Oct. 7, 2020 | The Reflector

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Sport management launches podcast

New podcast features alumni, designed to help decision-making process for potential students

By Jacob Walton

McCulloch said that prior to starting this project, he had very little SPORTS EDITOR & experience working with audio or any PHOTO EDITOR of the programs that podcasters use and that has been one of the bigger In an effort to reach students challenges so far. He said that across the country, the University of the podcast launching during Indianapolis Sport Management quarantine has helped its program has started a podcast headed growth. by graduate student Cody McCulloch.

“I know the first few episodes I The podcast, titled “The Greyhound did, the people were all on board cause Guide: Sport Management ” has they were just saying 'I'm home bored released 11 episodes so far with various whenever.' So I think that helped,” sport management alumni at UIndy, McCulloch said. “Then the idea that, according to McCul loc h. The several of the people are long-distance podcast is available on Spotify, and it's just cool to be able to put it up Apple Podcast and other locations, on our LinkedIn page: ‘Go check our according to McCulloch. He said interview with an alumni from 10 years that this podcast can help with the ago.' Our programs at UIndy do [have] decision-making process for potential a lot of people coming and speaking students. to the class, but “Before I came obviously that's bac k to UIndy a small field of because I did my people because ... We thought it undergrad [at people go outside might be a great way UIndy], I fle w of the state for work. out to Arizona So I think it's also to reach out" when [I had] my helped reconnect us last spring break with professionals of undergrad to check out [a] grad in other areas.” school out there,” McCulloch said.

According to Professor and Program “I was just telling Dr. [ Jennifer] Director for Sport Management VanSickle, really the only way to learn Jennifer VanS ickle, McCulloch about school is to take out a chunk of has been running the whole show, with time in your day and you have to do VanSickle having shown little influence research on the internet and stuff and over the product. She said that one of do campus visits. I was saying, it'd be the biggest strengths of the podcast is cool if someone can learn about it while the student voice it has. they're driving their car or while they're “We were thinking about different working out and have their headphones ways that we could let people know on. It'd just be another way to get the about our sport management programs,” information and not take time out of VanSickle said. “There was a video on your day.” our website, we try to do tweets and we

Photo contributed by Cody McCulloch

University of Indianapolis sport management graduate student Cody McCulloch interviews alumnus Cam Fuller over Zoom on April 9, 2020 as part of the program's new podcast, "The Greyhound Guide: Sport Management." The podcast has had 11 episodes so far.

try to do Instagram photos, but to allow students to hear from other students about what their experiences have been, we thought it might be a great way to reach out and just let them know about our program.”

So far McCulloch has spoken with several different guests all from different positions within the sport management community. He said that his favorite experience was getting a chance to do an episode with former UIndy Athletics Sports Information

Coalition pushes for inclusion initiatives

By Noah Fields FEATURE EDITOR

Approaches to inclusion initiatives such as “one-size-fits-all” approaches are the complete antithesis of inclusion, according to the University of Indianapolis Vice President and Chief Inclusion and EquityOfficerAmberSmith.TheInclusive Excellence Strategic Leadership Coalition wants to ensure actions are tailored to the needs of the colleges and divisions at UIndy, as well as help define area-specific inclusion initiatives, Smith said.

The coalition consists of eight teams with people from across the university looking to push forward inclusion agendas from within different colleges and missions, according to Smith. There are six focus areas, processes and policies that correspond to each team and two additional teams for LGBTQ+ and Black lives at UIndy, respectively.

The coalition will add more teams based on different campus populations, according to Smith.

“The access and equity group, they might say… we need to probably think in terms of what we can do in the summer to help students who are typically more marginalized be more successful that first semester,” Smith said. “... if we can spend a week or two with them [students],

we can help create a more equitable platform.”

Assistant Professor of Social Work Francine Carter said she attended weekly virtual meetings relating to the coalition this past summer. I n those meetings, she said she was transparent. “ I h a d n o p ro b l e m d u r i n g those calls…just outing myself with things that I've said that are dumb, things that I said that were full of bias and prejudice

SMITH that I didn't even realize,” Carter said.

So then she [Smith] and I developed this great relationship and she asked me then to be on the committee, and to also help her with some special projects.”

Carter said she is a member of the curriculum, LGBTQIA+ and inclusive restroom teams respectively.

Carter and another member

are working on a presentation for faculty and staff, she said.

The presentation will have ever yone on the call talk about racism from their perspectives, she said.

While she has not yet been able to attend her teams’ meetings, Carter said she is excited to see what her role w ill be. She said it looks like her team has done a phenomenal job in addressing their 3060-90 plan, the model each team takes to determine what they will accomplish in 30, 60 and 90 days. “ W hat we know with groups especially is that we'll come together and we'll talk and talk and talk, but nothing gets done,” Carter said. “So this is really a very action-oriented program, process and committee.

So it's really exciting to be able to see that ever yone's come together and the input and the action steps are already taking place.”

Smith said that coalitions of this kind should create changes that move for ward change, not delay change or get bogged down in bureaucracy. “... The coalition is a team that is focused on inclusion in action, and that identifies specific initiatives that [can] create a more inclusive UIndy,” Smith said.

Graduate Assistant Alec Rohr in one of the first episodes.

"We [McCulloch and Rohr] had undergrad classes together," McCulloch said. "I saw that when I posted [about the episode] on Twitter, Alec retweeted it. And he's like, ‘If you want to see me rambling about Michael Stipe, go check out the episode.’ So that was cool.”

VanSickle said that so far McCulloch has done a great job and that this is something she wants to be a mainstay

in the program for the future, even after McCulloch graduates.

“Cody's [McCulloch] here for two years. He's our graduate assistant for two years, but we'll have somebody else come along after him,” VanSickle said. “So I will hand down the torch and will allow that person to have their own creative ideas in terms of the questions they want to ask or the format, but all in all, we'd love to see it [the podcast] continue. We think he started something great.”

By Kassandra Darnell

surprised with Rosedale Hill United Methodist Church.... They had 26 walkers from their church. That's actually the most walkers they've ever had walk the CROP walk. So we'll have to see ... ” Ac c o rd i n g t o U n i ve r s i t y o f Indianapolis senior nursing major and CROP intern Samantha Enloe, the virtual aspect of this year’s walk has also created challenges with promoting the event. Enloe and the group of interns from UIndy found different ways to advertise the walk, including creating posters and Facebook posts that link directly to the CROP website.

“Our group has come up with little different things here and there to help bring awareness to the walk,” E n l o e s a i d . “ We ' v e c r e a t e d posters that have QR codes on them and we've been giving those out to get the word out that the walk is still happening.”

Enloe and the UIndy interns will also be hosting their own CROP walk at UIndy on Oct. 18. The event will give students the opportunity to participate, as well as donate nonperishables.

“That's where we also thought of, it's not super realistic to ask college students to donate money, but that's where we thought the food drive might come in. So if they come to walk, they can bring

Students participate in virtual CROP walk STAFF WRITER

The Christian Rural Overseas Program, or CROP, is an organization aimed at ending hunger, both locally and globally. The Greater Indianapolis C RO P H u n g e r Wa l k w i l l b e taking place virtually beginning on Oct. 4 and continuing throughout the month.

The CROP group located in Indianapolis will be focusing on raising funds and forming teams online. According to CROP Event Coordinator Rev. Brooks Barrick, those who wish to participate can sign up to donate or join a group through the CROP website.

While the walk will not be taking place as one organized gathering, many churches in the area have been hosting their own walks or fundraising virtually in order to contribute, according to Barrick.

Despite limitations to nonprofits and organized events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Barrick said he is hoping to see more participation and donations.

“As we were having conversations with the nursing students this morning, there are people unemployed right now because of COVID-19 [and] are not able to contribute like they did in the past,” Barrick said.

“So we don't know what that's going to look like. I was really

> See CROP on page 4

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OPINION

THE REFLECTOR

2020 gubernatorial race Three staff writers weigh in on the candidates and their campaign platforms

Eric Holcomb

Donald Rainwater

STAFF WRITER

STAFF WRITER

By Brett Pinna

Donald Rainwater is the Libertarian Party candidate for Governor of Indiana.

The main issues Rainwater wants to focus on are reducing overall tax burdens, passing constitutional carry of firearms, and decriminalizing and legalizing cannabis.

According to the Rainwater for Indiana campaign website, he focuses on individual rights, from abortion to property ownership. One right he hopes to work on with the Indiana General Assembly, according to his campaign website, is to pass legislation that would attempt to alter the minimum age for alcohol and tobacco possession and consumption.

However, I think that attempting to change the legal drinking age in the state is not feasible because it poses several difficulties. Not only does the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 cause states to lose 10% of federal funding for state highways if they choose to change it, but any legislation is unlikely to pass in the Indiana General Assembly because eight-in-ten Americans oppose changing the legal drinking age, according to ABC News.

Rainwater also plans to decriminalize and legalize both medicinal and recreational cannabis in Indiana.

Rainwater’s campaign website states, “If beer, wine, and liquor are legal for adult recreational consumption, so should all forms of cannabis.”

While attempting to legalize cannabis has been a hot political topic recently, I do not believe it is likely to occur in Indiana. According to the Chicago Tribune, a majority of Hoosiers support the legalization of cannabis in some respect, but the state legislature has not reflected this support, and it is unlikely that will change anytime soon.

Another area of individual rights Rainwater is focusing on in his campaign is medical freedoms, according to his campaign website. While this would mainly ensure Hoosiers can make their own choices regarding medical treatments and health coverage, it also includes situations related to COVID-19, such as eliminating government mandates to wear facial masks or receive vaccinations.

Letting individuals decide whether they want to wear a mask in public could lead to an increase of COVID-19 cases, potentially leaving college students more vulnerable to the virus. I do not lifting government mandates for masks and vaccines would be in the best interest of the public’s health at this time.

By Tony Reeves

by an increase in comprehensive training of police officers.

