kentuckykernel
Monday, September 14, 2020 est. 1892 | Independent since 1971 www.kykernel.com @kykernel @kentuckykernel
NOT AN ISLAND
LEXINGTON RESIDENTS WEIGH IN ON UK STUDENT PRESENCE Voter registration
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Board of Trustees updates
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Football stadium capacity
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Monday, September 14, 2020
How to tell someone to wear a mask with confidence
By Ryder Noah From
opinions@kykernel.com
While walking into the elevator of my dorm, I noticed that the person who entered with me had her mask down because she was eating an apple. My corona anxiety gave me the courage to politely ask her to put up her mask. “But I’m eating,” she replied. “I know, but we’re in an enclosed space,” I said. She
put up her mask and my regret set in; was I being mean by asking her to do that? No, I quickly reminded myself. We all need to remember that we are living in a pandemic where being in a cramped elevator for even 10 seconds runs the risk of transmission. It’s not worth it for an apple or for face ID when the passcode only
takes seconds to punch in. UK does not have the infrastructure to monitor if every student is following the health guidelines. Due to the inability to supervise off-campus parties and a largely-unenforceable basic daily wellness screening, it’s up to us to mitigate the spread of the virus. These actions might come with thoughts of self-doubt; am I ruining someone’s fun by reporting a party? Am I being unreasonable if I ask someone to wear a mask outside even though they’re close to others? Will the people on this bus judge me if I call out someone who isn’t wearing a mask? You’re not being rude or unreasonable. Parties especially aren’t worth it and there’s more of a stigma around them. More people know it’s bad to party, and
universities are equipped (or at least will try) to discipline students if they happen; it’s smaller instances for which we have to watch out. Gatton may be big, but it’s still an enclosed space. If you see someone not wearing their mask in the student center, try meeting the person’s eyes and pointing to your own mask or make a gesture for them to put it up. If they don’t comply, try saying something. But don’t be hostile. Fights, especially physical ones, will only make the situation worse. Buses are dangerous since they’re more enclosed, so this should give you even more of a reason to request proper mask wearing. Try the gesture if they’re looking your way. If not, project your voice, and if people stare at you
for doing that, let them. Make a statement. Be empowered by their attention. This is the time to make a difference, no matter how small, and to show everyone that some students care about the spread. If you see someone who’s a repeat offender, you can send in a tip to the university. People say snitches get stitches, but
I’d rather have that than COVID-19. And remember - it’s not ratting someone out, it’s caring about everyone’s health. If you’re outside and people are significantly far from you or you can’t see anyone at all, feel free to take in a breath of fresh air, and then put your mask back on when you get closer to others.
every hour. every day. kykernel.com 2 | kentucky kernel
Monday, September 14, 2020
LOOKING BACK, MOVING FORWARD UK CROSSES 1,000 STUDENTCASES SINCE FIRST DAY OF CLASSES
Based on data from the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, the number of student cases at UK is now over 1,000 since the resumption of classes 28 days ago. LFCHD has reported a total of 1,347 student cases going back to March; LFCHD spokesperson Kevin Hall confirmed that 231 of those cases were reported prior to Aug. 17, making the total reported cases since the first day of classes 1,116 cases as of Sept. 12. Not all of the cases are active; some are recovered, but the LFCHD does not track recoveries among students. UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said the 1,000 case milestone underscores the seriousness of coronavirus. “However, the most important indica-
tors, as reflected in our daily dashboard, are the active cases, those who have recovered, those who are completing the daily screening and our ability to serve and protect our students as indicated by our isolation capacity,” Blanton said. “We are cautiously optimistic about what those numbers show, as we have a higher number of recovered cases than active cases.” UK is currently reporting 383 active cases as of Sept. 10. UK’s numbers include tests conducted through the university’s partnership with Wild Health, University Health Services, uploaded results and self-reported positives through contact tracing, said Todd Brann, executive director of institutional research, analytics and decision support. The health department includes positives from students who are Fayette County residents and students who choose to stay in Fayette County for their isolation. There have been no hospitalizations or deaths reported among UK students. There are some discrepancies between what UK reports and what LFCHD reports; UK’s total and LFCHD’s total are different, in part because UK’s numbers go back to July 20 and LFCHD’s go back to March. Student cases since the beginning of the semester account for 16 percent of all of Lexington’s cases since March.
