilouto.

Capilouto said the university received access to its $8.9 million in funds this week.

Approximately 6,000 UK students are eligible for the relief and will be contacted by email. Qualifying students must choose how they wish to receive their funds.

“A portion of CRRSAA funds has been held back to assist other students who were not selected to receive CRRSAA funds through the pre-selection process but who have experienced financial hardship due to disruptions caused by the pandemic,” Capilouto wrote.

Spring enrollees can submit themselves for consideration for a CRRSAA grant by completing the request form. They should

also have a 2020 - 2021 FAFSA application on file.

UK previously administered $8.9 million in CARES Act funds to students over the summer, in $1,500 checks. A pending third round of federal aid could nearly absolve the university’s budget crisis.

SWIM & DIVE WINS FIRST SEC TITLE In a program first, the women’s swim and dive team took home the SEC championship on Saturday night, anchored by 12 podium finishes and the highest score in program history.

UK athletes qualified for the NCAA championship in five events, including two individual bids for Riley Gaines and Gillian Davey. Gaines had a career night, taking home a gold medal and two school records in the 100 and 200 free. A total of five school records were set. All UK swimmers went to the finals.

The men’s team will hope to follow the women’s, with their swimming events beinning on Monday, Feb. 23.

MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF Kentucky Wildcats forward Keion Brooks Jr. (12) dives for a loose ball during the University of Kentucky vs. Auburn men’s basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. UK won 82-80.

TESTING PROGRAM ENTERS THIRD WEEK

As part of the university’s rotating testing program, students on team Mingione should be tested for COVID-19 this week at one of several campus locations. As of Feb. 15, 929 cases of COVID-19 have been reported among UK students since reentry testing began in January. 134 cases are active.

COVID-19 rates have been down across campus in the spring compared to the fall.

Kentucky is entering its seventh week of declining positivity rates, though Fayette County is still in the red zone.

Students should schedule their tests through Wildhealth by the end of the week. Symptomatic students may be tested through University Health Services.

MEN’S DUKE

SOCCER

HANDLES

Kentucky improved to 7-1 on the season after defeating Duke 1-0 in overtime Friday night. Neither team was able to find their rhythm Friday night, as both teams struggled to find the back of the net throughout.

In the 25th minute, a Kentucky corner kick was headed in by the Wildcats, but was called off due to pushing and shoving.

Junior midfielder Marcel Meinzer went down with an injury in the 33rd, forcing Kentucky to play with a man down for several minutes. He would return to the game in the second half.

A 59th minute Duke free kick cleared the Kentucky goal, leading to a second free kick and another missed opportunity for the Blue Devils, who out-hustled the Wildcats for the majority of the contest.

Overtime loomed over the game as the game headed to the final ten minutes.

The first overtime told the same story of regulation - both teams found themselves in each other’s eighteen but couldn’t find the back of the net.

But in the 98th minute, Kentucky had a throw in near the Duke goal. Daniel Evans, knocked it in for the win. The junior forward was quiet throughout the game, but ended overtime with his first game-winning goal of the year.

Managing editor: Michael Clubb editor@kykernel.com Asst. news editor: Haley Simpkins Sports editor: Braden Ramsey sports@kykernel.com Asst. sports editor: Eric Decker Opinions editor: Sarah Michels opinions@kykernel.com Asst. Opinions editor: Gillian Stawiszynski Designer: Ryder Noah From Social media manager: Sarah Simon-Patches KENTUCKY KERNEL OFFICES 340 McVey Hall University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40506

On the cover: MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF UK junior forestry major Britney Hughs sleds down “The Bowl” in a kayak with her dog Squid on Monday, Feb. 15, 2021, at William T. Young Library in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Monday, February 22, 2021

opinions

Should cancel culture be canceled?

By Mihir Kale opinions@kykernel.com

On even the most average of days, a quick scroll through Twitter’s trending tab would more than likely lead you to a #[Insert Celebrity]IsOverParty hashtag.

The app has become synonymous with the “cancel culture” phenomenon, defined by Merriam-Webster as the formal and public withdrawal of support for a certain person. The list of publicly canceled celebrities and influencers is extensive, and includes the likes of Kevin Spacey, J.K. Rowling, and Ellen Degeneres for devastatingly harmful behavior involving sexual assault, transphobia, and abuse. It’s even possible to cancel and eject a friend from your own social circle for hateful speech or other destructive and harmful behavior.

Canceling someone seems to make sense at face value. Harmful behavior of any type never should—and never will—be tolerated in any capacity, and a person must face the consequences of their actions. By publicly “canceling” someone, they are placed under immense social pressure that should force them to recognize their wrongs and face the repercussions. However, a huge debate has risen over the principle of cancel culture, and its effectiveness at really holding people accountable for their wrongdoing.

Canceling someone is essentially a snap judgment. On Twitter, it takes just a single tweet— limited to 280 characters—to plant the seeds that lead to someone being canceled. What typically follows is a massive snowball effect of information-sharing, facilitated by how easy it is to like and retweet someone’s tweet.