The U.S. Constitution gives no general police powers to the federal government, meaning the states have discretion over how to mandate police training. In Indiana and 36 other states, police officers can act as an officer for 12 months before they must complete basic training to become a police officer, and during those 12 months, officers have “full authority to detain, arrest, incarcerate, or even kill without ever attending basic police training,” according to The Institute for Criminal Justice Training Reform. The Institute for Criminal Justice Training Reform is an organization intended to protect the public and police by reforming police training.

Police officers should not have the ability to work in their job for a whole year in Indiana without training. In no other field involving life and death decisions is this acceptable. Nurses and doctors cannot go into surgery

UIndy app student feed is toxic

By Noah Fields FEATURE EDITOR

owe students a high-quality education, according to his campaign website.

As far as climate action, the plan highlighted on Myers' website states that “that Indiana must become more energy efficient,” so setting a new clean energy goal is among his priorities.

Economically, his goal is to diversify Indiana’s economy so that everyone can be financially comfortable, not just one group of people. According to his campaign website, Hoosiers are working but sometimes must work multiple jobs to make ends meet, and Myers wants to change that. His goal directly connects to his workforce development plans, to help workers obtain good-paying jobs through a variety of avenues.

Myers seems to have some progressive plans for the state, and I think he could be very appealing to the younger generation.

Healthcare, education and climate all are issues that Generation Z cares about.

Indiana needs a fresh start, especially in the current political climate and state of the world. We are living in a time when more people are without jobs and dealing with increasing health problems, in part because of COVID-19, and the education system is fighting to ensure that students get the education they need.

These are difficult times that call for actual plans of action,not broken promises and lies. We need strong candidates who want the best for all people. There is nothing radical in wanting people to be able to live comfortably in every aspect of life. I appreciate what Myers is bringing to this race, and I hope he succeeds.

Nowhere have rising social media tensions been more evident to our college community than the UIndy App student feed. Appropriate digital etiquette is more important now than ever, given the increase in remote communication because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the public discourse surrounding the election, civil rights and other topics. Demonstrating respect in online activities is integral to good citizenship and being a member of the campus community.

Open dialogue and respectful discourse are already difficult to achieve on social media compared to in-person conversation. For instance, when communicating through comment sections and group chats, the tone of a message can be ambiguous and hard to read since it can lack the context of verbal or facial cues. Many people like to joke or speak sarcastically in these forums, and the inability to read tone weakens communication.

People may also use terms others interpret differently. Unlike real-life conversations, in which people can clarify definitions instantly, accomplishing this on social media is difficult. Instead, miscommunication often will occur and result in arguments forming before one can correct themselves. All of these factors make effective virtual discourse easy to mess up.

Communication barriers apply to all social media, but there is a crucial difference with the UIndy App student feed. While it can still affect your life, arguing on Twitter may not affect you in the long-term simply because Joe from Iowa is a stranger and far away. However, with the UIndy App, you may see those student users in class or on campus. So some of the anonymity characteristic of most social networks is gone, and toxic behavior can have a more lasting impact on campus relationships because the people involved are frequently around each other.

Therefore, it is crucial to approach virtual interactions on the student feed with the same respect as in-person interactions. It is one thing to publicly ask a question or voice a thought, perhaps about sensitive subjects such as politics or race relations, but making tactless, blanket statements to spark arguments and controversy is as inappropriate on the UIndy App student feed as it is in-person.

Social media is just as much a public forum as face-to-face conversation and requires just as much care, if not more.

This is especially true for the UIndy App student feed, since its users are all a part of the same general population.

We must be mindful of our words, not only as good citizens but as members of a campus community.

2017 shooting of Aaron Bailey, according to an article by the Indianapolis Star.

Officers now only have to go through eight hours of racial bias training in Indiana, according to CBS News.

After the Black Lives Matter protests began in Indianapolis, the rules and procedures of de-escalation training for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department changed in 2020. However, there is no minimum amount of training required for police officers to complete de-escalation training according to an article from WTHR. Compare all of this to the fact that on average police spend 180 hours on self-defense and tactics training. Officers are going to rely more on self-defense than de-escalation.

Officers in Indiana also do not receive enough training overall. According to the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, the state’s center for law enforcement education, officers spend more than 600 hours in training. However, this is not nearly enough training for someone who

is going into critical situations. Police officers are given weapons and firearms that can and have taken the lives of civilians but receive less training than cosmetologists to receive their license, which is 1,500 hours, according to beautyschoolsdirectory.com. Other jobs that require more training than police officers in Indiana include plumbers, electricians, and barbers. The minimum number of hours required to become a police officer is too little for them to be expected to handle life and death situations responsibly.

The problems stemming from police in the United States will not be solved overnight or by one singular action.

However, increasing comprehensive training for officers in de-escalation, racial bias and mental health intervention is a step in the right direction. As a society, we have a right to hold officers accountable for their actions, but we also must properly equip officers to take the proper actions.

By Kassandra Darnell

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican running for re-election, adopts a conservative stance on the economy but expresses moderate views on social issues.

This can benefit Indiana because Holcomb is addressing current issues such as racism, having called for reform in the state's police department and requiring every officer to wear body cameras. Holcomb wants to increase Indiana’s economic competitiveness by “bringing the world to Indiana and taking Indiana to the world,” according to IN.gov.

Holcomb is helping the economy by offering grants to small businesses to help support them during the pandemic and accelerate the speed of their recovery. He supports current hate crime laws, protection of sexual orientation and gender identity, and the LGBT community, according to OntheIssues.org.

In the area of education, Holcomb has called for $150 million to be put toward teacher retirement funds and free up money to increase teacher salaries in order to compete with other Midwestern states. According to World Population Review, Indiana is ranked among the bottom 20 states in terms of teacher salary, so the state has a lot of catching up to do. Teachers have been notoriously underpaid in Indiana, so such efforts will not only better education in the schools but also benefit the lives of teachers.

Holcomb’s stance on gun control is conservative as well. He has eliminated fees for certain firearm permits, making it more accessible for Indiana residents to own a gun. Holcomb also signed legislation into a law that allows people who have a carrying license to carry firearms for self-protection in churches. I think owning a handgun for protection is acceptable, but carrying a gun in a church seems a little odd to me. There are some crazy people in this world and it only takes one to do something terrible, so there is no need to carry a deadly weapon in a church.

Holcomb also wants to create jobs for the 21st century. He believes that over the next 10 years, one million new skilled workers will be needed when the 700,000 baby boomers retire and the 300,000 newly created jobs must be filled, according to OntheIssues.org.

Overall, I think that Gov. Holcomb is a good choice and should be re-elected because of his moderate views.

OCTOBER 7, 2020

Graphic by Tony Reeves

Woody Myers

By Tyshara Loynes STAFF WRITER

Local Hoosier Woodrow “Woody” Augustus Myers Jr. is a local business owner with a unique history in Indiana.

He graduated from Shortridge High School, received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University, and got a medical degree from Harvard University and a Master of Business Administration from Stanford, according to his campaign website.This year, Myers is running for Governor of Indiana.This is something different for the state because Myers is a black man, and Indiana has never had a black governor.

Myers is running as the Democratic nominee, and his top five priorities include health care, education, climate, economic development and workforce improvement according to his campaign website.

That he would have some health plans for the state only seems fitting, since he served as state health commissioner from 1985-1990. His campaign website states that he wants to focus on improving access, increasing affordability, and expanding coverage. Myers also plans to change education by prioritizing funding for teachers, with the mindset that we

The U.S.'s police training problem EDITORIAL ASSISTANT The United States has many issues, and at the forefront right now is race.

The protests stemming from George Floyd’s death and the cancellation of NBA playoff games and NFL team practices all were in response to police brutality. There are many reasons for the current law enforcement issues, but at the root is problematic police training in certain key areas, or rather the lack thereof.

I do not dispute the fact that being a police officer is an extremely stressful job.

But this does not excuse the problems evident in our nation. A major part of the U.S. population does not trust the police. According to the Pew Research Center, 61% of U.S. adults think police officers act unethically at least some of the time. Many of the issues involving police could be alleviated

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and help patients without training.

Members of the military cannot serve our nation before completing basic training. It should be the same for police officers.

In addition, the training that police do receive is not adequate for the job.

Approximately 25% of people killed by police exhibited signs of some form of mental illness, according to the Institute

I do not dispute the fact that being a police officer is an extremely stressful job. for Criminal Justice Training Reform.Yet officers on average only spend 10 hours of their training on mental health crisis intervention, according to the Institute for Criminal Justice Training Reform.

In Indiana, implicit racial bias training was not required for officers until the

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NEWS

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THE REFLECTOR

OCTOBER 7, 2020

Domestic terrorism in Indiana FBI: Over 60 active domestic terrorist inquiries in Indiana, lone wolves the greatest threat to U.S.

Contributed Photo by the FBI

A close-up of the FBI seal inside the Strategic Information and Operations Center at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The FBI has arrested approximately 120 people associated with domestic terrorism matters nationwide.

By Noah Crenshaw EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

In 2019,the FBI arrested approximately 107 people who were the subjects of domestic terrorism investigations nationwide, according to the FBI. So far in 2020, the FBI has arrested approximately 120 people associated with domestic terrorism matters nationwide, according to Robert Middleton, an FBI assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office.

In Indiana, there are more than 60 domestic terrorism inquiries that are active, according to Middleton, who oversees the FBI’s national security mission for the state. These matters can range from the FBI’s baseline assessment called Guardian up to full investigations, Middleton said.

“Right now, I think we're looking at north of 1,000 cases bureau-wide,” Middleton said. “I believe there are probably a little north of approximately 120 arrests that would be associated with domestic terrorism matters [nationwide].”

Violence is key The FBI looks at domestic terrorism in a few key areas including anti-government, anti-authority and racially-motivated extremism, according to Middleton.

The anti-government and anti-authority areas can be sub-categorized into militia groups and individuals who consider themselves sovereign citizens, Middleton said. Racially-motivated extremism can include individuals who are advocating violence toward a racial or ethnic group, he said.