UK WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM HOSTING SOCIAL JUSTICE MARCH
JACK WEAVER | STAFF UK ROTC cadets fold the American flag after it is lowered at the memorial for the 19th anniversary of 9/11 on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, outside of the Main Building in Lexington, Kentucky.
On Wednesday, Sept. 16, Kentucky women’s basketball players are holding a social justice walk across UK’s campus. The flyer for the event said the players want to bring awareness to police brutality and how those issues affect the Black community, as well as “encourage our peers to exercise their right to vote”, demand justice, provide mental health information and “spread love through these tough times.” The march will begin at William T. Young Library at 11:00 a.m. A unity fair will be held following the march. Masks are required and the flyer requests attendees
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CONTACT Editor-in-chief: Natalie Parks editor@kykernel.com
stay six feet apart.
BLACKBAUD BREACH LEAVES 163,000 UK HEALTHCARE DONORS AND PATIENTS VULNERABLE
Blackbaud, a third-party data solution services company, that provided services to UK HealthCare between 2015 and 2019, was hacked by an unauthorized individual between February 7, 2020 and May 20, 2020, leaving information of about 163,000 UK HealthCare donors and patients vulnerable. The incident affected over 25,000 nonprofit organizations worldwide including libraries, arts foundations, higher education and health care organizations who use Blackbaud. UK HealthCare will notify those whose information was breached. The unauthorized user may have gained access to data that includes first and last name, address, date of birth, medical record number, admission date, attending physician and area of service for care. No credit card information, bank account information or social security numbers were provided by UK HealthCare to Blackbaud. “Protecting the security of information belonging to our donors, patients and any individuals whose information is entrusted to us is of the utmost importance,” said Richard Chapman, UK HealthCare chief privacy officer. “Our health system has strict policies and procedures in place to protect patient information, and we are currently undertaking additional steps to reinforce those measures.” UK HealthCare recommends patients who were affected review medical statements from their healthcare advisor to ensure their statements only include services they received. For more information or questions about the incident, call (866) 968-0161.
Managing editor: Michael Clubb editor@kykernel.com News/features editor: Lauren Campbell news@kykernel.com Asst. news editors: Haley Blackburn Emily Girard Sports editor: Braden Ramsey sports@kykernel.com Opinions editor: Sarah Michels opinions@kykernel.com Asst. Opinions editor: Gillian Stawiszynski Photo editor: Tori Rogers Designers: Mya LaClair Ryder Noah From Social media manager: Sarah Simon-Patches KENTUCKY KERNEL OFFICES 340 McVey Hall University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40506
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news
Voting guide: registration deadlines and absentee ballot requests
By Elijah Hendricks news@kykernel.com
Like most things about 2020, voting has changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Where in previous years voting meant waiting in a long and crowded line, this year’s election calls for evaluating different voting methods to see which is the best fit for your health and safety concerns. With Election Day coming up on Nov. 3, now is the time to make sure you have completed
the proper steps to vote and brush up on the local races happening in your area, as well as the presidential race. For many college students, 2020 will be the first election they can vote in; for others, it is their first time voting in a presidential election. With important deadlines for the voting process coming up in October, the Kernel has assembled a guide for students who are voting for the first time.
The first step in voting is registering. The deadline to register to vote in Kentucky is Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. New voters in Kentucky can register online at the GoVoteKy website, https:// vrsws.sos.ky.gov/ovrweb/. Make sure to have your social security and driver’s license numbers on hand or memorized. Kentucky residents who are unsure about their registration status can check their voter record at https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/ vic/.
ABC and other outlets have published compilations of voter registration deadlines for all states, so out-of-state students can look up their registration deadline online with a quick Google search. Here are the registration deadlines for states surrounding Kentucky: Ohio – Oct. 5 Tennessee – Oct. 5 West Virginia – Oct. 13 Virginia – Oct. 13
MICHAEL CLUBB I STAFF Signs in support of Amy McGrath and Josh Hicks sit outside a home on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, at a neighborhood in Lexington, Kentucky.
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Illinois – Oct. 18 Indiana – Oct. 5 Missouri – Oct. 7 All states require a social security number and driver’s license or state ID number to register. Out-ofstate students can choose to vote in Kentucky’s elections, but they must change their registration, which they can do by visiting the GoVoteKy website supplied above. Students who are already registered to vote next need to determine how they will vote. There are two basic options: vote in-person or vote by mail. Voting in-person requires going to a physical polling station. According to the Fayette County election office, they have not yet chosen polling stations; an announcement will be made closer to Oct. 13. In previous years there has been a polling station on UK’s campus. If you choose to vote in-person on Election Day, prepare to social distance and wear a mask. UK has made Nov. 3 a holiday; classes will not be in session so everyone has time to vote. Fayette County clerk Don Blevins said polling stations would be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3. However, polling stations will be open for the three weeks prior to that if you want to vote in-person early.
