September 10, 2020

S T U DE N T RU N N E WS SI NC E 1926

THURSDAY • SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

Mental health resources available on campus Kwik Trip gets a makeover JENNA PETERSON NEWS EDITOR

For decades, September has been known as national suicide prevention awareness month.

This campaign was created to educate not only health professionals but people in general about suicide, including recognizing warning signs and suicide prevention.

MNSU has numerous programs and organizations to help students and reassure them they are not alone.

According to the United States Department of Veteran Affairs, 22 veterans commit suicide every day. With such a high number of veteran students on campus, it’s important to help them as well.

Tim Adams, the Military and Veteran Student Success Coordinator at the Veterans Resource Center on campus, helps veteran students in a variety of ways. He not only helps academically, but also in a physical and mental sense throughout the student’s entire college career. This helps

JULIA BARTON STAFF WRITER

Photo by Maxwell Mayleben/MSU Reporter

Adams feel connected to the students and reassures they truly have someone who cares about them.

“I want each student to know that I’m not here just to help tutor you in class,” Adams said, “but I’m also there for any situation that might come up, such as your car breaking down.”

The center’s goal as a veterans’ resource is to reduce the amount of depression and anxiety situations that untreated mental health problems will lead to. Everyone in the program keeps an eye on the other to make sure nobody slips through the cracks.

In order for everyone to bond and create those strong friend-

ships, the center will put on events and do activities for all of them to participate in.

For their fall event, there is typically a Veteran’s Day lunch where people throughout the campus and community are invited.

PREVENTION page 3

YMCA looking for Big Brothers, Sisters for mentor program BAILEY BRENDEL STAFF WRITER Looking to become more active in your community?

Want to help youth in your community grow and help lead them toward the right paths? Do you want to find your own personal skill set, and use your skills to help others? Well, Mankato Family YMCA Brother/Sister Program wants you to volunteer for them.

This program is a community-based mentorship that brings mentors in to guide youth along their life experiences.

Matches are recruited and screened, then commit to a nine-month service where they meet with the kid they mentor once a week for one to two hours.

While there, the mentors talk to their youth and share with them their own personal experiences and advice to help

IN THIS ISSUE:

Photo by Kjerstin Hall/MSU Reporter

guide them towards the right path. This helps their mentees gain self-confidence, learn

Closing dorms: A bad idea?

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leadership and communication skills, and opens them up to become more active mem-

Good Thunder returns virtually

YMCA page 3

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It’s been bulldozed and rebuilt. And now the all-new Kwik Trip near Minnesota State University is ready for customers.

The decade-old building has been remodeled, and now the new space, called “The Market,” is more spacious and equipped with tons of new features. The gas pumping station is still under construction.

This store, located on Monks Avenue, is believed to be one of the most popular locations in the city of Mankato. The store continuously draws in many customers due to its convenient location next to campus as well as many of the surrounding residents.

Store Leader, Luke Novosad, has been a loyal employee for about two and a half years. His role as the store leader includes “basically everything,” he says.

Hiring, schedule writing, keeping up with stock and ordering supplies are some of the duties that come with being a store leader. Novosad says he is looking forward to people coming into the new and upto-date building.

Sampling is now one of Kwik Trips new strategies to attract more customers. This allows customers to try the newest products at the market. Some items include the take home meals that are exclusive to this location. Meatloaf, fried chicken, and enchiladas are just a few examples of the quick and ready meals available that range from five to seven dollars.

“This store is much bigger and great,” student Aya Shaw said. “It’s like a small Walmart.”

The new Kwik Trip Market also includes fresh produce

KWIK TRIP page 3

Vagabond Village: A unique experience

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2 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Teacher deaths raise alarms as new school year begins O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — Teachers in at least three states have died after bouts with the coronavirus since the dawn of the new school year, and a teachers’ union leader worries that the return to in-person classes will have a deadly impact across the U.S. if proper precautions aren’t taken.

AshLee DeMarinis was just 34 when she died Sunday after three weeks in the hospital.

She taught social skills and special education at John Evans Middle School in Potosi, Missouri, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) southwest of St. Louis.

A third-grade teacher died Monday in South Carolina, and two other educators died recently in Mississippi. It’s unclear how many teachers in the U.S. have become ill with COVID-19 since the new school year began, but Mississippi alone has reported 604 cases among school teachers and staff.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said schools need guidelines such as mandatory face coverings and strict social distancing rules to reopen safely.

“If community spread is too high as it is in Missouri and Mississippi, if you don’t have the infrastructure of testing, and if you don’t have the safeguards that prevent the spread of viruses in the school, we believe that you cannot reopen in person,” Weingarten said.

Johnny Dunlap, a 39-yearold drama and forensics teacher at Dodge City High School in Kansas, said he considered quitting before the district made masks mandatory for teachers and students. Still, his history of bladder cancer and high blood pressure have left him with some angst about being around so many people.

Existing health conditions can put people at higher risk for severe illness and death from

the virus.

“I’m at a high school with close to 2,000 students so it kind of runs against the advice we have been given for half a year now,” Dunlap said.

The early phase of the pandemic claimed the lives of dozens of teachers. The New York City Department of Education alone lost 31 teachers among 75 employees whose deaths were blamed on the coronavirus.

Across the U.S., the American Federation of Teachers lists 210 union members who have died. The list includes support staff and retirees as well as teachers.

The start of the new school year brought with it new fatalities.

In Oxford, Mississippi, 42-year-old Nacoma James taught at a middle school and helped coach high school football. He died Aug. 6 during the first week of classes, but was self-quarantining when teachers and students returned to the classroom, said Lafayette County School District Superintendent Adam Pugh.

Pugh recalled that James was a seventh-grade student when he began teaching 30 years ago.

“It was a hard punch to my stomach, when I heard,” Pugh said.

James worked with football players during summer workouts, but an investigation found no new cases linked to him, Pugh said.