What is key about domestic terrorism is violence, according to Middleton, about inciting or causing violence, not about any ideologies or beliefs. That is where the FBI is concerned, he said.

The FBI does not and cannot designate domestic terrorist groups, according to the FBI. Additionally, individuals’ membership in groups that may encourage domestic extremist ideology is not illegal in and of itself, no matter how offensive that might be to a majority of society, according to the FBI. Membership in a group also is not a sufficient basis for an investigation to commence.

Anti-government militias Some militia groups are antigovernment and some are not, according to Rachel Goldwasser, a research analyst with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The SPLC is a nonprofit that monitors the activities of domestic hate groups and extremists in the U.S and publishes an interactive map where users can see hate groups at the state level.

“For the groups that are inherently anti-government, in terms of type, there are groups that are very active in terms of paramilitary training,” Goldwasser said.

“So those groups will go out regularly and train either with their units, like

the greater organization, or they'll go out with other militias as well. A lot of that [training] is firearms training, for instance.”

Goldwasser said that most militias have some sort of military hierarchy, regardless of whether or not their members were in the military at any point, and the groups that do have a military hierarchy are more likely to do paramilitary training. Many of the groups also have members who are veterans who can assist with the training, but not every group has that, she said. There also are groups that are mainly online, according to Goldwasser, with members who just talk over social media but don’t often go out.

Goldwasser said Indiana probably has 10 active militias. She said the SPLC uses a specific set of criteria in order to list them as active, including whether or not they are holding meetings, are out at protests, and have videos that show they are recruiting.This year a lot of groups are either not doing these things or are doing these things where the SPLC cannot see them, Goldwasser said.

There also are groups that are conspiracy theory-oriented, according to Goldwasser. Some conspiracy theoryoriented groups look at past events and create their own version of reality around those events, Goldwasser said.

There also are groups that are motivated by the QAnon conspiracy, Goldwasser said. QAnon is an umbrella term for a sprawling set of internet conspiracy theories that falsely allege that the world is run by a group of Satanworshiping pedophiles who are plotting against President Donald Trump while operating a global sex trafficking ring, according to The New York Times.

Boogaloo’ movement One of the newer movements that the SPLC has seen is the “Boogaloo” movement, Goldwasser said. The movement’s name comes from a 1980s breakdancing movie, according to USA TODAY. Boogaloo is a meme that emerged in the early 2010s in both anti-government and white power spaces online, according to the SPLC. The main idea behind the movement is that there is going to be a civil war, Goldwasser said.

“Boogaloos are … diverse in their thinking, in their ethnicities, although the vast majority, I think are white. But … there are people that are minority [as well],” Goldwasser said. “So you have full white nationalist Boogaloos, who are supportive of a civil war for various reasons, usually related, obviously, to their white nationalism, and then you have anti-government Boogaloo.”

Some of the people who would be considered anti-government Boogaloo are anti-police, Goldwasser said.They are not just against the police as a systemic force or against particular agencies, but against the police period, and they feel that rising up and having a war would

be something that would end police as people see them today, she said.

Many people in the movement who are anti-government do not want to see the systems that are in place maintained, so their idea is to have a complete revolution, Goldwasser said. Many members of the Boogaloo movement are also against making any sort of reforms to gun laws as they are today, she said.

According to Goldwasser, the idea in how this revolution could start or what they do during it is often violent, which makes them problematic.

The SPLC has seen a number of individuals in the movement often use the hashtag or term ‘Boogaloo,’ Goldwasser said. They also wear Hawaiian shirts, which is one of the ways they identify themselves, and often carry firearms, she said. Some members have planned acts of violence or carried them out, but a number of them have been foiled, she said.

Those in the Boogaloo movement have a lot of crossover with anti-government groups because of their ideology, however the Boogaloos’ disenchantment with the government comes from a different place, Goldwasser said. The Boogaloo movement has also been co-opted by members of the anti-government movement, she said. Despite this, the end result can be the same for the most violent members.

The fundamental mission of the FBI is to protect the American people..."

When it comes to the Second Amendment, a lot of these groups believe they should be able to own any firearm, Goldwasser said.The issue is not so much about the right to bear arms, which is constitutional and is not something the SPLC speaks out against, the issue is that they don’t want any limitation at all, even if violence is perpetrated against innocent people, she said.

Goldwasser said that these groups have the notion that the U.S. government, or sometimes the United Nations, is going to take away their guns. For the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, they are not pushing against this extreme position.

The concern is when the groups take these extreme positions and extremist ideas that can lead to extreme activities, she said.

A large number of Americans are disenchanted with some part, or everything,about the government system, according to Goldwasser. However, most people assemble together peacefully or vote to be heard, including some of these groups. Some of the groups the SPLC looks at are problematic because they may not stop with peaceful mechanisms and have the potential to go beyond those mechanisms, and into violence,

Goldwasser said.

“They [groups] have the real potential to go beyond that,” Goldwasser said.

“Whether it's like a standoff with government officials, whether it's something like [the] Oklahoma City Bombing, whether it's what we saw in Kenosha, [Wisconsin] with the shooting [of ] protesters, there's a real potential that they will choose violence as an option on the menu, whereas the average American would not do that.”

Militias and the upcoming election As we head toward the November election, a variety of things could happen with militia groups, according to Goldwasser. If Democratic Presidential Candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden were to be elected, Goldwasser said she hypothesized that there would be a repeat of how these groups reacted when former President Barack Obama was elected.

After Obama’s first election, there was racial animus in social media posts from militia groups, individuals and members, Goldwasser said.This time around, Biden has been cast as a socalist or someone who will endorse Marxism within the sphere of the right-wing internet, and some of these groups are picking up that impression, she said.

Some of these groups think that Biden is going to end the police as we know it today, Goldwasser said. She said this is ironic because some of the groups are anti-government and anti-police, yet a lot of them have “backed the blue” or taken stances against victims of police brutality.

The groups also could rebel against a potential Biden presidency or come out in support of Trump if the election results were in question, Goldwasser said. A lot of the groups are pro-Trump, but not all of them, she said. They also could come out for issues such as gun rights, if Biden is elected, she said.

Goldwasser said that if Trump is reelected, there could possibly be more of what is happening now, with militia groups coming out to counter-protest the Black Lives Matter movement or the protests relating to the taking down Confederate monuments. These groups also could come out in greater numbers, and the militias that are quieter right now could become more active, she said.

Lone actors are the greatest threat The biggest threat to the U.S. when it comes to terrorism is lone actors, according to Middleton. The threat caused by lone actors cuts through the FBI’s entire terrorism portfolio, he said.

“Those individuals [lone actors] … that are mostly self-radicalized primarily through online activities [and] who pursue violence … [against] what we would categorize as soft targets, using any type of weapons available,” Middleton said.

Nationwide, the FBI has seen individuals who have identified themselves in various groups, including

groups that could be considered left- or right-leaning, Middleton said. These individuals that join these groups have been advocating for violence and do not reflect the entire group, however, Middleton said.The FBI would typically categorize them more as opportunists who are using the current environment and the peaceful groups’ activities as a cover to advocate their own violent agenda, he said.

When it comes to the recent protests, Middleton said the vast majority of individuals are exercising their right to protest as guaranteed by the First Amendment and students should not be afraid or concerned that the FBI is watching them when they go to protests.

The FBI cannot initiate an investigation based solely on an individual’s race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or the exercise of First Amendment rights, according to the FBI. When things rise to a level of violence where people could potentially get hurt, however, that is when the FBI has significant issues, Middleton said.

“The fundamental mission of the FBI is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States, and we take that oath and that mission very seriously,” Middleton said.

Election security Anytime there is a national election, there is always a concern about election security, especially given today ’s environment, according to Middleton.

The FBI is uniquely positioned to deal with election security from both cybersecurity and physical perspectives, Middleton said. In terms of the physical perspective, every FBI office is partnered with their respective state’s secretary of state office for election security, he said. “... Here in Indiana, we are in close relationship with them [the Indiana Secretary of State’s office] to ensure, and do what we can as appropriate to ensure, the integrity of the election as well as with our other state and local partners ... address any type of physical threats [that may] include any type of violent unrest or violent activity by anyone regarding the outcome of the election,” Middleton said.

Reporting extremism When it comes to most homegrown violent extremism in the U.S., Middleton said, someone knew about it ahead of time, whether it is a family member or friend. He said if someone had reported it earlier, the FBI could have engaged with individuals sooner, before any law enforcement action or terrorism charges occured.

While there is no domestic terrorism statute, if people see anything they feel rises to the level of potential violence, they should report it sooner rather than later to the appropriate authorities, Middleton said. He said the FBI will take a hard look at the report if it comes to their attention.

NEWS

4 THE REFLECTOR

OCTOBER 7, 2020

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

U.S. President Donald Trump wears a protective face mask in a motorcade outside Walter Reed Medical Center during his treatment for COVID-19 on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020 in Bethesda, Maryland.

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

Marine One, carrying President Donald Trump, to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020 in Washington, D.C. Trump spent three days hospitalized for coronavirus.

Trump refuses to change tune Even after his COVID-19 hospitalization, President Trump does not appear to be more cautious

By Chris Megerian LOS ANGELES TIMES

WASHINGTON (TCA) — After months of falsely comparing the coronavirus to the flu, downplaying its danger and flouting rules intended to limit its spread, President Donald Trump insisted he finally understands the pandemic now that doctors are aggressively treating him for COVID-19.

“I learned a lot about COVID,”Trump said in a video recorded Oct. 4 from his hospital suite.“I learned it by really going to school. This is the real school.”

“I get it. I understand it,” Trump added.

There’s no evidence that he actually does.

Instead, the 74-year-old president boasted that he feels “better than I did 20 years ago” as he tweeted that he would depart on from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Oct. 5, where he had been hospitalized since Oct. 2.

“Don’t be afraid of Covid,”he tweeted.

“Don’t let it dominate your life.”