According to the Kentucky state government’s general election plan, early voting will begin on Oct. 13. All county clerks are supposed to provide a safe location for in-person voting on every weekday and for at least four hours every Saturday. This initiative is designed to expand the time period for voting so that fewer people are present at a polling station at once, making social distancing easier to implement. Blevins said locations have not been chosen yet, but that early voting stations would consistently be the same location and they would all run 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays and 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Some voters may be concerned about the possibility of contracting COVID-19 while voting and what safety measures are being taken at polling stations. Blevins said that according to the health department, the in-person voting booths do not need to be cleaned between voters. “We will supply cleaning supplies to the election officers so that if someone coughs or sneezes that can be cleaned as necessary,” Blevins said. “We’re told we don’t need to wipe them down between each voter though.” See VOTING on page 5
Monday, September 14, 2020
VOTING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
This is because of the voting method: all ballots are paper this year, Blevins said, so the contact transmission is low. “When they vote in-person they’ll be handed the ballot, they’ll fill it out, and then they put it in the scanner themselves, and walk out the door,” Blevins said. The other option for voting is absentee, or mail-in, voting. In regular elections, absentee voting is normally reserved for people who, like college students, live away from the city they are registered to vote in. Because of the pandemic, any Kentuckian who wishes to can request to vote by mail, according to Executive Order 2020-668(1). The Executive Order was based on recommendations from Kentucky’s Secretary of State Michael Adams, who said that absentee voting should be expanded due to concerns of contracting or spreading of COVID-19. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 9 at 11:59 PM. The portal to apply for an absentee ballot in Kentucky is now open and has three steps: eligibility, identification and address. If you wish to request an absentee ballot in Kentucky, they can be found at https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/ abrweb/. Out-of-state students can find information on requesting an absentee ballot by visiting their county’s election office website. Here are the deadlines for requesting absentee ballots in the states neighboring Kentucky:
MICHAEL CLUBB I STAFF Voting stations lined up at the the Maxwell Elementary Voting location. Voters came out early in the morning to vote in the midterm elections on Tuesday, Nov. 6, at the Maxwell Elementary Voting location in Lexington, Kentucky.
Ohio – Oct. 31 at 11:59 p.m. Tennessee – Oct. 27 West Virginia – Oct. 28 Virginia – Oct. 23 Illinois – Oct. 29 Indiana – Oct. 22 Missouri – Oct. 21 Once you have received your mail-in ballot, fill it out and mail it in immediately. Fayette County residents can see a sample ballot on the county clerk website. According to Kentucky’s general election plans, ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 6 to be counted. Voters are advised to mail their ballots early due to ongoing instability in the United States Postal Service; in recent months,
MICHAEL CLUBB I STAFF Signs in support of Andy Barr sit outside homes on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, at a neighborhood in Lexington, Kentucky.
public mailboxes in some cities and mail sorting machines in some post offices have been removed, limiting the speed at which mail can be delivered.
The Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, eliminated overtime for postal workers, banned extra delivery trips and said mail should be held until the next day
if delivery centers are running behind. All of this, plus long-standing financial struggles, have caused mail delivery to slow down in some places. The slow-
down has raised fears of a backlog in mail sorting that will cause some votes not to be counted, as the volume of mail-in ballots rises due to concerns over in-person voting during a pandemic. Fortunately for voters who are concerned about sending their ballots through the mail, there will be another alternative for turning in absentee ballots – drop boxes. Blevins said he has ordered six ballot drop boxes, which will be strategically placed around Lexington. The drop boxes are “steel containers that look similar to mailboxes”, Blevins said, and can be mounted on concrete and bolted down. Voters can physically deposit their completed ballot in the drop box and it will be picked up later, without having to journey through the mail. Either way, students can protect their vote by filling out their ballot and turning it in early. If you intend to vote in-person, do not request an absentee ballot; according to Section 23 of this election’s emergency regulations, “once a voter has requested a mail-in absentee ballot, the voter cannot vote in person unless the voter does not receive their requested ballot by October 28, 2020.” Voters can contact their local county clerk’s office with questions; be sure to keep an eye on the various deadlines. November is fast approaching, so now is the time to start thinking about your plans and familiarizing yourself with who’s on the ballot. Whether you go in or stay out to vote, make sure you are doing your part to stay well and protect others.