Another Mississippi teacher died Sunday. History teacher Tom Slade recently posted on Facebook about his battle with pneumonia caused by the coronavirus.

Slade was teaching in-person when the academic year started on Aug. 6, Principal Raina Holmes said, but began quarantining after he had contact with someone who was positive at a church meeting.

His last day of teaching was Aug. 21.

AshLee DeMarinis is shown in an undated photo provided by her sister, Jennifer Heissenbuttel. (Jennifer Heissenbuttel via AP)

Slade was known for jokingly using a judge’s gavel to quiet noisy students.

“He always brought humor into his classroom and his students loved that part about him,” said Holmes.

In South Carolina, Demetria “Demi” Bannister, 28, died three days after being diagnosed with COVID-19, her school district said in a news release Wednesday. Bannister taught third grade in Columbia.

The district said Bannister was at Windsor Elementary School on Aug. 28 for a teacher work day, before classes resumed.

In Potosi, in-person classes started Aug. 24. DeMarinis was already hospitalized by then but had been in the school preparing for the year a couple of weeks earlier, her sister, Jennifer Heissenbuttel said.

Superintendent Alex McCaul said contact tracing determined she had no close contact with any teachers, students or staff.

DeMarinis grew up near New York but developed a passion for her rural school and Potosi, a town of 2,600 residents, Heissenbuttel said.

DeMarinis had wanted to teach special education since

she was a child, when a special education teacher helped her overcome mild dyslexia.

“She had the patience of a saint. She was really meant for it,” Heissenbuttel said. “The kids loved her. She touched so many lives.”

DeMarinis had asthma, which can put someone more at risk from severe illness from COVID-19. She began feeling poorly around mid-August, Heissenbuttel said. After developing fever and shortness of breath, she was tested for the coronavirus and was soon hospitalized.

It’s unclear where DeMarinis picked up the virus.

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Thursday, September 10, 2020

PREVENTION

News

Continued from page 1

Speaker Michael McNamara, a military veteran himself, has made an appearance the past few years to share his story and reassure there is help. Due to COVID, those events will not be taking place this year.

Despite these cancellations, the students and staff in this program still meet together in a safe manner to ensure everyone is doing well.

For other students, MNSU’s counseling center is available and accessible. Psychologist Tom Allen discussed what services the center holds for students and how they can access them. During this pandemic, he noted that more and

more students are coming in for counseling.

Getting connected with the center is fairly easy. All you have to do is call the center to set up a consultation appointment — which can be as soon as the same day — and fill out some basic paperwork. From there, the staff will help determine what direction you head into, whether it be individual or group therapy.

To keep everyone safe, appointments have been transitioned to Zoom. While talking about this change, Allen said, “The care is the same as if it would be in person. Our staff is eager to help the students, no matter how the meeting

takes place.” He also talked about how the pros outweigh the cons, due to the increased access.

Allen said he’s concerned about mental health in general with students taking classes during a pandemic.

“Loneliness is a mental health issue and everyone is experiencing this,” he said.

“It’s a difficult time and it’s normal to get help.”

To reach out and inform students about the counseling center, Allen and other staff members are talking to Residential Life about having discussions with students living in the dorms. It’s important to reach out to the freshmen as

YMCA

Continued from page 1

MSU Reporter • 3

bers of their community. It also helps the mentors learn more about themselves and their community, as well as teaching them about their own individual experiences and wisdom that they can share to the world.

When senior drugs and alcohol major, Maria Graff was asked about her experiences with the program she said, “It’s a special feeling to be a role model for these kids. I enjoy coming up the driveway

soon as possible so they know the support system they have on campus.

Allen said that, unfortunately, not many people know about the counseling center or where it is when they first arrive. Allen is also sending posts through MavLife, the campus’s mobile app. This resource is great for any and all students, where they can learn about other resources on campus.

To raise awareness during September, Mankato will be hosting an Out of the Darkness Walk 10 a.m. Sept. 12.

This event will promote the discussion of suicide prevention, educate people on the

topic, support those who have lost loved ones and those who have struggled with the experience.

Registration is recommended at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention website.

Another point Allen wanted to push forward was that everybody is struggling in some way or another. He explained how nobody is expected to be thriving right now, which is something that everybody can be reminded of.

If you are in need, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 800-273-8255.

KWIK TRIP ested,” said Tom Schueneman, the Mankato YMCA’s director of social responsibility.

The YMCA is currently looking for new volunteers to become mentors. According to Graff, “There are so many kids on the waitlist, and it crushes my heart.”

Anyone interested in becoming a Big Brother or Big Sister can apply at mankatoymca.org /brothersister.mentoring/ or contact Allison Braswell at abraswell@ mankatoymca.org.

and seeing my mentee smiling and anxiously waiting at the window.”

Mentors become role models and get to watch the kids grow as individuals over the course of the nine months they work together.

Everyone brings unique skills and experiences to the table that can be useful to help support a child.

“We are really in need of mentors at this time and are excited to talk to anyone inter-

Continued from page 1 such as fruits, vegetables and dairy products. The store is also equipped with more coffee machines, smoothie and malt makers, and coolers to store more products.

The store also sells an abundance of breakfast pastries such as donuts and cinnamon rolls, as well as desserts and bakery goods such as brownies and cookies.

Carter Hubener, a freshman, said, “I think the new

Kwik Trip looks more modern and innovated.”

Providing MNSU students and the community with their everyday needs, this new and improved Kwik Trip Market seems to be booming with business. The Market is now in search of new staff members to keep up with the high demand from consumers.

Added Novosad, “Hiring new staff members is at the top of the list.”

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4 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Book: Trump said of virus, ‘I wanted to always play it down’ WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump talked in private about the “deadly” coronavirus last February, even as he was declaring to America it was no worse than the flu and insisting it was under control, according to a new book by journalist Bob Woodward. Trump said Wednesday he was just being a “cheerleader” for the nation and trying to keep everyone calm.

His public rhetoric, Trump told Woodward in March, was part of a strategy to deliberately minimize the danger. “I wanted to always play it down,” the president said.