Even as Trump tried to turn the tale of his illness into a parable about his personal strength and dedication to the country, he said nothing about the 210,000 Americans who have died of COVID-19 since last spring, and the 7.4 million people infected so far — including more than 100,000 since Oct. 2.

Nor did Trump express sympathy for the dozen or more senior advisers, campaign officials and Republican

lawmakers who have contracted the virus since last week, when the White House became the latest hot spot for the disease.

Although he is still contagious, Trump gave no hint how long he will remain in isolation at the White House to avoid spreading the virus. Nor did he acknowledge that his experience with COVID-19 has been unique — airlifted to one of the nation’s best hospitals, treated with experimental drugs not available to the public and a team of doctors on 24-hour call back at the White House.

He remains uncommitted to wearing a mask. He wore one for the helicopter flight home on Oct. 5, but he took it off when he arrived at the White House even though his staff has been struggling to stave off infections.

Olivia Troye, a former aide to the White House’s coronavirus task force who has become a sharp critic of the president, said Trump’s attitude only increases the danger for other Americans.

“My greatest fear is that he would use this as an opportunity to continue downplaying the severity of this virus,” she said. “And we’re seeing that play out.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told MSNBC that she hoped Trump would treat his hospitalization as “a learning experience” and “a transition to a saner approach” to the pandemic.

But Trump doesn’t do learning experiences.

Since taking office, he has not changed his behavior despite tectonic personal and political events — impeachment,

natural disaster, domestic terrorism, economic recession, deadly pandemic.

Not even contracting a potentially deadly disease appears to have chastened him, or made him more concerned about the health of others.

Shortly after recording his video claiming he “learned a lot” about the virus, the infectious commander-inchief climbed into a sealed armored SUV with Secret Ser vice agents covered in protective gear so he could wave at supporters outside the hospital.

Before falling ill, Trump ignored

No one should want this disease. No one should threat this disease lightly. ” federal guidelines on wearing masks and social distancing. He urged his supporters and staff to follow his lead, and even mocked those who insisted on taking precautions.

He does not appear to be any more cautious now.

With Election Day a month away, he’s eager to return to the campaign trail in hopes of salvaging a reelection bid that may hang on whether voters believe he has adequately protected the country in a pandemic when he could not protect his own White House.

“I think I’ll be back soon,” he said in another video.“I look forward to finishing up the campaign the way it was started

and the way we’ve been doing, the kind of numbers that we’ve been doing.”

Public health experts have said it’s exactly those kinds of events — packing thousands of supporters together, mostly without masks and sometimes even indoors — that could spread the virus.

Jeffrey Levi, a George Washington University public health professor, said Trump’s triumphant tone about leaving the hospital was “incredibly irresponsible” and a “dangerous message.”

“No one should want this disease.

No one should treat this disease lightly,” Levi said. “He is undermining the public’s confidence in each of the steps we should be taking to protect ourselves so we don’t have to go through what he went through.”

Jason Miller, a campaign adviser, told CNN on Oct. 4 that Trump had asked him to tell people to “be careful.”

“Wash your hands. Use hand sanitizer.

If you can’t socially distance, wear a mask,” Miller said.

None of that advice came directly from the president. On Monday he tweeted campaign messages and media criticism but nothing about public health guidelines.

Trump’s campaign went so far as portray Trump’s ability to get hospitalized with COVID-19 as a plus in his race against former Vice President Joe Biden.

“He has experience as commander in chief. He has experience as a businessman.

He has experience — now — fighting the coronavirus as an individual,” campaign spokeswoman Erin Perrine told Fox News on Oct. 5. “Those firsthand experiences, Joe Biden, he doesn’t have

those.”

Trump’s experience with COVID-19, of course, was not typical. He is tested regularly at the White House, and when his condition worsened on Oct. 2, was given oxygen and then helicoptered to Walter Reed.

It’s an extreme form of the privilege that has surrounded Trump his entire life.

“If you spend 74 years in that dynamic, you’re not going to know how to change, you’re not going to be inclined to change,” said Michael D’Antonio, who wrote a critical biography of Trump and is writing another book about his impeachment. “No matter how much other people suffer.”

Once Trump is back at the White House, he could be contagious for up to 10 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Medical experts said staff members who ser ve him in the residence probably will need protective gear. If he goes to the Oval Office, he risks shedding the virus in the West Wing, where White House staff work in cramped offices and few wore masks until recently.

But D’Antonio said Trump likely won’t be concerned.

“He can only be the executive producer of his reality show that is his life,” he said. “And now all the extras are getting sick.”

——— ©2020 Los Angeles Times Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

CROP from page 1 non-perishables to that,” Enloe said.

While CROP walks are community events that strive to end hunger locally as well as globally, community organizers decide where donations will go locally, according to Barrick.

This year, Barr ic k said, funds from the Greater Indianapolis CROP Hunger Walk will go to Second Helpings, a food recovery agency that supplies meals to Indianapolis and outlying counties.

According to Barrick, the CROP Hunger Walks in Indianapolis initially began to combat hunger in the area that is caused not only by poverty but also by food deserts, urban areas where there is minimal access to affordable and quality food.

The walk is meant to act as a form of solidarity with those who have to walk long distances for their food. “… Even in food deserts in Indianapolis, a lot of people in those food deserts do not have automobiles, and there are not grocery stores close to them, so then to get to a food pantry, or to some kind of a shop, they have to walk sometimes a long, really long haul,” Barrick said.

“So our go-to is ‘Let's end hunger, one step at a time, in our own lifetime.’”

SPORTS

5 OCTOBER 7, 2020

THE REFLECTOR

Injury prevention and rehab Scott Young Q&A

By Jacob Walton

A look at the sports medicine process for UIndy Athletics

By Madison Gomez

ONLINE EDITOR & CO-BUSINESS MANAGER While bench pressing during a routine workout on Sept. 9, University of Indianapolis redshirt junior track and field thrower Keeton Adams felt that something was off internally. The next thing he knew, two of his teammates, his coach and the strength and conditioning coaches were at his side; and the athletic trainers were called in. What was not clear from the initial evaluation the day of the injury became clear, after an MRI a few days later when Adams found out he had suffered a torn pectoral muscle.

This would keep Adams out four to five months, possibly missing his season.

For student-athletes, injuries are bound to happen, no matter how careful they are. In sports medicine for UIndy Athletics, the main priority in caring for athlete injuries is safety.The body cannot be forced to heal quicker than it needs to, and sometimes all the UIndy staff can do is be there for athletes during the recovery process, Adams said. “ They [UIndy] don’t jump to

GERLACH conclusions with it and they try to calm the athlete down to make them realize like, ‘Hey this isn’t the end,’” Adams said.

“They’re very supportive. For me when this happened, I was very afraid of having to restart and everything else. But after talking to the trainers, just saying, ‘Hey this happened to athletes beforehand… we’re going to put you on this protocol because this has helped these athletes get back and they play better than ever.’

And honestly, I would just say that the support system they have overall [is helpful].”

Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine Brian Gerlach said there are athletic trainers around at every practice and game. He said that they have nine full-time athletic trainers that work with the teams, and some are specifically dedicated to a single sports team. Team physicians and doctors are

readily available to be contacted and UIndy has physician support from Community Health Network, including an orthopedic surgeon who is on campus once a week, according to Gerlach.

Gerlach said there are three athletic training rooms that athletes can be taken to when an injury occurs, where they are initially evaluated.

“We have a lot of resources,” Gerlach said. “If [the injury] is something that one of our athletic trainers haven’t seen before we always have them as a resource.”

According to Gerlach, a multidisciplinary approach is taken to recurring athlete injuries. UIndy’s medical team looks at movement patterns that may predispose the athlete to injury, Gerlach said. An example of a recurring injury is a stress fracture and one thing that they take into account is nutrition.

UIndy has a dietitian who visits once a week and a sports psychologist who comes in two days a week for private appointments with athletes. Gerlach said the process of healing from an injury is faster if the person is in excellent shape before the injury occurs, and he believes that having multi-disciplinary resources helps play a role in athletes’ recoveries.

A stress fracture, which is a tiny crack in a bone from repetitive stress, force or overuse, that can affect a person at any time. Days can go by and no signs of the stress fracture occur. For senior track and field high jumper Chandler Martin, having the injury flare up is something that can put a damper on his mood. It stops him from being around his friends, being at practice, Martin said, but continuing sports is something that he really wants to do.

Martin said the process he goes through to help his stress fracture includes having a conversation with the athletic trainer and planning out what steps need to be taken to help suppress the injury. Martin said he does physical therapy at home with a regimen implemented by physicians and only goes somewhere else for it if he requires help.

Other healing processes may include going to a medical doctor for X-rays or other tests or just taking time off, Martin said, and the staff decides what needs to happen from there. Martin said that while he has used neither the dietician nor the psychologist, he appreciates that those resources are available, and that his teammates can use them on a prioritized need basis.

“I think it provides a peace of mind to know that you have those resources and you’re not going to be left out to dry,” Martin said. “And in case you do need

them, they’re at the ready.”

Martin said he believes the speed of the injury diagnosis and creation of a plan is the most helpful thing UIndy does for him. He said that in situations where there is an injury on the field or court, the trainers are out there within 30 seconds and ready to help.

Gerlach said that a huge part of recovery and maintaining health is making sure one does not come back too quickly from an injury. He said that, from research he and his team know that athletes who come back too early from injuries are at a higher risk for re-injury, and other ones as well. When coming back from an injury the athletic trainers are right there next to players, helping whatever depression and anxiety the athletes go through in the phases of healing, Associate Athletic Trainer for football Zarah Calvin said.

Calvin’s relationship with the players is very respectful, she said. The only time she feels advice is not taken is when the newcomers have to adjust to a collegiatelevel athletic training program, she said.

Calvin said she and other trainers give precautionary advice on how to prevent injuries, such as paying attention to

and both Warthan and Robles thought Robles could do well in this. Robles said he had been debating about the idea for a long time while in college.