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news
Lexington residents weigh-in on UK remaining open amidst COVID-19 By Lauren Campbell news@kykernel.com Emily Girard contributed reporting
The University of Kentucky is an integral part of the Lexington community. With a campus in the heart of downtown and over 10,000 employees, UK plays a key role in the Lexington and state economy. However, the community of Lexington has concerns over UK reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since UK’s reopened semester began, UK students have contributed to rising levels of COVID-19 cases in Lexington. The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department has reported a total of 1,347 cases among UK students since March, 1,116 of which were reported in the month since classes began. As of Sept. 12, UK students thus accounted for 19 percent of all COVID-19 cases in Lexington-Fayette county since March, according to the LFCHD. Cases among UK students just since the start of the semester, on Aug. 17, account for 16 percent of all of Lexington’s cases since March, according to LFCHD’s data. On any given day last week, UK students accounted for 30 percent to 50 percent of newly reported cases each day. The number of student cases in Lexington
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MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF A group of pedestrians cross the street on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020, at the intersection of Main Street and Broadway in Lexington, Kentucky.
is disproportionate to the number of students in the community population. UK currently has around 30,000 currently enrolled students, while the population of Lexington-Fayette County is around 323,152, according the U.S. Census Bureau. So, students account for 9 percent of the local population, but 19 percent of the county’s cases. Despite the disparities and rising case numbers,
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton is in support of UK’s reopening and has worked with UK administrators to create a plan to ensure that happens. Susan Straub, the communications director for the mayor’s office, said Gorton has spoken with university administrators. “The university has carefully put together a plan designed to protect the University of Kentucky
community and the City. The university is monitoring students closely to ensure their guidelines are followed,” said Straub. “The mayor has called on all members of the campus community to strictly follow safety restrictions.” However, the mayor’s office does acknowledge the possibility of UK shutting down again if people do not adhere to safety guidelines. “Failure to do so will
ultimately mean UK will decide once again to close down campus. No one wants that,” Straub said. But not everyone in the city is in support of UK remaining open for in-person classes. When Lexington resident Mariam Addarrat heard UK would return to holding in-person classes this semester, she was disappointed. “The administration has a responsibility to pro-
tect not only students and staff, but the community as well. They can’t police what students are doing off campus, so why run the risk of having them exposing fellow students and staff if they happen to pick up the COVID-19 virus off campus at parties/bars or even the grocery store?” said Addarrat. “There’s way too many variables to consider.” Addarrat’s two daughters currently attend UK and live at home with her high-risk asthmatic son. Her family can’t afford to get sick. “My daughters both live at home, here in Lexington since we are limiting the time they spend on campus. They are around their grandparents frequently and my younger son is asthmatic. So it is a stressful situation. They made the decision to get tested frequently for extra precautions,” said Addarrat. UK frequently receives emails of both concern and support of operating in-person during COVID-19, said Sarah Geegan, UK’s director of executive communications. “We receive letters and emails on a broad range of topics, and those communications go to offices throughout the campus. We certainly have received information and questions about campus operations See RESIDENTS on page 7
Monday, September 14, 2020
RESIDENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6
both concerns and support for our return to reinvented operations,” Geegan said. Geegan stated the exact number of each would be “difficult to quantify.” Bond Jacobs, a Lexington native who recently retired from Visit Lex after 25 years, states UK is “doing its due diligence” compared to other schools. “The university has a good weapon in that it’s a medical research school with a lot of resources to help with that endeavor,” Jacobs said. But Ghady Kanaan, a junior studying chemistry at UK, doesn’t feel like the majority of the Lexington community is happy with students being on campus. “Lexington isn’t happy about UK’s reopening. There is a positive side that says business is booming and needed campus to be open, but think about families and such. UK students can be found everywhere in Lexington,” Kanaan said. Jason Glass has lived in Lexington since 2007 and works at The Rooster’s Nest Barber Shop & Shave Parlour. He said UK is doing an “alright job.” “For the most part, everyone’s wearing their mask… It’s really hard to hone it all in, but everyone’s doing… the best that we can considering the circumstances. We all have different levels of safety, and I think they do really well with respecting that,” Glass said. Neither the LFCHD or the Lexington Police Department are monitoring cases of students not social distancing. LFCHD is “not in-