“I still like playing it down because I don’t want to create a panic.”

Trump, according to the book, acknowledged being alarmed by the virus, even as he was telling the nation that it would swiftly disappear.

Coming less than eight weeks before Election Day, the revelations in the book — accompanied by recordings Woodward made of his interviews with Trump — provide an unwelcome return of public attention to the president’s handling of the pandemic that has so far killed about 190,000 Americans. He is currently pushing hard for a resumption of normal activity and trying to project strength and control to bolster his political position in his campaign against Democrat Joe Biden.

In a Feb. 7 call with Woodward, Trump said of the virus: “You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed. And so

that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus.”

“This is deadly stuff,” the president repeated for emphasis.

Just three days later, Trump struck a far rosier tone in an interview with Fox Business: “I think the virus is going to be — it’s going to be fine.”

Biden said Wednesday the book shows Trump “lied to the American people. He knowingly and willingly lied about the threat it posed to the country for months.”

“While a deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job — on purpose. It was a life or death betrayal of the American people,” Biden said at a campaign event in Michigan.

Biden’s campaign pounced, releasing an ad late Wednesday featuring the audiotapes of Trump’s remarks. “And Trump knew all along,” the ad’s narrator says.

Speaking Wednesday at the White House, Trump acknowledged he downplayed the virus, insisting he was trying to buck up the nation and suggesting he was trying to avoid “gouging” on prices of needed supplies.

“The fact is I’m a cheerleader for this country. I love our country and I don’t want people to be frightened. I don’t want to create panic, as you say,” Trump told reporters. “Certainly, I’m not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy. We want

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President Donald Trump speaks during an event on judicial appointments, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

to show confidence. We want to show strength.”

Yet Trump’s public comments suggested he was steering people to ignore the reality of the coming storm. Woodward’s account details dire warnings from top Trump national security officials to the president in late January that the virus that causes COVID-19 could be as bad as the devastating influenza pandemic of 1918.

On Feb. 25, just weeks before much of the country was forced to shut down because of the pandemic, Trump declared the virus “very well un-

der control in our country.”

Though he restricted travel from China in January, Trump did not begin to devote extensive federal resources to procuring vital personal protective equipment, including face masks, or expand the production of ventilators until March. In fact, U.S. officials recommended against widespread mask wearing until April in part because of a shortage of protective masks required by front-line medical workers.

Trump aides and allies said at the time that he was aiming to prop up the economy

with his rosy take on the virus throughout February, even as his administration took few concrete steps to prepare for the coming pandemic.

The Washington Post, where Woodward serves as associate editor, reported excerpts of the book, “Rage” on Wednesday, as did CNN. The book also covers race relations, diplomacy with North Korea and a range of other issues that have arisen during the past two years.

The book is based in part on 18 interviews that Woodward conducted with Trump between December and July.

Thursday, September 10, 2020

News

MSU Reporter • 5

Photo highlight: Social distancing in the CSU

Two people sit in the Flexible Programming Space in the CSU following the new COVID-19 social distancing guidelines Sept. 9, 2020 in Mankato, Minn. The MNSU campus adopted several guidelines to ensure the safety of students and staff on campus for the fall semester. (Mansoor Ahmad/MSU Reporter)

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6 • MSU Reporter

Thursday, September 10, 2020

FALL 2020 EDITOR IN CHIEF:

MAXWELL MAYLEBEN

Sending students home is a bad idea

maxwell.mayleben@mnsu.edu

MADISON DIEMERT

madison.diemert@mnsu.edu

MAXWELL MAYLEBEN EDITOR IN CHIEF COVID-19 has been ravaging the Mankato area for quite some time now. Beginning when local bars opened up again, a large uptick in cases occurred among young adults.

The total number of reported cases for the area since March 16 is at 1,458 as of Sept. 9.

According to the Blue Earth County website, 49% of all of the reported cases of the virus have been among people between the ages of 20-29.

The median age of individuals hospitalized is 62 years of age.

With the number of students living on campus, there will no doubt be a spike in transmissions. It is difficult for the university to ask new students to not make new friends and mingle with each other.

So, what happens when there is an increase in transmissions across campus?

It would be incredibly irresponsible for the university to send on-campus students home again, like last fall, if there is an outbreak.

Students are in the age group that are extremely unlikely to feel serious effects from COVID-19 and are very likely to even be asymptomatic.

If these exposed students are sent home, they could bring the virus home with them. The communities they return to are likely to be more at risk for serious cases of the virus.

The university should se-

NEWS EDITOR: Jenna Peterson jenna.peterson-3@mnsu.edu VARIETY EDITOR: Mel Stramm merle.stramm@mnsu.edu WEB/PHOTO EDITOR: Mansoor Ahmad mansoor.ahmad@mnsu.edu

ADVERTISING SALES: Calli Seston 507-389-5451 calli.seston@mnsu.edu Anna Lillie 507-389-1063 anna.lillie@mnsu.edu Kali Andriano-Allard 507-389-6765 kali.andriano-allard@mnsu.edu

Photo by Mansoor Ahmad/MSU Reporter

riously consider leaving students in the dorms in the event of an outbreak.

In this event, on campus amenities could be closed down, and a more socially distant method of distribution of food could be created, such as a pre-packaged meal system for students on campus.

If this outbreak happens, it could be expected to have atrisk campus staff work from

home, as they did over the last semester. Those who are not as at risk could be allowed to use their discretion on if they would like to stay on campus or work from home.

When analyzing the numbers, students are simply less likely to feel serious repercussions from the COVID-19 virus than those that they could infect.

In the event that the uni-

versity shuts down the dorms again, they could potentially be creating an explosion of transmissions all across the state to the students’ own communities.

The potential for this should encourage the university to keep the students on campus, regardless if there are in person classes.

“If classes went all online, would you stay in Mankato?”