However, wrestling and MMA are quite different forms of combat, according to Warthan. Wrestling has many rules and techniques different from MMA, such as no punching and a stronger emphasis on takedowns and pinning. Warthan also said that in wrestling one is to avoid getting pinned on their back at all times, while in MMA, fighters want to avoid being on their stomach.

But according to Robles, his extensive background in both wrestling and jiu jitsu gave him an advantage in adjusting to a new discipline and helped convince him to make the leap. He enjoyed practicing the variety of skills necessary to succeed in the sport, something his wrestling experience in college lacked.

“It’s always something different, which I like,” Robles said. “With wrestling in college it was rough because

to get one in before then. He said he thoroughly enjoys training and fighting.

“I love doing it. I love the practices. I love the competition, so it was almost a no brainer,” Robles said. “I did struggle with, maybe I shouldn’t get punched in the face for a living and just do something with my degree. Go make some money . . .[and] not have some brain damage. I tussled with that idea, but in the end I was like ‘This is what I love to do. This is what I’m gonna do,’ so that’s the route we took.”

Robles said being an amaetuer MMA fighter is a difficult way of life. He has to pay for most fights out of his pocket and must hold down a job on top of his training and competitions to make ends meet. However, Robles said he is not doing it for the money, but because it’s what he loves to do. He said he intends to take his MMA career as far as it can go, and that he has his eyes set on becoming a professional. He said that once he turns pro, he would need to get into a competitive league, and the best league and one he intends to compete in is the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

As for now, Robles is focusing on his training. He works out from 4:30 to 6 p.m. every day and follows his coaches’ training. He said that with all the uncertainty, that is basically all he can do for now.

“Take each fight [one] at a time.

Don’t think ahead too much, don’t worry about the money— take care of what I can control,” Robles said. “That’s the biggest thing for me: do what I can do.

Then everything else will fall into place.

Just work hard.”

CALVIN nutrition, drinking enough water in a day, stretching and sleeping. These measures help show how the players are going to be in the best shape come the next day, Calvin said. She said she has witnessed 18-year-olds who think they’re invincible, versus the 22-yearold who understands the importance of the advice. College athletics is hard on the body, Calvin said, and it’s a lot more intense than previous levels of athletics.

“Work hard, do what you’re told and it will get better. The hardest part of an injury is [that] if you don’t take the right steps to take care of it, it takes longer to come back from,” Calvin said. “So that becomes more and more frustrating. So as tough as it is at the time doing the right things that you need to do and that are asked of you is that best way to get back the fastest.”

From wrestling to MMA

By Nathan Herbst OPINION EDITOR

Angelo Robles, a 2018 alumni of the University of Indianapolis and its wrestling program, has attempted to start his professional career as a mixed martial arts fighter. According to tapology.com, a source of information on MMA, he has already won four amateur fights and had one tie, with no losses as of print.

Robles’ time at UIndy was marked by hard work and dedication, according to Head Wrestling Coach Jason Warthan.

However, Robles had an atypical background for a college wrestler. He only began wrestling in high school but had been practicing Brazilian jiu jitsu for several years before then. He came to UIndy as a walk-on and found a varsity weight class as a freshman, according to Warthan, but had some trouble getting a class the next year as a teammate decided to move up into his weight class.

According to Warthan, he had the choice to either compete in more of a backup role at his original weight class or he could move up even though that was not his natural weight. Robles decided to move up and sacrifice for the team.

However, by his senior year he found a weight class he was competitive in, earned a scholarship, was team captain and made it to the NCAA Division II national championships, Warthan said.

“Angelo is a unique success story for us. His background and how he came out of it, he’s such a great kid,” Warthan said. “He left his mark on UIndy and definitely brought value to our team that way. Hopefully he’s able to use those skills that he was able to develop with us to have a successful career as an MMA guy.”

Wrestling does not have a professional circuit beyond the Olympics, so making a living out of it is difficult, according to Warthan. However, some wrestlers have experienced success going into MMA

I love doing it, I love the practices, I love the competitions...” it’s the same thing every day and . . . it definitely wears on you . . . whereas I like mixed martial arts because I get a taste of everything, it mixes up very nice.”

Robles said that his transition had been going smoothly up until the outbreak of COVID-19. He had won a string of fights and was about to compete in his biggest match for an amateur title when his COVID-19 test revealed he was an asymptomatic positive, forcing him to cancel and ending his season prematurely. Robles said his next fight is planned for Dec. 5, but he is hoping

SPORTS EDITOR & PHOTO EDITOR

It is now official that former Athletic Director for Compliance Scott Young is the new Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics for the University of Indianapolis. Young, who has been with UIndy for over 30 years, officially took over the position after the retirement of Sue Willey. Our Sports Editor and Photo Editor Jacob Walton sat down with Young over Zoom to discuss the job change, COVID-19 response and the future of UIndy Athletics.

Below is a transcript of their interview.

It has been edited for length and clarity and the full interview can be found at reflector.uindy.edu.

The Reflector: Now that it is 100% official, and Sue Willey has fully retired, how does it feel to be the Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics?

Scott Young: [I] obviously feel very excited [and] very blessed. [I’m] a little bit overwhelmed still with just the process of transitioning during COVID[-19].

I don’t think this is how I imagined it would go, but just trying to adapt dayby-day. I think it’s probably going to be really truly a bit of time before I can really sit back and actually reflect on the opportunity and what it truly means and all the hard work along the way that has allowed me to get to this point, because basically right now, it’s just dealing with the day-to-day operations and making sure that we’re going forward as an athletic department and working on the cabinet with President [Robert] Manuel.

[There’s] not much time to actually step back and truly enjoy the opportunity, but just trying to stay at work right now and try to lead the university forward.

TR: Speaking of Sue Willey, what was the last piece of advice Sue Willey gave you before she left?

SY: You know, it’s kind of crazy just because there really wasn’t that much time where she was on campus right towards the end. She had transitioned off campus. I think she just reminded me to be myself, and just continue to do the right things and always take care of our student-athletes. And to put your own spin on things, but just remember what UIndy is and what has been built here by a lot of great people.

TR: What has been your favorite part of the job so far?

SY: I mean the same part as it’s been for being at the University of Indianapolis, as I’m sure you’re aware with just the interactions you’ve had.

There’s so many great people here at UIndy, whether that be within athletics, whether that be within our campus community. So I think it’s just working with the people at UIndy is one of the main reasons that I’ve always wanted this opportunity, and one of the reasons that I’ve stayed at the University of Indianapolis since I started as a student back in 1994. So just it’s the people. I don’t think that will ever change.

TR: What have been some of the biggest challenges you had so far?

SY: I think it’s just balancing the equation of making sure to make sound decisions for the institution while still

Photo contributed by Angelo Robles Photo Illustration by Jacob Walton

providing opportunities for our studentathletes. Just trying to balance the equation of the NCAA requirements, what’s coming forward from the GLVC and then you match ... [that with] the university re-engagement plan. And just trying to make sure that we’re making the decisions that are in the best interests of the University of Indianapolis, while still providing the most opportunities we can for our student-athletes.

TR: Going into the future and the rest of the year, what are some of the plans that you might have UIndy Athletics coming soon?

SY: The main thing right now is just to make sure that we provide opportunities for our student-athletes. Obviously the number one priority is we keep all of our student-athletes healthy. We keep them safe. We provide them opportunities to get better at their sport, and we’re getting closer and closer to the winter sports season and the possibilities of basketball and wrestling and swimming and diving and indoor track and field. But [it is] also very exciting that tennis and golf are already competing.

We had our tennis teams compete in the ITA [Midwest Regional Tournament]. We’ve had both of our golf teams competing here in the last few weeks. They’re off to a tremendous start and just a lot of excitement to be able to see our student-athletes compete.

I think that we take that for granted sometimes. It’s just always been the norm that you get to school when everybody starts competing really quickly. But to see the golf teams and tennis teams actually competing and competing in meaningful competitions, that was pretty special just because it’s been quite a while, and it took a lot of hard work from a lot of people to get to that point.

TR: You spoke a little bit about the GLVC, what do you think about the response by the GLVC and the NCAA? Do you think they did a good job with how they responded to COVID-19?

SY: [I’m] especially gonna hit on the GLVC side, just because I’m such a big part of those conversations with the AD’s [Athletic Directors] that have been throughout the summer. [I’ve been] fortunate with being here at UIndy and Sue [Willey] in the transition, we were both able to be on the meetings and then transitioned to me leading the conversations for UIndy. [We have a] really great group of ADs within the conference that work together and make sure that the decisions that are made best for all the institutions and not decisions made just best for one institution.

I think with COVID[-19], you have all these different standards, depending on what city you’re in, what state you’re in, but just how well the ADs worked together to take the leap forward and the leadership of the conference office, and then just working within the NCAA requirements and guidelines. Obviously the number one priority for everyone is to keep everyone safe and just being able to go forward. I think just working with all the AD’s in the conference has been a really good experience. I think as a group we’ve done a really good job to provide opportunities for our student-athletes, but also create a safe environment.

FEATURE

6 THE REFLECTOR

OCTOBER 7, 2020

Hispanic Heritage celebrated Organizations hold in person, virtual events, Hispanic students share their cultural experiences

Page Design and Graphics by Noah Fields

SOL shows films, displays altar

By Taylor Strnad

MANAGING EDITOR & CO-BUSINESS MANAGER Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, honors the culture and contributions of both

GLO cooks, reads Spanish stories

By Giselle Valentin

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER The Global Language Organization is a registered student organization at the University of Indianapolis where students can learn about the various cultures of the world, according to UIndy’s student organizations website.

Students share cultural heritage

By Olivia Nettrouer STAFF WRITER

Blanca Osorio Ortega and Noel Suarez are quite similar on paper. They both are students at the University of Indianapolis studying political science and international relations.

They both grew up in Indiana, and both of their families come from Mexico. While their similarities do not end there, their similarities do not begin to cover the complexities of their individual experiences as Mexican Americans.

Osorio Ortega grew up in Greenwood, Indiana. Because it was a predominantly

Hispanic and Latino Americans, according to hispanicheritagemonth.gov.