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Other users often add their own commentary on the issue, causing it to gain further traction and disseminate beyond the app into media outlets, daily conversations and more. Social pressure for the person to publicly recognize and atone for their wrongs increases, and is often supplemented by real-life implications like losing a job or relationships.

But there’s a catch.

If accountability is the ultimate goal of canceling someone, then cancel culture works really well at raising awareness of a person’s wrongs. But what happens after someone is socially erased, both online and in-person? How do they amend the harm that they’ve caused to individuals and entire communities?

It’s here that cancel culture fails to achieve its intended purpose.

Once someone is canceled, they have free reign to do whatever they want, simply because no one is paying attention to them. Sometimes they can just wait out the thick of the storm, resurfacing a couple of months down the line when people have forgotten about the harm they’ve caused and moved on.

Other times, they simply ignore being canceled, doubling-down on the harmful behavior and rhetoric that they’re being publicly accosted for. This is especially true with powerful, influential people (such as J.K. Rowling), who don’t face any kind of meaningful repercussions in real life because they have the resources to get over it. These people are also often able to cause more damage due to their resources and influence.

Essentially, cancel culture does nothing to make sure that a person is fixing the damage that

they’ve done to a community, whether it’s taboo to talk about them or because they simply don’t care. It gives zero room for any kind of discussion on how the wrongs happened in the first place and how to make amends, because the conversation is only focused on the person’s wrong-doing.

While the victims of the person’s actions might get a little relief at the person being publicly shamed for the harm they’ve caused, at the end of the day, the damage is still done. Cancel culture operates like a tornado that has completely destroyed a house, but once the news has covered the destruction, nobody helps to rebuild it.

So, with cancel culture being an ineffective solution for accountability, how do we deal with

harmful behavior and speech?

The answer might lie in a practice known as transformative justice.

Transformative justice, or TJ, focuses on what factors allowed the harm to happen in the first place in order to ensure that we actively work to fix the identified problems. While cancel culture assumes that everyone is perfect and harmful behavior is an exception, TJ recognizes that people have the potential to hurt others and make mistakes, and actively works to make sure they recognize that potential.

If we hold accountability as a two-step process (identification and reparation), then TJ makes sure that both steps are emphasized the same amount. It makes

sure that people understand not only why something is damaging, but how to fix that damage.

It gives power to those who have been hurt, and helps them hold that person accountable long after their harmful behavior has been identified.

While I’m sure that cancel culture won’t end anytime soon, it’s important that we understand why it’s not fulfilling its purpose, and work to find a solution that does. Large-scale change starts with small-scale choices made by people like you and I. I hope that the next time you see another hashtag on Twitter canceling someone, that you pay attention to not just what the person did, but how they plan on fixing their wrongs.

Monday, February 22, 2021

opinions

Trump’s second impeachment trial: A dangerously pointless political exercise

By Sarah Michels opinions@kykernel.com

Former President Donald Trump still has one strike left before he’s out, at least in baseball terms.

On Saturday, Feb. 13, Trump was acquitted by the Senate on impeachment charges for the second time. For those in the political know, it was a foregone conclusion. Any chance of a Trump conviction all but disappeared as soon as he left the White House.

Republicans questioned the constitutionality of the impeachment itself, since Trump was no longer a president, but a private citizen. Democrats wanted to make a statement, and perhaps even guarded a small hope that their video evidence would be enough to flip enough votes in their favor.

But all sides knew that it would take nothing short of a miracle for that to happen.

That miracle never arrived.

Senate needed a supermajority in order to convict Trump—67 votes. With 50 Democratic senators, that meant that 17 Republicans had to vote for Trump’s conviction. Only six Republicans voted with the Democrats on the legality of the impeachment trial itself, which required a majority to move forward. Getting at least another 11 Republicans to join the cause, even on the weak assumption that the original six Republicans would also vote to convict Trump, seemed like the long shot of long shots.

Politically, there was little in-

centive for Republicans. Even after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, which was the focus of this impeachment trial, many of Republican senators’ constituents remained fiercely supportive of Trump and Trumpian politics. To vote against their interests could spell political trouble come reelection time, and since Trump’s platform had shrunk considerably since being locked out of the Oval Office and his Twitter account, there didn’t seem to be any immediate danger. For many Republicans, a better strategic move might be to stick with the GOP whether they wanted to convict Trump or not, in the hopes that they were calling Trump’s bluff. Maybe, by 2024, Trump would no longer be interested in a second term or would be otherwise ineligible.

All this to say, the second impeachment trial was doomed to fail. So why go through with it at all? The United States is currently in a race against time to reach a high enough herd immunity threshold against the original Covid-19 strain so that when the new strains inevitably start infecting people, they won’t be powerful enough to launch another year of lockdowns and quarantine.

Whatever help Congress can provide to the vaccination rollout, financial or otherwise, can’t wait for anything—not even Trump’s impeachment.