Compiled by Julia Barton

TREVOR STANFORD, FRESHMAN

JULIA WEISENBERGER, FRESHMAN

“I probably wouldn’t stay on campus, to save money.”

“I would stay here, mostly all of my classes are online already.”

MEG STEVENS, FRESHMAN

TABITHA BERGSTROM, FRESHMAN

SYDNEY BERGGREN, FRESHMAN

“I would stay because I like meeting new people.”

“If the university went online I would still come to campus mainly for the resources.”

“I’d stay on campus just for the experience.”

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• If you have a complaint, suggestion or would like to point out an error made in the Reporter, contact Editor in Chief Maxwell Mayleben at maxwell.mayleben@mnsu.edu.

The Reporter will correct any errors of fact or misspelled names in this space. Formal grievances against the Reporter are handled by the Newspaper Board.

• The Minnesota State University Mankato Reporter is a studentrun newspaper published twice a week, coming out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Reporter generates 78 percent of its own income through advertising and receives approximately 22 percent from Student Activities fees. The Reporter is free to all students and faculty, but to start a subscription, please call us at 507-389-1776. Subscriptions for the academic school year are $55.00 and subscribers will receive the paper within three to five days after publishing.

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THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THE MSU REPORTER ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OR STUDENT BODY.

Thursday, September 10, 2020

News

MSU Reporter • 7

Pelosi says hair salon should apologize for ‘set-up’ visit SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A testy Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday she takes responsibility for trusting the word of a San Francisco hair salon that it was OK to come in for a solo visit — even though the city still does not allow indoor beauty services because of the coronavirus pandemic.

But the Democratic House Speaker called Monday’s visit a “set-up” and said the salon owes her an apology for misrepresenting city health orders.

“I take responsibility for trusting the word of a neighborhood salon that I’ve been to over the years many times, and that when they said ... we’re able to accommodate people one person at a time, and that we can set up that time, I trusted that,” Pelosi told reporters Wednesday. “As it turns out, it was a set-up.”

“I take responsibility for falling for a set-up,” she said.

An attorney for the man who did her hair also said Pelosi appeared to have been set up.

Matthew Soleimanpour said his client received permission from the salon owner a day earlier to make the appointment.

During that telephone call the owner, Erica Kious, “made several vitriolic and incendiary comments about Speaker Pelosi,” Soleimanpour said in a statement.

“It appears Ms. Kious is furthering a set-­up of Speaker Pelosi for her own vain aspirations,” the statement said.

Pelosi is facing fierce backlash after Fox News Channel aired surveillance footage from the salon that showed her walking through the salon with her hair wet and with a mask around her neck rather than on her face. In the clip, a masked stylist follows her.

Citics, including President Donald Trump, called her a

hypocrite and asked why she did not know the coronavirus-related rules in her home city.

Kious, owner of ESalon SF in the city’s upscale Cow Hollow district, told Fox News that she rents chairs to stylists, and one of them informed her in advance that Pelosi wanted a wash and blow dry. California guidelines on salons vary by county, but stringent San Francisco officials have not yet permitted indoor salons to open.

Kious said she considered Pelosi getting her hair done “a slap in the face” to struggling business owners.

However, in his statement, Soleimanpour said photographs and other information show that Kious had been performing indoor services since at least April without wearing a mask, and she also had been encouraging “and almost forcing stylists” to work.

Kious did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press.

Health order violations can be punished by a fine, imprisonment or both. But San Francisco has stressed education over enforcement and has been reluctant to penalize businesses and individuals.

Pelosi said Wednesday she would not answer any more questions about the visit and asked at one point whether reporters had any questions “about the fact that people are dying,” referring to the HEROES Act legislation she called the news conference to address.

A reporter asked why she was not wearing a mask in the brief clip.

“I just had my hair washed.

I don’t wear a mask when I’m washing my hair. Do you wear a mask when you’re washing your hair? I always have a mask,” Pelosi said.

Mrs. Trump’s ex-adviser says she taped calls for protection WASHINGTON (AP) — A former friend and adviser of Melania Trump said Tuesday that she made recordings of her conversations with the first lady because she needed evidence to protect herself amid questions about the costs of President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, whose book “Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady,” was released this week, helped produce Trump’s inauguration and later worked for the first lady as an unpaid White House adviser.

Wolkoff left the White House in February 2018 when her contract was terminated.

The White House blasted the book as “full of mistruths and paranoia.”

Separately, Wolkoff told The Washington Post that Mrs. Trump used private email accounts while at the White House. Others in the White House, including Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, have been criticized for doing official business on private accounts – but, unlike them, the first lady is not a government employee.

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News

Thursday, September 10, 2020

No virus aid before election? Pessimism before Senate vote WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Republican senators made pessimistic predictions Wednesday about securing a bipartisan coronavirus relief package before the November election, signaling instead they will just try to pass legislation that would avoid a federal shutdown as lawmakers head home to campaign.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he was “optimistic” that Republicans would deliver strong support for the GOP’s $500 billion slimmed-down COVID-19 rescue package in a test vote Thursday. But he declined to say whether his majority would be fully on board. Democrats have indicated they will shelve the Republican measure as insufficient, leaving lawmakers at an impasse.

There’s no indication yet that bipartisan talks that crumbled last month will restart. Lawmakers closely tracking recent efforts to strike a deal that could pass before the November election said they saw little reason for hope.

“Unless something really broke through, it’s not going to happen,” said Sen. Rich-

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., puts his face mask back on after speaking during a news conference of Senate Republican leadership, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

ard Shelby, R-Ala., chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The stalemate is politically risky for all sides heading into the fall election that will decide not only the presidency, but also control of Congress.

While nationwide coronavirus cases appear to be at a plateau, there is still wide-

spread economic hardship and social unease in homes, schools and businesses affected by closures. Experts warn that infections are expected to spike again if Americans fail to abide by public health guidelines for mask-wearing and social distancing, especially with colder weather and flu season.