To honor the culture and contributions at the University of Indianapolis, The Student Organization of Latinos is spreading awareness.

SOL will be hosting various events for Hispanic Heritage Month, according to sophomore nursing major and Vice President of the Spirit Committee for SOL Mya Southwood. Southwood said that to expose their culture, these events are open to campus, and will be both in-person and virtual.

“We have the movie night that is coming up, [I’m] really excited about

that.” Southwood said. “We also have a ‘lunch and learn’ and we have one more, the Day of the Dead [event]. It’s coming up and I’m excited about that too.”

Senior psycholog y major and Executive President of SOL Ruth Romero said that to round out Hispanic Heritage Month, SOL will be showing the film “Coco” on Oct. 10. Southwood said that for this event they are trying to have it be both in-person and virtual.

SOL chose “Coco” because it is about the Dia de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead and represents Latino and Hispanic culture. “Coco” also aligns with their last event which will take place on Nov. 2, Day of the Dead, according to Romero.

“The Day of the Dead event will be where we put up an altar...” Romero said. “People can bring in photos of past loved ones, past pets, a celebrity that they adored [and] put it on our altar, or even just bring in presents to symbolize or represent a past loved one that they had.”

According to Romero, SOL wants to share their customs, traditions and food with the community. Romero said the goal of these events is to showcase that Latinos and Hispanics are present on campus. “ We [SOL] want the UIndy community to know that we’re here.

We are a very small minority group, so

it’s just good to know [and] to show that, you know, we’re here [and] this is a very diverse community,” Romero said.

This is SOL’s third year celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, according to Romero. She hopes that even after she graduates from UIndy, the tradition of celebrating will continue, she said.

“Everyone should just come [and] join our Zoom meetings. We’re really fun people. We want to show you how diverse and how much fun we can have, despite all the differences we may have...”

Romero said.

Senior psychology and Spanish double major McKenna Tetrick said she has been a part of the organization for two years.

Tetrick said she joined the RSO because she was interested in becoming more involved with the Spanish culture.

According to Tetrick, GLO’s goal is to spread awareness through diversity at UIndy.

“It’s a chance to really appreciate the people around us and not looking at the world as something that’s colorblind, but appreciating the differences between us and seeing that as a beautiful way to connect across cultural divides,” Tetrick said.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, GLO’s events will be held online,Tetrick said. GLO will host these online events

mainly through their Instagram account, according to Tetrick.

Senior accounting and Spanish double major and GLO president Emily Boomershine said she has been a part of

to GLO. She said the month means being proud of one’s roots country of origin.

To celebrate the month, on Sept.

18, Assistant Professor of Spanish and GLO’s advisor Ana Maria Ferreira hosted an Instagram live on GLO’s Instagram where she prepared arepas.

Arepas are stuffed cornmeal cakes that are a staple in Columbia and Venezuela, according to allrecipes.com. Ferreira made arepas to celebrate her culture, Tetrick said.

“Those are the custom food of Columbia,” Tetrick said. “She felt that it was really important to showcase her culture and just get us involved with a day in the life of a Colombian person.”

According to Tetrick, a book recording event is in the works.. The event will

feature members of GLO recording children’s books in different languages, she said. The books and the recordings will then be donated to local libraries in Indianapolis, according to Tetrick. The event will be held on Oct. 23 and once details are finalized, GLO will post a Zoom link to their social media accounts, according to Tetrick.

Although GLO’s events will be held online this semester, Tetrick said she remains hopeful for the future and encourages students to join.

“Learning how to communicate and appreciate people from everywhere is important to literally every single aspect of life,” Tetrick said.

white community, she struggled during her elementary school years with being around people who did not look like her, Osorio Ortega said.

“Ever since I was young, I felt shy talking about my culture and speaking Spanish, just because nobody else did that. But throughout the years there have been other students coming in who are also Hispanics who speak Spanish and it was getting widely accepted,” Osorio Ortega said.

Now, Osorio Ortega is a firstgeneration college student, in addition to being a first-generation Mexican American in her family, she said. Her parents immigrated to the United States about 20 to 30 years ago and have told her their stories, she said.

“Ever since I was little, I heard stories of how it was a lot of hard work coming here. Most people in my family who came here for the first time would either go to New York or go to Maryland, because

that’s where we had family members at first,” Osorio Ortega said. “It was easier for them to go over there and have a startup. After they had jobs, they earned enough money to move wherever they wanted. And somehow, they all ended up here in Indiana, because they’re all close family members.”

Suarez comes from Whiting, Indiana, a populated and diverse city located right next to Chicago, he said. Suarez’s family’s heritage stems from western and central Mexico, he said, and some of his family members that still live there are peanut farmers. He said he hopes to visit one day.

“My family’s heritage comes from Guadalajara, which is in Mexico,”Suarez said. “It’s more or less to the left side of Mexico. That’s my mom’s side. My grandpa’s side comes from more of central Mexico. And both of them immigrated to America. My grandpa, his parents, immigrated. So he was born in the US. My grandma had immigrated from

Mexico when she was 15 or 16.”

Osorio Ortega said her family is predominantly Catholic. She said Christmas is the most important holiday to her family because it is a time when they can all be together, she said.

“We do this thing called Posadas. So everyone gathers around, like your aunts and uncles, and you have this little baby Jesus statue, and it represents baby Jesus,” Osorio Ortega said. “You sing hymns, and you just celebrate the coming of baby Jesus. It’s very different from what I’ve seen most of my friends do, just because they don’t really do that.”

Osorio Ortega also celebrates Mexican Independence Day, which occurs on Sept.

16 each year, she said. Her family has a big celebration to honor their independence, complete with family and food, she said.

Her family does not celebrate the entire month of Hispanic Heritage Month but they do recognize it.

“We’re reminded by other people,” Osorio Ortega said. “In stores, they have special platters, and in restaurants they have these amazing deals if you buy a Mexican platter or something like that.

My family appreciates it.”

Hispanic Heritage Month often flies under his radar, according to Suarez, although he does recognize its existence and has been trying to learn more about his culture these past few years. Suarez has gone to family to try to get more in touch with his culture, he said.

“Me and my mom are planning a trip within the next year or so to spend a few days down in Mexico, kind of where my grandma grew up,” Suarez said. “I talked to my grandpa because he’s really into genealogy, and he knows our heritage, and he did ancestry.com. He’s a huge wealth of knowledge. Whenever I see him, I ask him questions about our family, my grandma and my grandpa and all of that.”

It’s a chance to really appreciate the people around us...” the organization since its founding three years ago. Boomershine said her favorite part of GLO is learning about different cultures along with their traditions.

When celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, Boomershine said it is important

THE REFLECTOR

7

ENTERTAINMENT

Homecoming goes virtual

Homecoming to feature online, in-person events amid COVID-19 pandemic

By Nathan Herbst

STAFF WRITER

Graphic by Noah Fields

year, there will still be some competition.

6 featured a design-your-own-mug and According to Freck, UIndy and Truman a coffee and tea bar to “Express your State University will engage in a Espresso.” “Take & Make Teddy Bears” fundraising competition called the Top is the theme for Oct. 7 and Oct. 8 and Dog Challenge to see who can raise the will feature a photo booth to capture most money for charity. Each university school spirit. Oct. 9 rounds out the will select several nonprofits to send events with the midday “Food Truck their donations to and whichever one Fest Friday” on Smith Mall and a raises the most money and has the most school Spirit Fest featuring a variety of donors will win, Freck said. UIndy has activities will happen later that evening chosen to support from 7 to 9 p.m., Indianapolis according to the Animal Care schedule.

Services, Gleaners Many virtual ... Our tagline has always Food Bank and events will also the Make-A- been a ‘Hound always finds be happening Wish Foundation. alongside the inits way home.’”

A c c o r d i n g person events. to Freck, this According to competition started on Oct. 5 and will Sigman, they are designed to engage end on Oct. 24. both alumni and students. According Many other activities will also occur to the homecoming website, there during homecoming. According to the will be a virtual photo album to show UIndy Homecoming 2020 schedule, off UIndy pride and a Hound Hustle the Student Leadership and Activities virtual 5k run that can be completed Board will be conducting giveaways for anywhere and anytime during the students all week from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. month of October. The annual The festivities began on Oct. 5 with a celebration of flags ceremony will also “Sweet Kick-Off ” of free desserts. Oct. take place virtually, and Faculty and

Staff Alumni Recognition day will take place Oct. 9. Furthermore, fall sports coaches will relive their favorite games as they provide sports commentary on one of their past performances. A livestreamed campus tour with Grady the Greyhound will round out the week.

Sigman said that the main impetus behind these events is to find ways to highlight school pride and spirit, even though students cannot meet in person.

There are also a couple of virtual talks planned on the schedule of events.

The first one will be on Oct. 7 and will feature Pete the Planner talking about smarter saving and spending habits.

On Oct. 8, a Hound’s Chat will be led by Dr. Michael Cartwright and will be dedicated to remembering former Krannert Memorial Library Head Librarian Florabelle Wilson.

According to the homecoming schedule, she was the first African American woman to serve as director of an academic library in Indiana, and possibly in the Midwest. According to Sigman, Wilson was also among the first to push for diversity and inclusion on campus.

Books & Brews holds memory concerts

By Anika Yoder STAFF WRITER

Several cars park outside of Books & Brews South Indy as students from the University of Indianapolis’ Department of Music play songs. This is part of a series of memory cafes for those with dementia and their caregivers or for friends and family to socialize and listen to music, according to CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions Vice President of Community Programs Dustin Zeigler.

Along with the Department of Music, the Center for Aging & Community, CICOA Aging & InHome Solutions and Books & Brews are all contributing to the memory cafes, according to Zeigler. He said CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions was enthusiastic about the concerts and it suits UIndy involvement as well as the student involvement which demonstrates an intergenerational event where younger and older adults are mixed together.