The Washington Post published an interactive graph showing how quickly the U.S. can reach her immunity given different herd immunity thresholds and vaccination shots given per day and explaining how the new

STAFF FILE PHOTO President Donald Trump points to the crowd during the make America great again rally on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018 at Alumni Coliseum in Richmond, Ky.

strains could come into play. If the herd immunity threshold is 70 percent, as most experts agree is a good best-case estimate, and the Biden administration manages to reach 1.5 million shots a day, it will take until Nov. 13, 2021, to reach herd immunity.

If somehow the daily dosage increased to 5 million vaccinations per day, the U.S. would reach herd immunity on April 19, 2021.

That could be the difference between a return to normalcy by the end of the year and an indefinite prolongment of the pandemic caused by the new strains in-

fecting too many people before widespread vaccination.

The U.S. doesn’t need a repeat of the testing rollout disaster, exacerbated by unnecessary delay in government action. We may never know, but it’s very possible that pursuing the highly improbable impeachment conviction may have also condemned the vaccination race to eventual failure.

In my opinion, Congress should not have gone through with the impeachment trial. New Covid-19 strains are spreading

and there is a 100 percent chance that the spread will have fatal costs. On the other hand, the next election is in four years, and much can change between now and then, making Trump’s position behind at the debate podium in 2024 far from certain.

In the next months, Congress must focus on problems they know are real, not hypotheticals.

After all, this isn’t a baseball game—we don’t get the luxury of three mistakes before disaster strikes.

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Monday, February 22, 2021

sports

Waiting game: Olympic-bound rifle players bide their time

By Barkley Truax sports@kykernel.com

After a year-long postponement, two University of Kentucky student athletes will head to Tokyo, Japan later this year to compete in the 2021 Summer Olympics.

Sophomore Mary Tucker and junior Will Shaner made history for the UK rifle team in February of 2020 when they became the first athletes in program history to qualify for the games.

The duo qualified at the Air Rifle Olympic Trials Part II, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic swept across the world, halting every major sporting event at the time.

The qualifying rounds feature two parts for each gun (four total). In Part I, Tucker was able to place third, something she didn’t expect going into the qualifiers.

Third place wouldn’t have been enough to punch her ticket to the games, as only the top two qualify.

But Tucker won the next two qualification rounds.

Despite this, she worried about her lack of experience down the stretch.

“I was confirmed as being qualified after our qualification round, so I didn’t even have to shoot the final,” Tucker said.

“But I did and it was a very

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emotional moment for all of us.”

She said she was overwhelmed by her teammates’ reactions, text messages and both of her coaches crying after they found out she was headed to Tokyo. And she won’t be going alone.

Like Tucker, Shaner placed in the top three of the first qualification.

“Luckily within our shooting season at Kentucky I was able to keep the intensity up and keep the training up so when the second qualification match came, I was prepared for it.” Shaner said.

He said all he had to do then was to do his job.

“Fortunately, during the [second] qualification match,” Shaner said. “I gained enough points to secure my spot so the finals and extra points that everyone else was going to get didn’t matter.”

He knew he was going to qualify, but that didn’t let that moment when his Olympic dream had come true go to waste.

“It was a little surreal,” Shaner said. “It was kind of a weight being lifted off your chest because you finally made it, you don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

But the dream went downhill from there. Just over a month later, it was announced that the Olym-

HANNAH PHILLIPS | UK ATHLETICS Mary Tucker. UK Rifle v Akron. Photo provided by UK Athletics.

pics would be postponed, causing many athletes to believe their Olympic dream could be over. The cancellation of the NCAA rifle championships was the cherry on top.

“Right when those got canceled, I couldn’t look at my equipment for about two months without getting really upset,” Tucker said. “It was a very strange feeling. I love this sport but

during that certain time I hated it,” The games had only been postponed for a year, but depending on the status of the pandemic there has been speculation that they could be canceled completely.

“It’d be tough, real tough,” Shaner said of the possibility.

“I do think the games should be happening and

I do feel completely safe,” Tucker said. “I do trust the Olympic committee, both the U.S. and international one, and I know they’re working their hardest to make sure that the athletes get to compete.”

Tucker and Shaner had tremendous seasons before the cancellations.

Both were named CRCA All American First-Team Overall, All-

GARC First-Team in Combined, Smallbore and Air Rifle among several other individual honors and awards.

Due to the pandemic, Tucker wasn’t able to train for the first few months of the lockdown – something she never had to go without before. She looks to pick up where she left off as the rifle team nears the 2021 See RIFLE on page 6

Monday, February 22, 2021

sports RIFLE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

NCAA Championships.

“This year I’ve kind of been focusing on, ‘okay, what I was doing last year worked,’” Tucker said.

“I’m just trying to replicate what I was doing and get back to where I was.”

Shaner was able to train throughout the summer but said it’s been tough to stay motivated mentally.

“It was heartbreaking for about a week or two, but I figured I had two decisions,” Shaner said.

“I could either dwell on it like it’s over, or I could just kind of wait it out, kind of keep training, wait that extra year and finish out strong.”

Shaner says Team USA has done a great job communicating with him despite the fact that information is always changing due to the pandemic.

“They’ve actually been really helpful in sending out weekly updates,” Tucker said. “Reassuring the athletes that we will be going and to keep working towards our goals.”