McConnell said Democrats have not backed off what he said were unreasonable demands. He accused Democrats of acting as though it is to their political advantage to deny Republicans and President Donald Trump a victory on the virus so close to Election Day. Without Democratic votes, the GOP bill cannot

reach the threshold needed to advance the aid plan. “They do not want any bipartisan relief,” he said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the GOP bill leaves out too many people, especially the vulnerable.

“It does nothing. There are millions of kids who are food insecure, millions, maybe 14 million in our country, food insecure. He has nothing for that,” Pelosi said Wednesday on MSNBC. “There are millions of families, victims of evictions because they can’t pay the rent. They don’t care about that. “ He predicted Republicans and the White House “may yet be forced to come back to the table because COVID is the major issue that’s facing the American people.”

The stalemate has left McConnell and Republicans to say that they support a shortterm spending measure, called a continuing resolution, or CR, that would avert a government shutdown at month’s end and set up a postelection lame-duck session to deal with any unfinished Capitol Hill legislation, which could include coronavirus relief.

Big drop reported in vaping by US teenagers NEW YORK (AP) — Vaping by U.S. teenagers fell dramatically this year, especially among middle schoolers, according to a federal report released Wednesday.

Experts think last year’s outbreak of vaping related illnesses and deaths may have scared off some kids, but they believe other factors contributed to the drop, including higher age limits and flavor bans.

In a national survey, just under 20% of high school students and 5% of middle school students said they were recent users of electronic cigarettes and other vaping products. That marks a big decline from a similar survey last year that found about 28% of high school students and 11% of middle school students recently vaped.

The survey suggests that the number of school kids who vape fell by 1.8 million in a year, from 5.4 million to 3.6 million, officials said.

But even as teen use declined, the report shows a big bump in use of disposable e-cigarettes. The Food and Drug Administration earlier this year barred flavors from small vaping devices like Juul and others that are mainly used by minors. The policy did not apply to disposable e-cigarettes, which can still contain sweet, candylike flavors.

in marijuana. CDC officials gradually focused their investigation on black market THC cartridges, and on a chemical compound called vitamin E acetate that had been added to illicit THC vaping liquids.

Kenneth Warner, a professor emeritus at the University of Michigan’s school of public health, said the teen vaping drop was larger than expected.

FILE - In this April 16, 2019 file photo, a researcher holds vape pens in a laboratory in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer, File)

“As long as any flavored e-cigarettes are left on the market, kids will get their hands on them and we will not solve this crisis,” Matt Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids said in a statement.

The national survey is conducted at schools each year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and usually involves about 20,000 middle and high school students.

It asks students if they had used any vaping or traditional tobacco products in the previous month. The survey was cut short this year as schools closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Federal health officials believe measures like public health media campaigns, price

increase and sales restrictions deserve credit for the vaping decline. The age limit for sales in now 21.

But they also acknowledge the outbreak probably played a part. The CDC’s Brian King said sales started falling in August — when national media coverage of the outbreak intensified.

“It’s possible that some of the heightened awareness could have influenced decline in use,” said King.

By the time the outbreak was winding down early this year, more than 2,800 illnesses and 68 deaths had been reported. Most of those who got sick said they vaped solutions containing THC, the ingredient that produces a high

“This does look like a very substantial decrease in a single year and it’s very encouraging,” said Warner, a tobacco control expert.

Among the likely factors, Warner noted the general negative publicity surrounding vaping. Additionally, Juul preemptively pulled all its vaping flavors except menthol and tobacco last fall ahead of federal action.

Thursday, September 10, 2020

News

MSU Reporter • 11

Vaccine by Nov. 3? Halted study explains just how unlikely WASHINGTON (AP) — The suspension of a huge COVID-19 vaccine study over an illness in a single participant shows there will be “no compromises” on safety in the race to develop the shot, the chief of the National Institutes of Health told Congress on Wednesday.

AstraZeneca has put on hold studies of its vaccine candidate in the U.S. and other countries while it investigates whether a British volunteer’s illness is a side effect or a coincidence.

“This ought to be reassuring,” NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said before a Senate committee. “When we say we are going to focus first on safety and make no compromises, here is Exhibit A of how that is happening in practice.”

Scientists have been scrambling to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus since the outbreak began, and the U.S. has launched the world’s largest studies — final-stage testing of three leading candidates, with three more trials set to come soon that will each recruit 30,000 test subjects.

Public health experts are worried that President Donald Trump will pressure the Food and Drug Administration to approve a vaccine before it is proven to be safe and effective, a concern senator after senator echoed on Wednesday.

“When it comes to a COVID-19 vaccine, we can’t allow President Trump to repeat his alarming pattern of putting politics ahead of science and public health,” said

Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, attends a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing to discuss vaccines and protecting public health during the coronavirus pandemic on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in Washington. (Greg Nash/Pool via AP)

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the committee’s ranking Democrat.

The U.S. has invested billions of dollars in efforts to quickly develop multiple vaccines against COVID-19. But public fears that a vaccine is unsafe or ineffective could be disastrous, derailing the effort to vaccinate millions of Americans.

Collins said the public needs to understand the process behind telling when any vaccine candidate is ready for widespread use — one that by design is keeping both manufacturers and politicians in the dark until the evidence gels.

About 150 COVID-19 infections in a study of 30,000 people should be enough to

tell if that candidate really is working — and an independent group of experts, not the FDA, gets to do the counting.

WHO MONITORS THE STUDIES? Every vaccine trial is overseen by a “data and safety monitoring board,” or DSMB. These boards include scientists and statisticians who are experts in their fields but have no ties to either the government or the vaccine makers.

The top priority: watching for safety concerns, like the one that sparked a DSMB in Britain to pause AstraZeneca’s vaccinations and alert its U.S. counterpart.

But this is the group that also will decide when each vaccine is ready to be evaluat-

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ed by regulators.

In each 30,000-person study, about half the participants are given the real vaccine and half get dummy shots, and neither they nor their doctors know which is which. Only the DSMB has the power to unlock the code of who got which shot and peek at how the volunteers are faring before a study is finished.

