Pg. 9 MAY 20 - JUNE 2, 2020 - QCNERVE.COM
NEWS & OPINION FEATURE
rates, they see the overdoses. MEDIC sees the overdose rates and they want to get that down, they’re a huge supporter. There are a lot of people who work in public Avenue corridors and health and emergency Monroe Road/Eastover services that have gotten corridors. this all along. “They’re going, “It’s the community, ‘Oh no, we don’t want some of the landlords those kind of people out there,” she continued. walking around our “A lot of the elected neighborhood,’” Allen officials in Mecklenburg said. “I’m like, ‘Those County get it, but we still kind of people are have huge hurdles to go already walking around through in some of our your neighborhood. more rural counties we Those kind of people serve where the elected are your clients. They’re officials are not on board the people that are with this. And it doesn’t coming into your retail matter that it’s legal, establishments.’ If it they don’t want to do it.” just happened once it Allen said she’s HOPE CHAPEL IS A QCNE SATELLITE SITE. wouldn’t be bothering received great feedback PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN me so much, but I’ve since sending the letter been turned down by five, out, and is currently in conversation with one landlord or six at this point just because they don’t want our who is in the process of buying a property in the kind. You wouldn’t think that you’d be up against that Eastway Drive/Central Avenue area so that she can stigma these days.” rent it for a few years and buy it when things become The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention more stable. have confirmed that needle exchange programs do The group hopes to host a soft re-opening of its not increase drug consumption, and participants are Carolinas CARE site in June, though staff members are more likely to enter drug treatment programs and constantly discussing how they can do that safely, be stop injecting drugs. However, beliefs about enabling it through curbside service or by appointment only. drug use still hold many programs back. In the meantime, Kestner and Ayers will continue Also, people around the country have voiced hitting the road each week to provide participants other issues with the exchanges. Public concerns with life-saving services, because they don’t see any about discarded used needles were one factor that alternative. led to Madison County, Indiana’s syringe exchange “You’ve got a national public health crisis, which program being shut down in 2017 after two years still looms, and a pandemic on top of that, which is in operation. The program, run by the county health only going to exacerbate these things,” Kestner said. department, had been created in response to a 30% Her passion for the program and its benefits projected rise in viral hepatitis cases in 2015. A year later, county through the phone anytime she spoke about the commissioners there agreed unanimously to reopen a stigma surrounding needle exchanges. modified version of the program, which is now run by “The hope that we had for community members a nonprofit similar to CPS rather than the county. for the things that they would be receiving from [the On average, Queen City Needle Exchange sees a wellness center], especially during a time of such 45% return rate for its syringes. disconnection, to see the stigma and discrimination Locally, getting county support has never been an that we experienced was just the most horrific thing. issue. Experts know the benefits of a syringe exchange For a person’s arrogance and ideology to be powerful program, and they’ve been more than supportive. In enough to assume what’s best for a community and a other spaces, though, it can be harder to convince person’s needs, it just triggers every nerve in my body.” people. For Kestner and her fellow staff members, it’s the “With our public health partners, there’s really difference between life-and-death, and never more never been an issue,” Allen said. “The [Mecklenburg so than now. County] health department has been on board from RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM day one; they get it. They see the rising HIV and Hep C
FIGHT FOR THE FALL UNC Charlotte schedule change sparks backlash BY NIKOLAI MATHER
UNC Charlotte looks to be going forward with a new fall semester schedule despite backlash from its student body. On May 4, Chancellor Philip Dubois announced that the Fall 2020 semester will begin on Labor Day, Sept. 7, two weeks after the planned start date of Aug. 24. Dubois instated the delay to “allow additional time” between Charlotte and Mecklenburg County’s predicted peaks for coronavirus and the beginning of the semester. “The health of our students and employees, especially those who may be at higher risk, is our top priority in making this decision,” he stated in the announcement. The Fall 2020 schedule also omits vacation days for fall break and Thanksgiving Eve, while moving the final exam period back to Dec. 17-23, which many students took issue with. The backlash was so great that the UNC Charlotte Student Government Association (SGA) released a statement on May 11 addressing these complaints. “We want to assure you that we hear your questions and concerns and are working diligently to provide answers for you,” the statement read. SGA encouraged students to continue voicing their concerns and assured them that it would “continue to advocate on behalf of [students].” On May 12, SGA passed the 2020 Break Act, which formally stated that the Student Senate branch of SGA opposed the new fall semester schedule plans. The text cited the more flexible plans implemented by 16 different universities across the country, including the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which will resume class as quickly as possible “with no disruptions” to student breaks. The Senate pointed out that, like Charlotte, Milwaukee will host a major national convention this fall, though it’s still unclear what that will look like at this point. The Senate also added that Thanksgiving and fall breaks are “essential” to students’ mental health and well-being. “Numerous studies have shown a direct correlation between academic success and adequate time to rest,” it stated. SGA convened a special meeting with Provost Joan Lorden on May 12 in order to voice their concerns
and clarify further information about the proposed fall semester schedule. During the meeting, UNC Charlotte officials named several factors in the decision-making process, including a “grace period” for faculty to plan hybrid and online classes, the long-term planning for normal spring and summer semesters, and the evasion of the projected coronavirus peak. In a statement released on May 13, SGA thanked Lorden for the meeting, but reaffirmed their criticism. “While we respect the decision made that the Fall 2020 schedule will remain, it is the belief of the Student Government Association that students would better benefit from keeping their breaks as we feel these breaks directly contribute to the well-being of our students’ mental and academic health.” SGA also advocated for online final exams in hopes that they would offer more flexibility for students traveling for the holidays, as well as more transparency in the decision-making process. Lorden and other UNC Charlotte officials will take it under consideration. As Dubois stated in the May 4 announcement, “We must be responsible about balancing the return to classrooms, offices, and residence halls with the health and safety of Niner Nation and the uncertainty this pandemic poses.” A survey done by the UNC Charlotte chapter of the American Association of University Professors asked 162 faculty members how they’d like to see classes carried out in fall, with 65.4% of respondents saying they’d prefer online-only, and 25.3% responding hybrid. Less than 10% would like to see a full return to traditional, on-campus learning. The decision on the UNC Charlotte fall semester schedule will be finalized on May 29. As for other higher education institutions in the area, Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC), students have already begun to trickle back onto campus, as some health career and commercial driver’s license students have resumed face-to-face instruction. Like most institutions around the country, CPCC transitioned to online learning in March. Queens University of Charlotte President Daniel Lugo released a statement on May 13 stating that the university is “actively planning for students to return to residence halls and in-person learning” in the fall, though how that will look has not yet been announced. Johnson C. Smith University has not yet announced its plans for the fall semester, though the in-person graduation ceremony scheduled for May 17 was rescheduled to Oct. 28, as part of the stillscheduled homecoming festivities that week. INFO@QCNERVE.COM