As it stands right now, the Olympics will begin in July. The international committee released a playbook explaining all of the safety procedures in February. Athletes do not have to quarantine, but do have to show a negative test and test negative upon arrival. They also have to stay in the village and cannot spectate at other events.

But the hoops are worth it for athletes who have long held the Olympic dream.

“We’ve been training for this all our lives,” Sha-

ner said.

In March, the pair will travel to India for a competition and to South Korea the next month.

Before Tucker and Shaner head to international play, they’ll attempt to secure the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2018.

“I do think my team will end up winning the [NCAA] championship and I have a lot of confidence in them,” Tucker said.

The NCAA championships will be held Feb. 23 and Kentucky, along with TCU (the reigning champion), Ole Miss (the only team to defeat Kentucky this season), and West Virginia (seven straight championship game appearances) are the favorites to hang the banner.

Kentucky also plans to compete in the GARC championships as well, a tournament they haven’t come home victorious from since 2013.

Despite the championships drawing near, Tucker and Shaner have their minds focused internationally and toward Tokyo.

But with international play comes the risk of contracting the virus and getting sick.

“There’s always a concern,” Shaner said.

Neither Tucker nor Shaner have shot a real competition match against other countries since 2019; Shaner says it’s worth the risk.

“It’s a very intense environment to be in and you have to get used to it before you feel comfortable in it,” Shaner said. To get to where he needs to be, he needs to take those risks.

No matter what happens

Mary Tucker. Photo provided by UK Athletics.

with the 2021 games, both Tucker and Shaner have their eyes set for 2024, regardless.

“I’ve already got that tracked out,” Shaner said.

“Especially since it’s already been pushed back a year so I’m only two year out from 2024 [qualifiers].”

In many other top sports like gymnastics, athletes who miss a year may have aged past their prime if their training doesn’t coincide with the Olympics or they miss a year, as everyone has due to the pandemic. But that’s not the case for rifle.

“Even if something does happen, I still have many more years after this one,” Tucker said.

Will Shaner. Photo provided by UK Athletics.

HANNAH PHILLIPS | UK ATHLETICS Will Shaner. Kentucky defeats Murray and Morehead.

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Monday, February 22, 2021

MASS SNOW GATHERINGS DRAW HUNDREDS Three waves of winter weather left layers of snow and ice on campus, and UK students took notice.

Hundreds of students flocked to the lawn of William T. Young Library on Monday and Thursday for snowball fights planned through a group messaging app. Snowballs weren’t the only attraction; a folding table turned ramp led to big air and bigger collisions for the students sledding down the slope. Like always, students got creative with their sleds - mattresses, shopping carts and kayaks all made the trip. On Monday night, students toppled a tree while others wrestled and played catch.

Despite the large number of students and violations of COVID-19 policies, the university did not shut down the event. Students said the lack of masks did not concern them. In a year where normalcy has been limited, students said the spontaneous fun showed them “the college experience.”

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF Clockwise: UK students gather in “The Bowl” on Monday, Feb. 15, 2021, at William T. Young Library in Lexington, Kentucky. A student sleds off a ramp outside of the library during the snow bonanza on Monday, Feb. 15, 2021. UK students climb into a frozen tree and snap the trunk on Monday, Feb, 15, 2021. A UK student throws a snowball during a planned snowball fight on Feb. 15, 2021. A trio of UK students ride a kayak off a makeshift ramp.

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Monday, February 22, 2021

spring 2021 | 9

Monday, February 22, 2021

news

Old space, new purpose for Lexington market

By Callie Justice news@kykernel.com

A historical building on the north side of Lexington recently received a face lift, becoming a neighborhood treasure. Greyline Station left its transportation routes in the past transforming into a marketplace of culture, health and creativity from local vendors.

Built as a bus maintenance faculty for Southeastern Greyhound buses in 1928, the building has welcomed many faces over its almost 100-year history.

The site was once the largest employer in Lexington.

In 1972, the building became a transport hub for Lextran but in recent years has sat empty.

With word of bulldozers closing in, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014 to prevent its demolition. Renovations began in 2018 to transform the 65,000 square foot building from bus hub to a multiuse facility complete with shops, restaurants, office space, an event center and a radio station.

Unlike malls or shopping centers, this market was designed to serve the people of the neighborhood and give locals a supported location to start and grow their businesses.

Julietta Market, locat-

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ed in Greyline Station, has created a space for new entrepreneurs to try their hand as a business owner with a strong support system.

The year-round multi-vendor market is operated

by The North Limestone Community Development Corporation (NOLI CDC), a non-profit organization that focuses on connecting members of the North Limestone neighborhood to resources and opportunities.

“We are really trying to make it something that features and lifts up groups of folks who historically have not had the same opportunity to flourish,” said Kris Nunn, Executive Director of NOLI CDC. “It is an uneven playing field out there. We are not going to change the system but try to create something where we can help level it a bit.”

Julietta Market understands the struggles that come with being a new business owner and works to take some of the weight off their vendors in any way they can. They offer their vendors cheaper leases, smaller spaces to manage, parking spaces, public restrooms, branding and support to help them succeed in creating a long-lasting business.