The FDA can’t even begin to consider approving a vaccine until the DSMB says the data is good enough for that debate, Collins stressed. Once that happens, the FDA has pledged to bring each candidate before a public vaccine advisory committee.

DOING THE MATH The FDA already has told

manufacturers it won’t consider any vaccine that’s less than 50% effective.

Say one vaccine trial records that 150 volunteers have gotten sick. The DSMB finds that 100 had received dummy shots and 50 had received the real vaccine. The expert group might decide that’s a promising enough vaccine to stop the study early so that the FDA can debate its merits, even before getting final outcomes from all 30,000 volunteers, said Dr. Larry Corey of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute, who is overseeing the U.S. government’s vaccine studies.

On the other hand, if equal numbers from the vaccine and placebo groups got infected, the DSMB might declare a vaccine futile, he told The Associated Press. These panels also can calculate infections even before that 150 threshold is met, at set time points in each study.

“If your vaccine is at least 50% effective, you’re going to know it because you’re going to see a big skewing” of infections, NIH’s Collins told the Senate’s health, education, labor and pensions committee.

“You count those events and you know whether it worked or not.”

ANSWERS UNLIKELY BEFORE THE U.S. ELECTION Getting the right math before November, as Trump has promised, is “incredibly unlikely,” Corey said.

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12 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Justice Dept. push into Trump case could prompt dismissal

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday defended the Justice Department’s move to intervene in a defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, even as experts were skeptical of the federal government’s effort to protect the president in a seemingly private dispute.

The Justice Department’s action is “a normal application of the law. The law is clear. It is done frequently,” Barr said at an unrelated news conference in Chicago.

He added, “The little tempest that is going on is largely because of the bizarre political environment in which we live.”

But experts said it’s far from clear that the conduct at issue — whether Trump defamed E. Jean Carroll, a writer who accused him of raping her at a New York luxury department store in the 1990s — has anything to do with the scope of his White House duties. The department’s move is likely to have an ancillary benefit for Trump in delaying the case, but administration lawyers have a tough task at hand trying to argue that the president was acting in his official capacity when he denied Carroll’s allegations last year, experts say.

“I wouldn’t make such an argument, and if a president approached me to do it, I would say, ‘Don’t,’” said Stuart Gerson, who led the Justice Department’s Civil Division in President George H.W.

Attorney General William Barr speaks during a press conference about Operation Legend at the Dirksen Federal Building Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in Chicago. Barr said the operation was “critical in cutting Chicago’s murder rate roughly in half since before the operation.”

(Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Bush’s administration when Barr was attorney general for the first time.

“The president gets sued all the time and is defended by the government,” Gerson added, “but those are for lawsuits that have to do with actions in his official capacity as the president. This isn’t anything like that.”

The Justice Department’s action is consistent with the expansive view of executive authority it has taken under Barr and with its practice of taking legal positions benefiting the president’s personal interests, including asking the Supreme Court just last month

to allow him to block critics from his Twitter account. It is likely to deepen concerns from critics that the department is functioning as a private law firm for the president, with the attorney general as his personal lawyer, which Barr has adamantly denied.

In the Carroll case, the stakes are especially significant since a move to transfer the lawsuit from state to federal court could not only delay it but also lead to its dismissal since federal courts have not historically permitted defamation claims against federal employees for actions taken in their official capacity.

On Wednesday, Barr described the intervention as “somewhat routine” and said the normal process was followed in this case. He told NBC News in an interview broadcast Wednesday that he had been told the Justice Department’s Civil Division was going to become involved and that he thought it was “fine” but did not have to personally sign off on it.

He cited the Westfall Act, which enables the Justice Department to be substituted as a defendant when federal employees are sued in state court for actions within the scope of their official duties, and for

the case to be transferred to federal court, where recovery of damages may be more difficult.

For instance: The defense of a lawsuit against a postal worker who clips a car on a daily delivery route could be taken over by the federal government since the collision involved the mailman’s official duties.

He pointed to the Justice Department’s involvement more than a decade ago in the case of Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C., who was sued for defamation by an American Muslim civil rights group.

Joe Exotic formally requests pardon, maintains innocence

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A former Oklahoma zookeeper sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in a murder-for-hire plot and violating federal wildlife laws has formally requested a pardon.

Attorneys for Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as “Joe Exotic,” filed his application Tuesday with the U.S. Department of Justice. In it, attorneys for Maldonado-Passage, 57, say he maintains his innocence and that he was “railroaded and betrayed” by others.

“Joseph is scheduled to be released from (Bureau of Prisons) custody in 2037; however, with his comprised health, he will likely die in prison,” attorneys wrote in the 257page application. “He humbly requests a pardon to correct the injustices he has experienced and to have the opportunity to return to providing meaningful contributions to his community.”

The application also includes several character affi-

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Maldonado-Passage was convicted last year of trying to arrange the killing of

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Maldonado-Passage also was convicted of killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records.

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Thursday, September 10, 2020

MSU Reporter • 13

ART, MUSIC, FOOD, MOVIES, SPORTS, GAMING, & ALL THE REST

Good Thunder Reading returns virtually AMANDA FILREIS STAFF WRITER Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Good Thunder Reading Series will return this year in a virtual format, allowing users to tune in via their computer screens to nationally known and local authors.

Good Thunder began in 1982 to introduce students and members of the community to new and professional authors.

They sponsor three types of events. The first is the workshop, which offers mini-lessons on writing techniques and practices. The second is craft talks. This is where visiting authors talk about their creative process and answer questions during interactive Q&A sessions. Finally, there are readings where authors read samples of their works.

Although these events in the past were hosted in the Centennial Student Union, they will be held virtually this semester because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Authors lined up to visit campus this semester include

Poet Ilya Kaminsky (left) and essayist Erica Trabold are two authors from the fall 2020 lineup of the Good Thunder Reading Series. (Photos courtesy of Good Thunder Reading Series)

poets Ilya Kaminsky and Leila Chatti, fiction writer Kayla Lutes and essayist Erica Trabold. Kaminsky and Lutes are both scheduled to appear Sept.

