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COVID TESTING SITE
Nov. 11, 2020 Campus Voices | Media | Satire | Elections | Campus Police | COVID Testing | Spring Break MSU Police Department welcomes Amy Van Veen to the force
PHOTO COURTESY OF A.J. RUBIO | THE WICHITAN Officer Amy Van Veen, in front of a wall of portraits of her fellow coworkers, Nov. 9.
KHIRSTIA SHEFFIELD FEATURE EDITOR
The faces behind the badge and pristine suits have not always represented the diverse range of society. In 1838, the city of Boston established the first American police force and 72 years later a woman was appointed as the first regularly rated policewoman by the Los Angeles Police Department. Alice Stebbins Wells became a pioneer in the national movement to have police departments hire more women as officers, and now women make up 12.8% of all police officers. Although the story of women in American law enforcement is an evolving one, MSU made a breakthrough by hiring its first fulltime policewoman, Officer Amy Van Veen, since 2017.
“She’s a very experienced and knowledgeable law enforcement officer coming to us after close to 30 years in the law enforcement field, 10 of which have been in the capacity of higher education,” Chief Patrick Coggins said. “She brings a tremendous amount of skill and experience to the department. Because of her experience in the past, she is able to catch on very quickly and serve in the role that we need her to serve in.”
After spending 30 years in law enforcement, Van Veen said this is the first time she’s been the only female in the department.
“It’s a small department, I don’t think it’s unusual that I’m the only female in the department,” Van Veen said. “It’s kind of cool in a way. I don’t want to be singled out for any reason; I just want to be a part of the team and do my job.”
Although the MSU police department strives to create an inclusive environment that represents the college community they serve, there is still a disparity between the number of male and female students in the local police academy which is where they recruit from.
“MSU is different from the region. We’re a community within a community, but we still have to recruit from the local community, so those diverse attributes that we would like to see in those applications are still reflective of the community that is predominantly white,” `Coggins said. “Any police department, I think, wants their police staff to be reflective of the community they serve. Often times, we don’t get the number of applicants that we would need, because not everyone who applies is selected as a police officer.”
At 20 years old Van Veen decided she was dedicating her life to serving her community. With no family background in law enforcement, Van Veen was the first of her family to become an officer, a path her older brother would soon follow.
“One day it came to me and I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life and I’ve been doing it ever since,” said Van Veen.
Van Veen decided to turn in her badge for the municipalities in 2009 and in 2012 she traded her former badge in for a badge that represented so much more than fighting against crime. Tired of the reactive environment that was dictated by continuous calls which created room for a lack of personal connection, Van Veen’s desire for interaction pushed her to work in higher education.
“A college environment is more proactive; we’re here to interact with the kids and we want a repour with the kids and the staff. It’s important for them to understand our main purpose here is to make sure they’re safe. That’s our goal, to make sure they have a safe environment to learn in,” Van Veen said.
For the past eight and a half years she’s been working in a college environment. After getting laid off from her most recent job due to COVID-19, she was looking for a place to call home.
“I like what I saw about MSU, it seemed like a place I would like to relocate to start a life at. I like the size and it had a homey feel to it and that’s really what I want,” Van Veen
said.
For Van Veen choosing MSU is less about a job and more about making those life-long connections she couldn’t make before.
“I enjoy helping people. I’ve done the running and gunning,” Van Veen said. “I’m at the point in my career where I’m more interested in helping people, interacting with people and just getting to know people. I want to be there as support. It’s not just a job; I want to be more personable and deal with people more on a one on one basis.”
Although there are no plans in place to help the MSU Police Department recruit more diverse officers, the department is looking forward to a future full of improvements that will enhance the ways in which they protect, serve and defend the campus culture.
“The university police exist to protect the campus community, to assist in creating and maintaining a safe community to live, learn, work and recreate,” Coggins said. “I’m hoping that these improvements, both in the quality of staffing as well as the infrastructure that we’re working on now, will result in a better police service to our community.”
Nov. 11, 2020 Campus Voices | Media | Satire | Elections | Campus Police | COVID Testing | Spring Break Wichita County Health District announces free COVID-19 testing site
AMOS PERKINS MANAGING EDITOR
The Wichita County Health District has announced a free COVID-19 testing site available at the parking lot of the Multipurpose Events Center (MPEC), courtesy of health services company WellHealth.
“We work for WellHealth and they’re out of Plano, Texas, but they have a contract with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the health department, so that’s why we’re allowed to be out here doing the free COVID testing,” Meredith Charrie, medical assistant, said.