“We approached UIndy probably a couple years ago about seeing … what kind of collaborations there might be lifted into Dementia Friends Indiana, and the Memory Cafe concept was one of the ones that was of the highest interest,” Zeigler said. “Then, in particular, Books & Brews has just always been a supportive community partner for UIndy and CICOA. So when we reached out, they were more than happy to be the actual location for that.”

According to Zeigler, the purpose of Dementia Friends Indiana is as an education awareness movement about dementia to create and encourage communities to be more informed and welcoming for people with dementia.

“We made the decision that we want to be able to again offer an opportunity for folks to get out of their home, and reengage in the community, particularly with this population because they’ve been isolated and withdrawn in their homes this whole time,” Zeigler said.

“That isolation and withdrawal alone for older adults and their caregivers can have its own detrimental effects on both physical and mental health.”

Art & Design hosts series

By Brianna Smith

OPINION EDITOR

Homecoming at the University of Indianapolis will look a lot different this year. Past years have marked the occasion with many large celebrations such as parades, block parties and sporting events. Many of those events are no longer possible this year due to COVID-19 guidelines, however.

This year, there won’t be any football games, due to restrictions on group gatherings and sports. As a result, the Office of Student Affairs and the Office of Alumni Engagement have had to get creative in designing new ways to engage with current and former students. Homecoming will be taking place from Oct. 5 to Oct. 10, with several virtual events available, according to the official homecoming schedule.

Although many of the planned events will not be typical of standard homecoming celebrations, Associate Dean of Students Steven Freck said he is hopeful that students will come to appreciate the week in its own unique way.

“I think engagement will look different for sure, but I hope students still enjoy the programs that we do have planned,” Freck said. “There are some different things that they may not normally see so hopefully that helps participation remain high.”

Many of the faculty in charge of planning homecoming are using the unique circumstances to their advantage. Associate Director of Alumni Engagement Coran Sigman said she hopes that the virtual events this year will allow alumni living farther away to be able to participate in the festivities.

“It’s been a fun experiment . . . to find unique opportunities to still try to engage our alumni,” Sigman said. “There’s no football, but we say every year that homecoming isn’t just about our football season, it’s about reconnecting our alumni back to campus and our tagline has always been a ‘Hound always finds its way home.’”

Even without a central sporting event tying everything together this

OCTOBER 7, 2020

Zeigler said the thought process was that COVID-19 being a large factor meant taking the right precautions to see if people would still be interested in coming out and enjoying it. According to Zeigler, a good response has been seen so far but they have taken into consideration all the precautions and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance when it comes to social distancing and different components, including the component of it being outside.

CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions has been working with UIndy for a while to think about events like memory cafes, according to Zeigler. He said that as spring comes around, he plans to do more of these events with different themes.

Executive Director of the Center for Aging and Community at UIndy Ellen Miller said that the Center for Aging and Community called CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions to discuss holding memory cafes during COVID-19. She said that

they did not want to put anyone at risk of getting COVID-19 so outdoor activities, such as concerts, were decided upon.

According to Miller, CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions and the CAC have collaborated on many ideas in past years and began brainstorming in May of this year to figure out different locations for cafes. According to Miller, the memory cafes would offer older adults with dementia and their caregivers opportunities to gather and get out in the community.

“The idea is that it informs the community to try to educate people and be aware of dementia, reduce the stigma and kind of create community environments where people can be,” Miller said. “I could feel comfortable going someplace, because I know that people will understand that I’m with someone who has this disease and they would understand a little bit more because they’re aware of what dementia is and kind of how someone might behave who has

dementia.”

Miller hopes to have more people participate in the next memory cafes.

One thing she enjoys about the memory cafes was how intergenerational it is, Miller said.

“Students were involved, anywhere from college age students to people the age of their grandparents or great grandparents were involved in this and it just worked really well and people seemed to really enjoy themselves,” Miller said. “We even had people dance.”

Two more concerts will be held on Oct. 14 and 29, where the UIndy Jazz Ensemble and the UIndy Pep Band will be playing on each day respectively, according to UIndy 360. While it is required to register, the events are free with refreshments and offer socially distanced parking, Zeigler said.

People can take lawn chairs and listen to the entertainment or bring around their vehicles to listen as long as they are socially distanced, according to Zeigler.

Photo by Taylor Strnad

In this 2019 file photo, the interior of Books & Brews South Indy is seen. The University of Indianapolis’ Center for Aging & Community, the UIndy Department of Music, CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions and Books & Brews are hosting memory cafes at its UIndy location.

The University of Indianapolis Art & Design Department is hosting an Art & Design Virtual Lecture Series from Sept. 14 to Nov. 23. The events are for Lecture/Performance credit and consist of six artists with different career tracks hosting virtual discussions via Zoom, and any student or faculty member is invited to attend to learn more about these artists and their chosen fields, according to events. uindy.edu.

Assistant Art & Design Professor Nathaniel Foley is leading the virtual series. According to Foley, professors within the program are inviting colleagues and art professionals that they have worked with in the past to come and tell their story. They can talk about experiences, their artwork and the art profession as a whole so that the UIndy population can understand artists and their work.

“This is the first year we are doing this, so this is a very new venture,” Foley said. “The Art & Design Lecture Series is inviting different artists with different disciplines—we are trying to represent everything that we teach within this lecture series.”

Some of the presenting artists include Rachel de Cuba, Emily Wiethorn, Dulcee Boehn, Sarah Mathews and Josh Emrich, according to events.uindy.edu. Their fields of work include photography, higher art education, studio art, printmaking, book art, brand designer and illustrator, according to events. uindy.edu.

The artists are representing different professions, including art therapy. IU Bloomington ArtsBased Wellness Experience Manager Lauren Daugherty was the first artist to be featured as part of the series on Sept. 14. Daugherty said she was shocked at the interest to have an art therapist speak for a lecture series because not a lot of people know about art therapy.

“I really appreciate the opportunity to share a little bit more about what I do, because my role is so unique,” Daugherty said. “But also, anytime an art therapist gets to share information about the work that they do, it also highlights other people that are doing that same job in our area, so that was really nice to be able to propel the art therapy identity in Indianapolis a little bit.”

Foley and Daugherty both said that they believe that UIndy benefits from this lecture series.

Foley said that exposure is the most important aspect. When it comes to these professionals talking about their work, he said it gives validity and appreciation to the profession and any student that may be pursuing a career in the arts.

Any opportunity students have to hear about the creative profession, whether that be art therapy, higher art education or a practicing artist, they are able to gain knowledge about the real world that exists after students leave the undergrad world, Daugherty said. She said she hopes that those who attended learned something about the arts that they had not necessarily thought of before.

Daugherty said that she thought UIndy should continue series like this.

She said it is a valuable experience to students who get to connect with their chosen career field and understand what that life is like.

“Once you hear the people that have gone through similar struggles as you, whether you’re in grad school or undergrad, what the job search is like or how it is difficult for a lot of artists to be doing what they want to do full time, I think anything you can learn like that really helps you know what to expect when you leave school,” Daugherty said.

Other presenting artists include Rachel de Cuba, Emily Wiethorn, Dulcee Boehn, Sarah Mathews and Josh Emrich. Their fields of work include photography, higher art education, studio art, printmaking, book art, brand designer and illustrator.

If students are interested in attending one of these events, they can follow instructions on the UIndy events page or see Vice President for Students and Campus Affairs and Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli’s weekly update emails for more information on how to register.

NATION

8 THE REFLECTOR

OCTOBER 7, 2020

Cub pulled from fire in California Four-pound mountain lion cub injured in fire is doing very well, sources say

By Faith E. Pinho

LOS ANGELES TIMES (TCA) — Amid grim news from the Northern California fire zone, one furry sight brought yips of excitement this week when emergency responders rescued a lone mountain lion cub from the burn zone of the Zogg fire in Shasta County.

Despite singed whiskers and burned paws, the blue-eyed cub dubbed Capt.

Cal is full of personality and can be seen baring his teeth fiercely in photos.

“He’s doing really well,” said Erin Harrison, vice president of marketing for the Oakland Zoo, where Capt. Cal is being kept. “He’s continuing to eat.

He’s getting a little fiestier. He’s looking really good.”

When firefighters in Shasta County first spotted the baby, they mistook him for a house cat, said Issac Sanchez, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection captain and spokesman.

He was wandering alone on Zogg Mine Road before taking refuge under a fallen tree. When the fire crew took a closer look, they realized the animal was a mountain lion kitten.

Officials loaded the baby into a cardboard box and turned him over to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which transported him to the Oakland Zoo. Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman

Kirsten Macintyre said that with its X-rays showed no lung damage from facilities and trained staff, the zoo is smoke inhalation. And despite burns to “uniquely equipped to handle exactly his paw pads, the cub sustained no bone this kind of case.” injuries either.

At just 4 to 6 weeks old and weighing Once healthy, he’ll go to a new home, just under 4 pounds, Capt. Cal is such as a sanctuary or another zoo. Two too young and small to return to the out-of-state organizations have already wild, Macintyre said. Mountain lions asked for him, Macintyre said. typically stay close to their mothers “Certainly the best situation would for two years to learn how to hunt and be to be able to return him to the wild,” survive. she said. “But a few can’t, (and) in some Ideal circumstances would allow cases, the animal can be an ambassador wild animals to be returned — or kept for its species.”

— in their natural environment, but Capt. Cal has already become a that isn’t always household name in possible. On Oct. California wildfire 1, wildlife biologists prevention. The announced that an “Certainly the best situation doe-eyed cub’s new experiment to get a moniker ties into would be to be able to cougar in the Santa Cal Fire’s mountain return him to the wild.”

Ana Mountains to lion mascot, which adopt two orphaned the depar tment cubs had failed. The unveiled last year. effort, which was intended to keep The mascot, a muscly cat in a yellow the babies wild, did not work, and the firefighter jacket, helps spread the youngsters were put in a sanctuary. message of wildfire preparedness and Two 3-week-old female and male prevention with his motto: “Safety starts mountain lion kittens, dubbed P-91 with you.” and P-92, were discovered July 7 in the Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean Simi Hills west of Los Angeles. The said responders occasionally find wildlife kittens were sent to live at the Southwest in the course of firefighting.