volved with any complaints in private residences,” said Kevin Hall, communications officer for LFCHD. “There is no ordinance for the police department to enforce regarding people not following social distancing guidelines. If we respond to a party, it is generally in regards to a noise complaint or some disorderly conduct. That is nothing new,” said Brenna Angel, LPD’s Public Information Officer. However, the Code of Student Conduct at UK applies to students both on and off-campus, which now calls for students to follow social distancing guidelines. “UK responds to reports regarding off-campus behavior in the same way we respond to on-campus incidents,” said Geegan. “We evaluate reports for credibility and engage with the students or registered student organizations who may be responsible for the behavior.” Geegan said that depending on the information provided, an investigation may begin to determine if policy was violated. Thus far in the semester, UK has not announced any disciplinary measures taken against students for violating social distancing. Bruce Breeding, an instructor at Jefferson Community and Technical College in Shelbysville, has lived in Lexington since 2003. He said that while he didn’t think UK students were spreading COVID-19, they weren’t taking it seriously, either. “Every student that vapes thinks, ‘I’m not going to get cancer’. Every student that takes their mask down thinks, ‘I don’t have it, I’m not gonna make any-
JACK WEAVER | STAFF UK students walk in to the Gatton Student Center on the first day of in-person classes on Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.
body sick’,” Breeding said. He said he learned about UK’s approach to reopening through the news and relatives. “I know they’ve tested all the students and been real intentional about making sure every student was tested,” Breeding said. He felt that UK should be “real particular” about monitoring student organizations who violate the rules. Jacobs said that for educational purposes, the reopening was probably better than all remote learning. “As long as...people [can] be separate from one another, I think in-person learning is probably a better way to educate, but these are different times... if the university is taking all the precautions it can to make sure that the environment for in-class learning is following all the guidelines… it’s okay.”
Data from the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department’s COVID-19 case updates. As of Sept. 12, UK students accounted for 19 percent of all of Lexington’s cases since March. 82 percent of cases among students were reported in the last month.
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Letter to the editor: CI course modalities By Jennifer Greer Guest Columnist
I write to clarify data included in Sept. 8 article “In-person, hybrid or online: How do this semester’s courses break down?” The article stated: “The College of Communication and Information, at 20.52 percent, has the lowest percentage of in-person courses…” The data point referenced is the percentage of our course sections coded as “traditional” by the university. Our college also offered 31.27 percent of our sections as “hybrid,” which also includes in-person instruction. Hybrid sections split students into groups that attend on alternating days to accommodate CDC-recommended classroom spacing. In total, 51.79 percent of CI’s sections for Fall 2020 have an in-person instructional component, most meeting at least once a week. Our peer colleges also cited in the article as having low “in-person” instruction similarly use a combination of traditional and hybrid delivery. Arts and Sciences (48.16 percent) and Health Sciences (43.42 percent) offered a strong mix of sections using traditional and hybrid in-person approaches. Combining traditional and hy4,987 course sections include some in-person instruction this semester. While the College of Communication and Information is slightly below that percentage, we are home to one of the largest and oldest fully online programs, Library Science, as well as a newer online graduate degree in Information Communication Technology. Removing 33 sections in those fully online graduate programs, the college has 58.03 percent of sections featuring in-person instruction. Each UK college worked to provide a blend of modalities right for its students,
and each could offer its own context for the data presented. I commend the Kernel working to make sense of complex data and helping document an unprecedented semester. When President Eli Capilouto promised a robust residential experience for Fall 2020, the College of Communication and Information, like our peer colleges, rose to
the challenge. I could not be more proud of our faculty and staff in delivering to students a choice of learning wholly online or face to face on the beautiful UK campus. Sincerely, Jennifer Greer, Dean, Communication and Information
EDITOR’S NOTE The Kernel seeks thoughtful and engaged contributions from its readers and welcomes letters to the editor as part of an ongoing discussion between us and our community. Send letters to editor@kykernel.com
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Monday, September 14, 2020
Tips for a semester like no other By Sarah Simon-Patches and Natalie Parks news@kykernel.com
Experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci recommend colleges keep students on campus, so that students don’t go home and spread the virus to other places. Without knowing UK’s plans for an emergency move to remote learning, it’s hard to plan what steps you should take for that scenario. But these are some factors to keep in mind if our semester plans are changed:
College is intimidating. College during a pandemic, with mental health battles, COVID-19 challenges and frustrating WiFi failures is a whole other level. Those of us who were UK students in the spring have a little bit of experience with learning during a pandemic, so here are a few tips from the Kernel on what we learned from last semester’s remote learning and COVID-19 changes
1. Transportation
. ONLINE LEARNING 1. Take care of yourself. In a world full of unknowns, the one thing you do have control over is yourself. Take vitamins, spend time in the sunlight and stay virtually connected to people you care about. Reach out when you feel isolated and alone and know there are plenty of resources available to you if you need support. 2. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Asking for help may seem embarrassing or complicated, but it is so important, especially during a remote semester. Don’t be afraid to set up Zoom meetings with your professors during office hours or to ask questions about material you may be struggling with. They want to help you succeed in their course, so ask questions! 3. Stay organized. Keep a daily schedule that is consistent and as close to your in-person schedule as possible. Use a planner to write down important dates and have friends hold you accountable. If possible, keep your workspace away from your bed where you may be tempted to procrastinate. Everyone has their own method of organization, so find what works for you, and stick with it! 4. Check up on your technology. There are few things more annoying than a technological malfunction. Do what you can to be prepared by grabbing an extra pair of headphones, testing your microphones and keeping your Zoom app
PHOTO BY MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF UK freshman interior design major Caroline Slicer packs bags into the back of a car for spring break on Thursday, March 12, 2020, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. When UK shut down for COVID-19 in the spring, students first went home for spring break and then came back to get their belongings after UK went online.
updated.
QUARANTINE PREP If you are someone who frequently has close contact with others, it might be helpful to prepare a bag in case you need to go into quarantine on short notice. Quarantine usually lasts for 14 days, so you will want to include anything you can’t go 14 days without – toiletries, spare clothes, a phone charger, a blanket and a pillow. You can stock up on some things ahead of time, such as making sure you always have a 14-day supply of any medications you need. If you are not going home to quarantine, but are instead staying in your apartment or a campus isolation facility, it might also be helpful to give someone you trust a list of your emergency contacts in the event that your condition worsens. Similarly, bring any insurance cards and your driver’s license with you. If you have the time to grab more than
the bare necessities, you will want to include entertainment - books, art supplies and your computer. And, you will want to bring with you everything you might need to go to class remotely.
CONTINGENCY PLAN When UK went remote in the spring, students were already planning to leave campus for spring break, so they were mostly prepared to leave. While the goal this semester is to make it to November, there is always a chance that UK has to shut down because of conditions in the city, state or country. UK has not released their plan for if a shutdown has to happen. Some colleges have moved classes online for just two weeks. Others moved online for the rest of semester, but allowed students to remain on campus; still other colleges moved online and had most students move out of the dorms.
Whether we go online for two weeks or the rest of the semester, you may want to go home. UK may also want to de-densify campus and have students move out of dorms within a specific timeframe. If you don’t have a car on campus, consider how you will move out and go home in the event that we can no longer stay in dorms. Perhaps your parents or siblings can come get you, in which case you will want to plan a way to social distance from them during the move-out and car trip. If you don’t have parents with flexible jobs who can come get you on short notice, start thinking of alternatives. 2. Stay or go? UK has not said if they will allow dorms to remain open in the event of a move to remote learning. In the spring, the campus shut down and only a few hundred students stayed on campus because it was their best or only option. If UK has to go online for the rest of this semester, UK may allow students the option of choosing if they want to stay or go. Think about your academic needs and your safety, as well as how your decision will impact those you live with, to determine if you will stay on campus if given the choice. 3. Quarantine at home Whether we go home early because of an outbreak or we go home at the end of the semester, students will want to make a plan for how to quarantine once they arrive. This may mean staying in your bedroom, going straight from the car to your room upon arrival. It may mean staying in your room on purpose for the two weeks before you leave school, so as to limit the exposure you have while on campus.