The site will be open and available Monday through Friday 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. until 2 a.m. The site is located outside the Ray Clymer Exhibit Hall of the MPEC.
Those wishing to get tested must register at www.gogettested.com, and workers say they would prefer you register ahead of time.
“We prefer appointment setups, because if [people getting tested] don’t have an appointment [when they arrive at the site] then they have to go and set up an appointment and get back in line,” Charrie said.
The test is free and as of Nov. 4, gogettested.com states that there are 608 test slots available with an estimated wait time of under five minutes. Those who get tested can also expect their results within approximately 4 days.
“[Test results] take 48-96 hours, and you get a text and an email letting you know whether it’s negative
PHOTO BY OMAR COMBIE | THE WICHITAN COVID-19 testing site available at the parking lot of the Multipurpose Events Center (MPEC), Nov. 11.
or positive. With a positive result, there’s also a phonemail,” Janet King, medical assistant, said.
Those wishing to get tested must also abstain from certain activities that could alter the test results and make them harder to read.
“Twenty minutes before they come, there’s no eating or drinking, no smoking a cigarette or whatever before they come, because we want a clear test, because [the test comes] from saliva,” King said.
The testing site only offers testing via a cotton swab to the inside of the mouth. Students who need another kind of approved test for travel will have to be tested elsewhere.
“We don’t do nasal [testing], not at this site, we don’t. Some of our other sites might, but we don’t do it here,” Charrie said.
Those who test positive from the WellHealth testing site are told exactly what to do via a phone call.
“If someone has a positive test, one of our providers from WellHealth will call them and instruct them what to do next. Usually the health department will get involved, and the health department will contact them and have them quarantine,” Charrie said.
Previously Wichita County citizens primarily had to rely on CVS and other pharmacies for tests, but an increase of cases in the county has led to more preventative measures by the government.
“We don’t know for how long we’re going to be here. The only reason that they put here is because of the rising cases. The TDEM is paying for it, because they want people to get tested,” Charrie said.
King feels it is worth it to get tested because of the security and stability it provides, and because it keeps the other members of the community
safer when you know whether or not you carry COVID-19.
“I think it’s important for you to knowing yourself, so you can get peace either way, no matter what [the result] is, so you can take care of yourself properly. Someone that’s positive can be going about the community, infecting people, not knowing they have it,” King said.
SPRING BREAK CANCELLED
STEPHANIE RODBLEDO | BRIDGET REILLY | ELIZABETH MAHAN NEWS EDITOR | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | REPORTER
MSU Texas officials announced via Postmaster Wednesday, Oct. 21, the decision to eliminate spring break from the academic calendar for the 2021 spring semester as they “continue to make the necessary adjustments to plans for in-person operations in the environment of the pandemic.”
“Given the rise in cases and the expected continuation of managing the COVID-19 pandemic through the spring 2021, it is prudent to cancel spring break and end the spring semester one week earlier,” Keith Lamb, vice president of student affairs and enrollment management, said. “Doing so will help mitigate the spread of the virus within our campus community by minimizing travel of the campus population during the middle-of-the semester, and then returning to campus.”
Due to the cancelation, the last day of classes will be brought forward to April 23, final examinations will begin April 24, and commencement will fall on May 1. The decision comes following input from the campus community. However, some MSU faculty think students were left out of the decision-making process.
CAMPUS REACTIONS
Marianne Rangel, social work sophomore
Davis Price, undecided freshman
Luke Craddock, theatre freshman
Valeria Contreras, radiology sophomore
“I think what’s surprising is how early they decided to cancel it, because I honestly didn’t think they were going to cancel it till next semester, so I was kind of shocked to get the email at the end of October.
Estefani Vasquez, biology junior
“That’s very unfortunate. With COVID and stuff, it’s not that much that we could really do with spring break, but some of us actually look forward to spring break as a break from school and from classes and everything. It’s just like a way to relax and take a relaxing thing from the past semester, especially with everything going on and stuff, so it’s kind of rough.”
Ginelle Fontinelle, exercise physiology senior
“Why didn’t administrators do a student poll? Even if the decision had been made, it would have been nice to get general student input,” mass communication professor Bradley Wilson said. “Maybe they did ask Student Senate folks. I don’t know. Maybe they did ask Faculty and Staff Senate. I don’t know, but it sure came as a surprise to most of the faculty members I’m in touch with regularly.”