Wildlife Conservation Center in “Not an overabundance, of course, Scottsdale, Arizona. because they’re smart enough to hightail The zoo is working with the University it out of there,” he said Friday. of California, Davis to give Capt. Cal Last month, police officers in Lincoln advanced wound treatment and will keep helped rescue a bear that had escaped the him until he heals, Harrison said. Chest coincidentally named Bear fire in Butte

County. A biologist tranquilized the 350-pound animal, which walked into a creek and risked drowning, according to the Lincoln Police Department’s Facebook page.

Two officers helped drag the animal, suffering from some scratches, to safety.

He is now receiving treatment from California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, along with another bear from the Zogg fire and a mountain lion from the Bobcat fire, Macintyre said.

Last year, the department housed three bears and a mountain lion from the Thomas and Camp fires. There is no way to gauge how many animals a fire season may orphan, she said.

“There’s nothing typical about this. All bets are off,” she said. “We’re just kind of at the beginning of the fire season right now, and we’ve already got three in our care. And we expect to get more.”

Nearly 4 million acres have burned in California in a historic year of firestorms, as crews continue battling roughly two dozen major blazes, including the Zogg fire. That conflagration had burned 56,018 acres as of Friday morning and was 46% contained. The blaze has killed four people and destroyed 159 structures in Shasta County.

——— ©2020 Los Angeles Times Visit the Los Angeles Times at www. latimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

World War II hero honored

By Hailey Branson-Potts LOS ANGELES TIMES

LOS ANGELES (TCA) — Eldon Knuth was trapped.

It was November 1944, and U.S. forces were fighting to liberate the heavily fortified French city of Metz from the Nazis.

When Knuth’s battalion attacked the Ger man-held For t Jeanne d’Arc, he and about 30 other soldiers with the Army ’s 95th Infantr y Division got stuck behind enemy lines, in the bitter cold, with meager supplies.

For five days, Pfc. Knuth, a 19-yearold Iowa farm boy, survived on militaryissued chocolate bars called D-rations.

His wet feet swelled as the trench foot that would trouble him for the rest of his life set in.

For their bravery, Knut and his fellow soldiers would come to be known as the Iron Men of Metz.

But on a warm afternoon this week, as the 95-year-old World War II veteran was awarded one of the U.S. Army’s highest honors, he was treated as delicately as an ancient vase.

Organizers of the ceremony at his Thousand Oaks retirement village, where Knuth received a Bronze Star, mounted a defense against an invisible but deadly new enemy: COVID-19.

“It was utter chaos,” Knuth recalled of the Metz standoff. “Not v ery many men … made it to the fort.

Some were injured. Some died. Some just turned around because the fire from the Germans was so intense.”

Only a handful of people were allowed at the retirement facility’s first in-person gathering since the pandemic began. Everyone wore masks.

People stood far from Knuth to pay their respects, and there were no congratulatory handshakes. Residents were encouraged to watch from t heir rooms on an internal television channel.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Normally, this would be standing-room only,” said Dmitry Estrin, executive director of University Village, as he stood near the few dramatically spaced out chairs in a large event hall.

For older people like Knuth, a slight man with bright blue eyes and thin white hair who leans heavily on a walker, the coronavirus has been especially devastating.

That Knuth could have an in-person celebration at University Village, where he and his 94-year-old wife, Margaret, live with nearly 500 other retirees, meant a lot. He got the Bronze Star,which recognizes meritorious service in a combat zone, in the mail a month ago and figured that would be the end of it.

Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Robert Johnson, who volunteers working with older veterans, said Knuth had long qualified for the Bronze Star

Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/TNS

World War II veteran Eldon L. Knuth, 95, waves to friends as they shout greetings to him aftee U.S. Army Major General Laura Yeager presented him with the Bronze Star Medal for his service in France at his home in Thousand Oaks, California on Sept. 29, 2020.

but that it had been overlooked, as was common with World War II veterans.

Johnson helped Knuth apply to receive his long-overdue award, which took more than a year to arrive, and arranged the University Village event.

“This ceremony is very special,” Knuth said, wearing a black suit jacket adorned with military service medals.

His voice was muffled by a black c loth mask with a Universit y V illage logo and the words, “I Wear This Mask to Protect You.” Over the last six months, life has changed a lot for the Knuths.

He was an avid swimmer who hit the pool five times a week to maintain circulation in legs badly damaged by the cold, wet weather during the Battle of Metz. He was devastated when the pandemic closed both the University Village pool and gym for several weeks, and he now has to make appointments to exercise.

He and Margaret don’t socialize much, eating in their villa instead of in the dining hall with friends.

They don’t see their six children as often. And they worr y about catching COVID-19 during doctors’ appointments.

“It’s stressful,” Knuth said. “If you go out, you have to worry about, ‘Am I going to come back with the virus?’”

There have been a few cases of COVI D-19 among residents on the sprawling campus, which includes an adjacent skilled nursing f acilit y called OakV iew Health Center, Estrin said. But residents have been “great partners” with the safety protocols and have been successful at avoiding outbreaks, he said.

Sept. 29's Bronze Star ceremony was a ray of hope after so many stressful months. Attendees said it was important to honor World War II veterans, whose numbers are dwindling.

At the 70th reunion of the Iron Men of Metz at Ft. Sill, Okla., last year — where Knuth was awarded the French National Legion of Honor Medal — there were only seven veterans.

Fewer show up for each gathering, Knuth said.

“O ur World War II veterans are becoming a rare sighting,” Col. Gilbert Roldan, chief of staff of the California National Guard’s 40th Infantry Division, said Tuesday. “It’s a generation we’re not going to be privileged to see anymore.”

Roldan knows only three World War II veterans. During the pandemic, he said, he has been able to speak to them only by phone, so it was especially meaningful to attend Knuth’s ceremony in person.

Maj. Gen. Laura L. Yeager, commander of the 40th Infantry

Division and the first woman to lead an Army infantry division, said she “jumped at the opportunity” to present Knuth his Bronze Star. Coming three quarters of a century after his wartime service, she said, the award was “obviously overdue.” “ W i t h a l l w e ’re d e a l i n g with in this country right now, this is a nice break,” she said.

Wearing a mask as he sat at the front of the event hall, Knuth s miled as speakers — who cleaned the microphone bet ween eac h speech — praised his valor and the full life he lived after the war.

He was an engineering professor who taught for 35 years at UCLA, wrote more than 100 scientific papers and traveled the world with Margaret. “ We t h i n k w e ’r e l i v i n g i n tr ying times,” Yeager told the audience. “And certainly the combined eff ects of pandemic, wild land fires, economic uncertainty, racial disparities and all the tensions that we face today are definitely rocking the state and the nation.

But with reflection, we know that we have been through much worse.”

——— ©2020 Los Angeles Times Visit the Los Angeles Times at www. latimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Nation and world news briefs TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE Michigan Supreme Court strikes down governor's emergency powers LANSING, Mich. (TCA) — The Michigan Supreme Court ruled on Oct. 2 that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer did not have authority after April 30 to issue or renew any executive orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic under the 1976 Emergency Management Act. The court, in its 71-page ruling, also found Whitmer did not possess the authority to exercise emergency powers under the 1945 Emergency Powers of the Governor Act because the act violates the Michigan Constitution.

The ruling concluded the EPGA violated the Michigan Constitution because it delegated to the executive branch the legislative powers of state government and allowed the executive branch to exercise those powers indefinitely. “ … the Governor only possessed the authority or obligation to declare a state of emergency or state of disaster once and then had to terminate that declaration when the Legislature did not authorize an extension; the Governor possessed no authority to redeclare the same state of emergency or state of disaster and thereby avoid the Legislature’s limitation on her authority,” the ruling said.

The ruling said while the EPGA only allows the governor to declare a state of emergency when public safety is imperiled, “public-health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic can be said to imperil public safety.”

— The Detroit News McConnell will press forward with Barrett’s nomination WASHINGTON (TCA)— Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Oct. 2 that President Donald Trump’s positive COVID-19 case underscores that the coronavirus is the biggest threat to the confirmation of the current Supreme Court nominee.

Democrats procedurally can’t do anything to stop a confirmation vote on the Senate floor before the Nov. 3 presidential election, McConnell told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

But with a 53-47 advantage in the Senate, and two Republicans already saying they opposed a confirmation vote for Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett so close to the election, McConnell has a thin margin for a vote.

Barrett has tested negative for COVID-19, a White House spokesman said on Oct. 2, adding that the Supreme Court nominee is tested daily.

McConnell suggested the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings, set to begin Oct. 12, could be done remotely, and said that some members have done their interviews and previous hearings remotely.

“This sort of underscores, I think, the need to do that, and every precaution needs to be taken because we don’t anticipate any Democratic support at all, either in committee or in the full Senate, and therefore everybody needs to be in an ‘all hands on deck’ mindset,” McConnell said.

— CQ-Roll Call Texas governor sued to block order limiting ballot drop-off sites AUSTIN, Texas (TCA) — Two civil and voting rights groups have sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in federal court, arguing that his day-old order limiting counties to one mail-in ballot drop-off location was an unreasonable burden on voting rights.

Making such a late change — closing multiple drop-off sites that had been advertised for weeks in Travis and Harris counties in particular — will lead to voter confusion and undermine public confidence in the Nov. 3 election, the lawsuit argued.

“In the midst of an election that is already underway, forcing such new burdens on voters who relied on a different set of election rules to make their voting plan, is unreasonable, unfair, and unconstitutional,” said the lawsuit, filed late Thursday night in federal court in Austin.

Abbott’s order also could result in ballots not being counted if voters, unable to visit a drop-off location, rely on a “hobbled” postal system to deliver their ballots before voting deadlines pass, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit was filed by the Texas League of United Latin American Citizens, the League of Women Voters of Texas and two voters.

— Austin American-Statesman ——— Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.