24. Trabold will be on campus Oct. 15. Chatti will close out the semester Nov. 12.

Lutes, a graduate student at

MNSU, is pursuing a master of fine arts degree. She teaches creative writing and co-manages MNSU’s literary magazine called Blue Earth Review.

Kaminsky is currently the editor of the Ecco Anthology of International Poetry and editor-in-chief of Poetry In-

ternational. His works have received awards including the Whiting Writers Award, the American Academy of Arts; Letters/Metcalf Award and the Dorset Prize.

His other honors include fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts, the

Guggenheim Foundation and the Macdowel Colony.

Kaminsky will be taking part in a workshop and craft talk the same day as the reading.

The workshop is set to take place from 10-11 a.m. Following this, the craft talk will take place from 3-4 p.m. with the reading finishing the day at 7:30 p.m.

“The lineup is chosen at least a year in advance,” said Candace Black, a faculty member in MNSU’s English Department. “We try to always bring a diverse mix of contemporary writers to our audiences. I’m always on the lookout and consulting with my colleagues for writers with new books coming out. We try to have a mix of genres as well: poetry, short fiction, novels, essays, memoirs, and books for children or young adults.”

As always, Good Thunder events are free to attend. You can sign up for all events online through Google Meet. The links to this can be found on the Good Thunder website at gt.mnsu.edu/event-signup.

No live shows for Performance Series amidst pandemic DE’VONTE BRADLEY STAFF WRITER Things are not quite the way they used to be. Everyone on campus is looking for normality. Things on campus are still changing. And before the pandemic, music performances showcased at MNSU were a favorite of students.

The performances have been organized by Dale Haefner, the director of the Performance Series. Haefner has been with the University for 24 years, working to organize department events, teaching upper-level music courses in concert production and educational outreach programs for youth and adults.

According to Haefner, there will be no live performances in the Recital Hall like previous years. Instead there will be a new format that events will follow. All performances will be pre-selected, pre-recorded and live streamed to the campus and at the large community and broadcast on KMSU. Q&A sessions will be the same for students and faculty. Participants will follow the concert and artists will speak and

Members of a student group perform at the Contemporary Vocal Group performance organized by the Department of Music Oct. 15, 2018 in Mankato, Minn. (File photo)

engage with the students in a classroom setting.

This change can have a big impact on their participants.

When asked about his thoughts on the bands over the years, MNSU student and Black Intelligent Gentlemen President Michael Osei had mixed feel-

ings about it. “I actually like it. It uplifts my mood, but I feel like they should have better bands,” said Osei. “I cannot say I will miss it too much though.”

Osei is hoping for different bands to perform in the future so he can enjoy it more. Last

fall, there were some notable artists and bands such as Erik Koskinen, Maud Hixson, Jeremy Messersmith, Bad Bad Hats and Joyann Parker. All the artists that have come through have different things to offer, particularly clinics, master classes and workshops.

They are all open to students and residents of Mankato.

Sadly, as for right now, with the department adjusting to the new changes, there is nothing planned thus far. Haefner is hoping for things to change as the semester goes on.

14 • MSU Reporter

Variety

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Mankato vintage shop sells hip clothing, mentors youth AMANDA FILREIS STAFF WRITER Have you ever wanted to create your own look while expanding your horizons?

One place you can do that is Vagabond Village located in Mankato’s Old Town. Created in 2015 by Natalie Pierson, Vagabond Village not only sells vintage clothing, accessories, and other various items, but also provides a mentorship program for youth ages 16-22.

All are welcome whether they be out-of-the-box thinkers or high schoolers looking for a safe space. If you want to branch out even more, there are other options.

For over 13 years, Pierson has managed GRACE Thrift Store in Lake Crystal. She operates Vagabond Village in the evenings. GRACE stands for Give Recycling A Chance Every day, and as the name implies, its main purpose is to reuse items people would otherwise throw away.

Pierson hires students to work at GRACE to build job skills and gain experience at both profit and non-profit organizations. Pierson interacts

Photo courtesy of Vagabond Village’s Facebook page

with a wide range of people during her time there.

It wasn’t always this way though.

Despite receiving help from elder volunteers, Pierson noticed very few younger people were stepping up to help out.

As time went by, she desired

more and more to create a safe space for high schoolers.

Pierson says she was bullied during her time in high school for her creative mind.

She hoped to create Vagabond Village as a creative space that would nurture the visionary spirits inside of them

while also addressing the need for more community projects.

The first six months were meant to serve as a test run to see if her idea could work.

But after the initial lease date, the lease rate increased which forced her to find a new, more

affordable location.

The approach each year has been different for her store.

During the first year, she focused on her vintage collection in collaboration with the products of local vendors. In her second year, she added the help of interns. From the third year onward, her focus was on vintage items, programs and vision.

“My favorite part has got to be when people bring items in and I hear about the stories behind them,” said Pierson.

“It’s so fascinating to find out about the stories each item holds. My favorite part of working at GRACE would be reusing items and finding them a home. It makes me feel good to know that I’m doing my part to help the environment.

The most memorable part by far was to watch the students transform.”

The students become more vibrant during their time here, she said. Some begin with having low self-esteem and confidence.

“By the end they are able to face their fears and walk with pride and attitude down the runway,” she Pierson.

DeGeneres vows candor as clouded talk show charts its return LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres says she’ll be ready to talk when her daytime show returns this month after a staff shake-up prompted by allegations of a toxic workplace.

“I can’t wait to get back to work and back to our studio.

And, yes, we’re gonna talk about it,” DeGeneres said in a statement announcing the show’s Sept. 21 start of its 18th season.

Tiffany Haddish will join DeGeneres for the kick-off episode, with “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” to be taped at Warner Bros. minus an in-studio audience, which is commonplace during the pandemic.