“They don’t have to worry about making sure the lights are on and heat is

JACK WEAVER | STAFF A customer shops at a vendor on Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, at Greyline Station in Lexington,

on,” said Nunn. “We maintain our own Social Media and advertising, so they don’t have to try to draw 100% of their customers to them.”

Julietta Market is meant to function as a stepping stone for new entrepreneurs to learn the skills of running a successful business and graduate out of the market to a commercial lease. They offer week-

ly meetings with a small business mentor to ensure their vendors receive all the tools they need.

“I think that the people who came in initially were sort of skeptical of what this thing was going to be and now that people can see it there are like ‘Oh, I could do that. That could be a great way for me to get out of this dead-end job that I’m in and do something

that I really love to do and see if I could make a living out of it,’” Nunn said.

Julietta Market hopes when the pandemic comes to an end and the weather warms, they can host more events focused on culture and the people of the community. They plan to feature cultural performances, poetry reading, comedy shows and student performances.

Poppy & Pomelo is a home and lifestyle boutique centered around art and travel located in Greyline Station. The shop features over 100 artists from around the world whose wide range of products include clothes, hand bags, baby gifts, self-care products and much more.

“I wanted to start my own business for the lonSee MARKET on page 11

Monday, February 22, 2021

news MARKET CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

gest time,” said Cami Risk, owner of Poppy & Pomelo.

“I felt like the business for that entire building (Greyline Station) and what it was going to bring to Lexington was something I wanted to be a part of. That, for me, solidified that I was going to open a shop.”

With a background in travel and a love for giving gifts, Risk created a shop inspired by her passion for culture and even features artists in her shop that she met during her travels. You can find beautiful jewelry made from the bones of cows in Haiti, hand-crafted by a woman based in San Juan.

“I love more of the personal aspect and connection versus just doing what is just in mass production, so I try to keep my focus there,” Risk said.

Poppy & Pomelo also features larger brands such as Truff Hot Sauc to give customers a wide selection of products. Poppy & Pomelo products can be found online or in the store and are available for in person shopping, curbside pickup and local delivery.

In the future, Risk hopes to give back to the community that supports her business. She is working to add a social good element that gives back to nonprofits in Lexington. She is also focusing on young artists and plans to display their work and teach them about the business that comes along with creating art.

Greyline Station does

not limit their focus to retail customers, but offers a wide range of experiences to attract the attention of all neighbors. Old North Bar can be found near the front of the market for guests to enjoy a local cocktail.

“I think everybody, when they are growing up, kind of has this idea of owning a bar that it would be cool. I spent about 20 years or so working in the corporate world and just really wanting to do something on my own,” said Wes Hogan, owner of Old North Bar. For Hogan and other owners , the new project presented a unique opportunity to try their hand as a business owner and build something special for the community they love.

“It’s something that I believe in, that I believe Lexington needs and I think that once we get past COVID and once we get past kind of all this it’s going to be a thriving community of local and small businesses here in Lexington,” Hogan said.

Old North Bar goes beyond the average bar service and offers its customers a wider range of experiences with Trivia Nights, Yoga, and live music on Friday nights.

“On Sunday we do Yoga, Brunch & Bubbles.

Our participants get a onehour yoga class, bottomless mimosas from Old North for a little bit and then a brunch box from Wilson’s Grocery who’s located in Old North Bar,” said Hogan.

Hogan hopes to add more events that interest

JACK WEAVER | STAFF Riah Durick, owner of Nourished Folks, prepares tacos on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021, at Greyline Station in Lexington, KY.

his customers based on their feedback and hopes to partner with more businesses in Greyline Station to add to the community experience.

Nourished Folks is a small restaurant located in Greyline Station focused on serving its customers with healthy meals made from fresh ingredients.

Everything at this locally owned restaurant is made from scratch in the small kitchen where you can find owner Riah Durick cooking with her younger daughter by her side.

“My food and my spot is basically southern comfort food with an international twist,” said Durick.

“Things that people are like ‘Oh, I don’t know. I don’t really eat that.’ I love to make it taste so comforting See MARKET on page 13

in a way that it blows their mind open to new possibilities of food.”

inspired Nourished Folk, giving her a way to combine her love of travel and flavors with her strong family values. Both of her parents made food and a lively kitchen was an important part of her upbringing. She still cooks with her mom, who says Durick is a better cook though she believes they simply just cook differently.

“One thing in the whole wide world that people can connect on is being in the kitchen and eating around the table together,” said Durick. “Even when you

have people over, somehow everyone just ends up in the kitchen.”

Nourished Folks plans to host small dinner parties in the near future offering fresh comfort food. She hopes these dinner parties celebrate small and large moments in a place that feel inviting, like home.

Other plans include guest bartender nights to highlight local mixologists.

With local owners and a focus on building connections across small businesses, the vendors at Greyline have turned what was once a transportation hub into an innovation hub. Most hope that the end of the pandemic will boost profits, but in the meantime they have passion to sustain them. If

so, the future of Greyline Station looks to be as rich and long as its history.