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Monday, September 14, 2020
Summary: September Board of Trustees meeting By Natalie Parks
The responsible speech program, for example, looks at how students, employees and the community speak to each other as well what speech rights are protected under the First Amendment. Additionally, members of the upper leadership team - including the president, the provost, the vice presidents and deans - will participate in two training sessions on race, one in September and one later in the semester, led by Dr. Candice Park.
news@kykernel.com
On Sept. 10 and Sept. 11, members of UK’s Board of Trustees gathered on Zoom for their first meeting since the semester began. According to the board’s website, they are the “final authority in all matters affecting the institution” such as finances, education and policies related to state and federal governance. The board is comprised of 20 people, 16 of whom are appointed by the governor, along with two faculty members, a staff employee and a student representative. At the most recent meeting, five new members of the board were sworn in: Ray Daniels, Ron Geoghegan, Paula Pope, Hollie Swanson and Courtney Wheeler. CONSTRUCTION Vice President for Facilities Management and Chief Facilities Officer Mary Vosevich gave an update on campus infrastructure projects for the last quarter, from April to June. The Rose Street project is currently restoring utilities infrastructure. The bathrooms in White Hall Classroom Building will be demolished and remodeled, beginning at one end of the building and the other end scheduled for next summer. The first floor of the student center expansion is also scheduled to be completed next summer. The board approved a project updating the electrical infrastructure of the agriculture complex, an estimated $11.75 million project approved by the 2020 Kentucky General Assembly. UK got a $250,000 credit back from the Chem-Phys project because of overlapping contractors. Seven of the Kirwan-Blanding complex’s structures are now down, with the two towers remaining, said Eric Monday, UK’s Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration. Monday said restoration of the site - which is supposed to become a green space - will begin in
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Members of the Board of Trustees end their Zoom meeting on the finance committee’s updates on Friday, September 11.
October. FINANCES Monday gave an update on the university’s finances. Pandemic expenses to date have totaled $28 million, $2 million of which went to facilities restart, including moving 10,000 pieces of furniture. $4 million went to personal protective equipment, including $700,000 that was spent on the wellness kits received by each student. UK expects an additional $10 million in expenses if the spring semester is conducted in a similar fashion. UK is expecting some relief from another federal bill, the HEAL Act, which was held up in Congress last week. “Should it pass, UK would qualify for $37.9 million, which almost equals what we expected to spend on the pandemic, so total shortcomings might be $17.7 million,” Monday said. If the HEAL Act passes, UK will be 3 percent short on its general fund. Without the bill, the shortage will be closer to 9 percent. Recently, Gov. Andy Beshear instructed public agencies like UK to cut their budget another 8 percent. That would
equal around $21.2 million for UK, on top of an $11 million dollar loss in tuition revenue - what Monday called a “$33 million problem.” In an email about the reduction, Capilouto said that the reductions would not affect the seed money for the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies or the scheduled wage raise for this fiscal year. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion George Wright, the interim vice president for institutional diversity, spoke at the student and academic affairs meeting. Wright was hired in July; he said he has heard presentations from deans about DEI plans for their colleges. One of UK’s priorities has been not just hiring, but retaining diverse faculty. Wright said the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Communication and Information and College of Medicine have done well with diversity hiring. According to Provost David Blackwell, 8.3 percent of faculty at UK are underrepresented minorities. UK’s fund for diverse cluster hiring now has over $2 million. Wright spoke about initiatives already underway, as well as those from the “cultures, policies and programs” workstream.
COVID-19 College of Medicine dean Robert DiPaola gave an update on the campus’s COVID-19 efforts. Recently, the college began wastewater tracking, starting with the isolation dorm on campus to get a sense of what level indicates a COVID-19 presence in a facility. DiPaola said that if a building is confirmed to have COVID-19 in its wastewater, all residents of the facility would be required to be tested. He also said that the START team has begun to talk about contingencies for next semester and how to incorporate vaccine distribution into the university’s plan once one becomes available. Trustee Hollie Swanson asked, in light of UK hitting 1,000 student cases this semester, at what point the university would consider making a major change. “What’s very important in the consideration of what we might do in the net steps would include also keeping ahead of capacity and you see numbers in there that really reflect that we still have very strong capacity at this particular rate – capacity to quarantine, capacity to isolate,” DiPaola said in response. In his president’s report, Eli Capilouto said he was “cautiously optimistic” even though there will be bumps in the road. “I know we’re fighting an invisible foe that has a mind of its own, but from See TRUSTEES on page 12
sports
By Braden Ramsey news@kykernel.com
Kentuckians watched numerous SEC schools and the University of Louisville announce their stadium capacity limits for the fall 2020 football season, already delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. With the home opener versus Ole Miss only a few weeks away, the University of Kentucky and UK Athletics had not made any official announcements about numbers for Kroger Field until Thursday, Sept. 10. UK released its stadium guidelines in a press release, stating that “anticipated attendance for the 2020 season at Kroger Field is up to 20% of normal stadium capacity.” For the 61,000 seat capacity of Kroger Field, that means that roughly 12,200 fans will be allowed to attend each of Kentucky’s five home games.