The first month’s list of high-profile guests reads like a a rebuttal to questions about how DeGeneres and her show are perceived in the industry amid the controversy that cut against the host’s kindly image.

Kerry Washington, Alec Baldwin and Chrissy Teigen are set for the first week, with Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, Adam Sandler and Orlando Bloom appearing later in September, the show said.

Stephen “tWitch” Boss, a longtime guest DJ on the show and among those who have publicly supported DeGeneres, will guest host some fall episodes.

Ellen DeGeneres poses in the press room at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 5, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. DeGeneres says she’ll be ready to talk when her daytime show returns this month after a staff shake-up prompted by allegations of a toxic workplace. “I can’t wait to get back to work and back to our studio. And, yes, we’re gonna talk about it,” DeGeneres said in a statement announcing the show’s Sept. 21, 2020, start of its 18th season. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Last month, three of the show’s producers exited amid allegations of a dysfunctional workplace that harbored misbehavior including sexual misconduct and racially insensitive remarks.

An internal company inves-

tigation of work conditions was prompted by a BuzzFeed News report in July based on 36 interviews with ex-staffers, who complained about or said they witnessed improper and unfair treatment. The people making the claims were not

identified.

When DeGeneres told staffers of the changes in a video conference call, she reportedly said she found claims about the show’s environment to be “heartbreaking.”

The comedian and host had

sent a memo to her staff after the BuzzFeed report, recalling her early promise of ensuring a workplace where “everyone would be treated with respect.” Something changed, she said, “and for that, I am sorry.”

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Variety

MSU Reporter • 15

Disney criticized for filming ‘Mulan’ in China’s Xinjiang SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Disney is under fire for filming part of its live-action reboot “Mulan” in Xinjiang, the region in China where the government has been accused of human rights abuses against Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.

The final credits in the film, which was released on Disney Plus last week and is being rolled out in several countries this month, thank propaganda departments in Xinjiang and the public security bureau of Turpan, a Uighur-majority city in the region.

Human rights activists and some China experts have taken to social media to condemn Disney for turning a blind eye to alleged abuses in Xinjiang.

They accuse the American enterprise of kowtowing to China for access to its lucrative movie market, the second-largest in the world.

Amnesty International tweeted a link to a media report on the controversy and asked Disney, “Can you show us your human rights due diligence report?” A Washington Post opinion contributor called the movie a scandal, and one widely shared tweet suggested the Mulan crew would have seen “reeducation camps” for

A man stands in a set promoting the Disney movie Mulan in Beijing on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020.

Disney is under fire for filming part of its live-action reboot “Mulan” in Xinjiang, the region in China where the government has been accused of human rights abuses against Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Uighurs en route to filming locations.

Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in the remote Xinjiang region have been locked up in camps as part of a government assimilation campaign launched in response to decades of sometimes violent struggle against

Chinese rule. Some have been subjected to forced sterilization and abortion, and in recent months, ordered to drink traditional Chinese medicines to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

Chinese authorities defend the camps as job training centers, though former detainees

describe them as prison-like facilities where they were humiliated, beaten and deprived of food.

“There is no so-called reeducation camp in Xinjiang,” foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said when asked about the Mulan controversy on Tuesday. “The establish-

ment of the vocational education and training centers in Xinjiang is a positive attempt and active exploration of preventive counterterrorism and deradicalization. ... There have been no violent terrorist attacks in Xinjiang for more than three years.”

In addition to Xinjiang, the Mulan team has scouted and filmed in multiple locations in China including the cities of Xi’an and Dunhuang, according to director Niki Caro’s Instagram posts. The movie has been partially filmed in New Zealand as well.

Disney did not reply to a request for comment.

The film, which is a remake of the popular 1998 animation, is based on the ancient Chinese tale of Hua Mulan, a young woman who takes her father’s place in the army by dressing as a man.

The remake was no stranger to controversies even before its release.

Last year, a boycott movement was sparked when the lead actor, Liu Yifei, a Chinese-American originally from Wuhan, publicly supported Hong Kong police when they were accused of using excessive force against Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.

16 • MSU Reporter

Variety

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Oscars set inclusion standards for best picture category In an historic move, the Oscars are raising the inclusion bar for best picture nominees starting with the 96th Academy Awards in 2024. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday laid out sweeping eligibility reforms to the best picture category intended to encourage diversity and equitable representation on screen and off, addressing gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and disability.

The film academy has established four broad representation categories: On screen; among the crew; at the studio; and in opportunities for training and advancement in other aspects of the film’s development and release.

Each standard has detailed subcategories as well. To meet the on-screen representation standard, a film must either have at least one lead character or a significant supporting character be from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group, at least 30% of secondary roles must be from two underrepresented groups or the main storyline, theme or narrative must be focused on an underrepresented group.

According to the academy, underrepresented groups include

An Oscar statue appears at the 91st Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif. In an historic move, the Oscars are raising the inclusion bar for best picture nominees starting in 2024.

(Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP, File)

women, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQ+ or people with disabilities The best picture award, which is handed out to the producers of a film, is the one category which every film

academy member can vote for.

Earlier this year, the South Korean film “Parasite” became the first non-English language film to win the award.

All other categories will be held to their current eligibility

requirements.

“The aperture must widen to reflect our diverse global population in both the creation of motion pictures and in the audiences who connect with them,” said Academy

President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson in a written statement. “We believe these inclusion standards will be a catalyst for long-lasting, essential change in our industry.”

The second category addresses the creative leadership and crew composition of a film. In order to meet the standard a film must have either at least two leadership positions or department heads be from an underrepresented group and at least one be from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group; at least six other crew be from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group; or at least 30% of the film’s crew be from an underrepresented group.

The third category deals with paid internship and apprenticeship opportunities as well as training opportunities for below-the-line workers, and the fourth category addresses representation in marketing, publicity and distribution teams.

The inclusion standards form will be confidential and will not be required for best picture hopefuls for the 94th and 95th Academy Awards.