“One thing in the whole wide world that people can connect on is being in the kitchen and eating around the table together,” said Durick. “Even when you have people over, somehow everyone just ends up in the kitchen.”

Nourished Folks plans to host small dinner parties in the near future offering fresh comfort food. She hopes these dinner parties celebrate small and large moments in a place that feel inviting, like home.

Other plans for Nourished Folks future include guest bartender nights to highlight local mixologist giving them the recognition

JACK WEAVER | STAFF Caitlyn Edwards works at Poppy & Pomelo on Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, at Greyline Station in Lexington, Kentucky.

spring 2021 | 11

Monday, February 22, 2021

news

Students hope for debt relief as government wavers on amount

By Haley Simpkins news@kykernel.com

Student debt forgiveness has been a major topic of conversation during the start of the Biden presidency, and students at UK are joining the discussion.

According to the annual Federal Student Loan Portfolio, as of September 2020, the total U.S. student federal loan debt numbers $1.57 trillion with 42.9 million borrowers across the country.

With these numbers, the average federal student debt per borrower would be about $36,596.

The portfolio also includes a breakdown of state numbers.

Kentucky totals $19.1 billion in federal student debt borrowed by 585,500 Kentuckians. With these numbers, the average federal student debt per borrower in Kentucky comes out to be around $32,621.

According to the report, 106,900 Kentuckians ages 24 and younger owe $1.53 billion out of the total student debt for the state.

This would put the current average federal student loan debt for Kentuckians age 24 and younger around $14,312.

Though this number seems low in comparison to the others, members of this age group are still in school and are expected to continue borrowing for several years, so there is likely great variation between the average debt of this group. They can expect their debt to continue growing as they continue through college and accumulate interest.

Therefore, the overage statewide average provides a more

12 | kentucky kernel

accurate picture to use when discussing student loan forgiveness, since many of these young borrowers will likely end up owing somewhere around this amount once they have finished school.

Biden’s plan for forgiving student debt starts with eliminating $10,000 from each borrowers’ federal student debt. Biden plans to take this action through Congress. though no legislation has been proposed yet.

According to the Federal Student Loan portfolio, 15.3 million federal student loan borrowers, more than a third of total federal borrowers, owe less than $10,000. This legislation would eliminate debt for all of those borrowers and drop the total outstanding federal debt by $429 billion to around $1.14 trillion, a decrease of more than 25 percent.

However, members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have called on Biden to do more in terms of student debt relief, by signing an ex- Graphic made by Natalie Parks with Infogram. ecutive order forgiving $50,000 would still be obligated to repay situation. per borrower. the remainder.

Student loan debt can leave That kind of forgiveness The remaining amount of debt a looming cloud over studentss would total over $2 trillion if would total $700 billion, less than mental well-being and financial every borrower needed the full half of its current value. security that only worsens once $50,000.

But the legality of passing one graduates and has to begin But because some people owe such a costly legislation through repayment. less than $50,000 and the differ- executive order has been called Jeffrey Akers, a recent UK ence would not transfer to anoth- into question numerous times alumni, said that his concern er person, that possible $2 trillion since this proposal, and President about his student loans is promwould not eliminate federal stu- Biden said that he was not in sup- inent in his everyday life, espedent debt. port of the plan. cially in the COVID-19 pandemStill, $50,000 in loan forgiveStudents across the country ic. ness would relieve the entirety of are paying close attention to the “Student debt, while halted debt for 80 percent of borrow- discussion around student debt through the CARES act, only ers, or 36 million people. Those forgiveness because of its poten- makes me realize more the imwith more than $50,000 in loans tial effect on their own financial pact it has on my life and

so many others. The idea of making payment on 5 different loans makes me wonder how that will be possible with the cost of rent and wage I am currently at,” Akers said.

Biden signed an executive order extending the pause on student debt repayment through September 2021. Debtors will still owe their lump sum but not interest from passed months. Private loans are still in effect.

Akers said he also feels like the education system itself sets See DEBT on page 13

Monday, February 22, 2021

news DEBT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

up a constant cycle of financial worry without enough benefit for students.

“You go to school full of hopes of a great paying job and end up two years out of school only to end up working for a low wage and something outside of your passion and purpose,” Akers said. “It is frustrating and confusing as to how an education that puts you this much in debt could possibly put us this far behind.”

Akers said that the $10,000 relief would mean that he could break away from this cycle.

“It would mean I could put $10,000 into my dreams, into my purpose. Since graduating, I have wanted to inspire people and motivate people to follow their dreams.

Often too many people get distracted by the debt of education and settle for something less than what their dreams once were,” Akers said.

Isabel Phillips, a senior political science major, said that though she is still in school, any amount of student debt forgiveness would mean she could feel less anxious for post-graduation.

“If either of the reliefs were passed I would be much less stressed about how I am going to manage paying my loans off,” Phillips said. “I also think I would be able to be more risky when it comes to what ca-

MARKET CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

in a way that it blows their mind open to new possibilities of food.”

Durick’s passion for food and family are what inspired Nourished Folk, giving her a way to combine her love of travel and flavors with her strong family values. Both of her parents made food and a lively kitchen was an important part of her upbringing.