Monday, September 14, 2020
Kentucky sets stadium capacity for 2020 football The university also left open the possibility of more (or fewer) fans later in the year. “All plans are subject to change based on evolving information as well as local, state and national public health developments,” said the press release. Colleges were required to coordinate their capacity levels with their city governments, just as Churchill Downs had to negotiate with the city of Louisville - a process that led to no fans at the recent Kentucky Derby. Before UK officially released their stadium capacity plans, reports from the weekend had said suite capacity would be at 50 percent. Much of UK’s fan base reacted negatively to those reports, which made the UK administration look like it was pandering to a certain crowd. But when the official press release from UK came out, it stated that suites would be
subject to the same 20 percent limit as general seating. Suite guidelines have an additional clause that says they must restrict occupancy to a maximum of 10 persons total, even if the 20 percent rule would allow for more. The university has not yet announced details on student attendance. In previous years, students could purchase season tickets or single-game tickets using student accounts. This year, student tickets and seating format will both be affected by the crowd restrictions. UK said “the number of available tickets and sales process will be communicated once those plans are finalized.” The press release did say that all student tickets will be sold on a single-game basis. Six of the other SEC schools allowed for 25 percent capacity in their approved seating plans. Texas A&M and the Univer-
sity of Tennessee will both have approximately 25,600 fans allowed at their home games; Missouri, Ole Miss, Georgia and Mississippi State also have plans for 25 percent capacity. Within Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear approved 20 percent capacity plans for both Louisville and Western Kentucky. The Cardinals first proposed a 30 percent capacity plan, which would have allowed for roughly 18,000 people in the stadium, but were denied approval. Florida, Alabama and Auburn all settled on 20 percent capacity for their stadiums. Arkansas set its limit numerically, at 17,000 fans, which accounts for approximately 23 percent of its stadium capacity. South Carolina set maximum attendance at 20,000 fans, just below 25 percent of its See FOOTBALL on page 12
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Monday, September 14, 2020
STAFF FILE PHOTO A military plane flies over the stadium for Heroes’ Day before the game against Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky won 38-17.
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stadium’s seating. LSU and Vanderbilt have yet to announce their intentions regarding fans in their stadiums. Kentucky’s maximum number of potential fans is one of the lower totals in the conference. In a season that is being played exclusively in-conference, not having a cheering crowd and its accompanying home-field environment could be a disadvantage, especially if other schools do have more fans present. But for fans of football, any opportunity to watch this year’s squad in person is a win in itself. UK’s first game will be played at Auburn on Sept. 26. Both Mark Stoops and Auburn’s head coach, Gus Malzahn, said their teams had been impacted by COVID-19 in the last week. Stoops said some of his position groups were thin due to coronavirus and subsequent contact tracing, while Malzahn said five out of 10 starters had to sit out of practice because of close contact exposure. With a little under two weeks to go, it remains to be seen how COVID-19 cases among football teams will be reported; for now, many teams are including those who test positive or are exposed in the list of players unable to practice due to injury.
OTHER what I’ve seen in the group around me the odds remain good,” Capilouto said. Jeff Okeson was voted in as the official dean of the College of Dentistry: Okeson has served as interim dean since 2019, with an interim salary of $330,000. The board approved leases for four UK Healthcare clinics: the Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, a psychiatry outpatient clinic and a family and community medicine clinic. During the student and academic affairs meeting, Cathy Black shared the attendance numbers for virtual teaching symposiums. “Ever since we went remote, faculty engagement with their teaching has spiked exponentially. Just like we have more technology, a more cutting-edge teaching environment. We have faculty who are prepared as never before to meet the needs of our students, and I think that that doesn’t go away in the post-pandemic period,” Black said. “This level of innovation is going to be what carries us forward.” A study led by Dr. Ellen Usher in the College of Education and Kathi Kern of the Center for Enhancement of Learning and Teaching will evaluate the learning and teaching environment of this semester. 110 faculty and over 10,000 students are participating in the study, Kern said.
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