She still cooks with her mom, who says Durick is a better cook though she believes they simply just cook differently.

“One thing in the whole wide world that people can connect on is being in the kitchen and eating around the table together,” said Durick. “Even when you have people over, somehow everyone just ends up in the kitchen.”

reer I want to pursue because I won’t have to be concerned about making enough money to pay off my loans.”

Emily Hall, junior kinesiology major, said she would feel the same sense of relief when it comes to any level of student debt forgiveness, but she would like to see more relief than Biden’s $10,000 plan.

“If $10,000 was forgiven I would view that as super helpful but only a kickstart. I would view $50,000 as more of a weight off my shoulders,” Hall said.

Hall said with interest payments adding up, the $50,000 relief would help ease her mind far more than the $10,000.

“Interest really builds up in student loans over the years that you are in college, so the loan I took out my freshman year has increased a lot,” Hall said. “I often stress of paying off my loans post-graduation. Each year when I have to pay my tuition it is a huge anxiety-causing event because I realize just how much it costs to have a college education.”

Hall was not alone in advocating for the $50,000 relief, as both Akers and Phillips were in favor of it as well.

It is unclear when action to forgive any amount of student debt will be taken, but Akers said he hopes to see some form of action soon not only for current students but for the future of our country.

“There is potential in all people when given the chance and opportunity, but

Graphic made by Natalie Parks with Infogram. Kentuckians below the age of 24, the group most likely to increase their loans because they are still in school, account for $1.53 billion of the state’s federal student debt.

sometimes that opportunity comes at a cost that is too great in the world of uncertainty.

Education is vital to where our future takes us, I believe all people deserve that oppor-

tunity to learn, grow, and inspire others through their education,” Akers said.

Nourished Folks plans to host small dinner parties in the near future offering fresh comfort food. She hopes these dinner parties celebrate small and large moments in a place that feel inviting, like home. Other plans include guest bartender nights to highlight local mixologists.

With local owners and a focus on building connections across small businesses, the vendors at Greyline have turned what was once a transportation hub into an innovation hub. Most hope that the end of the pandemic will boost profits, but in the meantime they have passion to sustain them. If so, the future of Greyline Station looks to be as rich and long as its history.

JACK WEAVER | STAFF Customers sit at tables at Old North Bar on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021, at Greyline Station in Lexington, Kentucky.

spring 2021 | 13

Monday, February 22, 2021

news

NATALIE PARKS I STAFF Freshmen attend the iPad Pick-A-Path offered by Apple as part of K Week on Friday, August 23, 2019 in Lexington, Kentucky.

Partnerships finalized, programs extended at February Board of Trustees meeting

By Natalie Parks editor@kykernel.com

In its first meeting of 2021, the University of Kentucky’s Board of Trustees concluded standing business from the previous year while setting its agenda for the next. As several administrators said, February is when the university begins looking at the next fiscal year and planning for 2021 – 2022.

During his statement to the board, university president Eli Capilouto shared the most detailed numbers so far from UK’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic, which has been in operation for over a month and given more than 60,000 total doses. According to Capilouto, 20,000 of those have

14 | kentucky kernel

been given to those 70 and older.

Another significant segment of the recipients has been 9,000 K – 12 employees of Fayette County Public Schools, a demographic UK was specifically asked to help vaccinate. A further 1,800 shots have gone to first responders.

Since December, nearly 12,000 UK HealthCare employees were vaccinated. Capilouto shared that “several thousand” campus employees had also been vaccinated, with more to come as the university announced recently it would vaccinate all campus employees, including students.

The facility recently expanded its capacity to 450 people an hour, enabling volunteers to deliver an additional 1,000 doses a day. According to UKHC ad-

ministrators, the clinic will soon pivot to 1C (essential worker) vaccinations. Because more than 1 million Kentuckians fall into 1C, those shots will take longer to get through.

Capilouto also shared a personnel update with the hiring of Marilyn Clarke as the university’s supplier diversity manager.

“This is a most critical position that will provide the dedicated focus required to build trust and credibility in the community related to procurement,” Capilouto said.

Clarke was previously employed by Fayette County Public Schools and Lexington’s city government. In her role at UK she will oversee the diversification of the university’s supply chain,

including its purchases from minority, women and veteran owned businesses.

In other updates, Capilouto shared who will head three committees related to diversity, including a committee led by vice president Mary Vosevitch that will examine the equity of campus spaces and buildings, including aspects like art and disability access.

“Members are working to identify existing areas of concern on the campus relative to institutional art, history, sculpture and civic landscape, accessibility and other barriers to inclusion within the buildings across his campus,” Capilouto said. He expects a more concrete plan in July.

Included in those initiatives is

a dedicated fund that will comission an art piece for each capital project over $1 million.

Trustee Barbara Young said the King’s Daughter Healthcare partnership will be officially launched in 106 days and their CEO Kristie Whitlach will formally join UK HealthCare on April 1. The partnership was approved during a special meeting of the Board of Trustees at the end January, after a year of planning, and represents $500 million in revenue.

Trustee Elizabeth McCoy shared an update from the investment committee that showed promise for UK’s long-term finances.

See BOARD on page 16

Monday, February 22, 2021

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spring 2021 | 15

Monday, February 22, 2021

sports TENNIS After a back-and-forth battle, the final doubles match found itself in a tiebreaker. But Bourgois and Diallo were up for the task in the end, outlasting Wagner and Hohmann 7-6 (7-1) to claim another hardfought doubles point for Kentucky – the eleventh time out of twelve tries this season. This was the third victory over ranked opponents for for Diallo and Bourgois, improving their record to 8-2 as a pair this year. Kentucky looked to ride that momentum into singles play.

inally from Ontario, faced off against LSU’sAcross the redshirt freshman Ronald Hohmann, ranked no.

99.

UK first added to their lead with a quick win by Bourgois, 6-1, 6-2 against Kozlov. The team captain out of Paris is now 8-1 in singles play this season.

Kentucky extended their lead to three thanks to Diallo, who defeated Wagner 7-5, 6-2.

Just a minute after Diallo won his match, UK would finish off LSU thanks to Hurrion, who prevailed over Tom Pisane 7-5, 6-1, giving UK a 4-0 sweep in their SEC opener against a tough LSU team.

Singles was headlined

by Liam Draxl, now ranked no. 45 in men’s singles nationally and undefeated as a sophomore. Draxl, orig-

At the time of the finish, Draxl and Hohmann were in a three-set war with maximum emotion.

Hohmann claimed the first

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

BOARD CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

“The endowment pool had a market value of $1.8 billion as of December 31 2020 and gained an estimated 13.7% in the six month fiscal year to day period,” McCoy said. said. “U.S. and international equity exposures were the primary contributor to performance for the period.”

The most immediate impact for students arose out of the finance committee meeting, where board members voted to extend the Smart Campus iPad initiative for a third year. UK has given iPads to incoming freshmen and select students the last two falls at a total cost of $2.6 million so far. An additional 7,500 iPad kits, including Apple pencils, will be

spring 2021 15

set 6-4, but Draxl battled back and won the second set 6-1. Hohmann led set three 3-2 at the time of the finish. Tennis ends with the first team to reach 4 game points, so this match was not necessary for UK’s win.

Now 8-1 and 0-1 in SEC, the women’s team will next play on Friday as they take on the Alabama Crimson Tide inside the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex at 2:00 p.m. E.T. The 11-1 (1-0 in SEC) men’s team will return to action on Tuesday, where they will travel to College Station, Texas to face the Texas A&M Aggies in a previously postponed matchup at the Mitchell Tennis Center. The match will begin a three-match road trip for the men’s team, with Tuesday’s match beginning at 4:00 p.m. E.T.

purchased for the next class of students at an estimated $1.6 million cost.

UK transitioned to distance learning just three weeks after the board voted to approve a second year of iPads for the fall of 2020.

“There was endless challenges, there was all kinds of things to navigate on this campus, at home, personally for everybody.

Thankfully, one thing that we didn’t have to navigate on this campus was technology,” Abbie Loynachan, director of the Smart Campus initiative, told the board. Loynachan said that due to that recent reupping of the iPad program, Apple shipped another 2,500 iPads to UK that arrived two days before students had to vacate campus because of the pandemic.

“As they were going home,

JACK WEAVER I STAFF Gabriel Diallo high fives his doubles partner during the University of Kentucky vs. Louisiana State men’s tennis meet on Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021, at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky won 4-0.

we were easily just handing them out to students who didn’t have the technology that they would have here on campus. So, to date, I think we have about 12,000 iPads on campus in the hands of students. And of those, about 1,000 were distributed last year because of going home, because of going remote, to students in need. So, for some of our students, those devices were a matter of whether or not they stayed enrolled, or went home, or withdrew and were done at UK for that semester.”

The finance committee also heard from executive vice president Eric Monday about the possibility of recalling some of the university’s held bonds as a way of regaining money to have on hand. The identified bond came in at $3 million, which Monday said

the administration will explore as funding for building projects.

Other items passed by the finance committee included a commitment to improving the university’s parking structures and a loan for Delta Gamma, a sorority on campus.

The capital project for campus parking and transportation resulted from a 2018 study and will provide for “concrete repairs, installation of surface coatings, completion of masonry repairs, painting as required” and other work. At $1,500,000, the project will be paid for with agency funds.

The motion for a not-to-exeed loan for Delta Gamma was passed. The sorority is engaged in fundraising, Monday said. The $950,000 will go to a house renovation that will add 2,500 square

feet to the sorority’s campus residence.

The finance committee also approved a motion to sell three pieces of property to the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government for a total of $68,614.00.

In the healthcare meeting, speakers announced the near-completion of a reorganization of UKHC’s electronic records platform.

After a two-year transition stage, the new format will take effect on June 5 and feature modules for patients to fill out billing and electronic consent forms. The new system should be simpler.

Implementing the new platform cost $315 million, according to the presentation.

Sarah Michels contributed reporting.