THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN Monday, October 5, 2020
Vol. 130, No. 14
COLLEGIAN.COM
Tessa Maldonado uses a bioreactor in Colorado State University’s Infectious Disease Research Center April 26, 2019. PHOTO BY RYAN SCHMIDT THE COLLEGIAN
CSU researchers develop COVID-19 vaccine candidate By Laura Studley @laurastudley_
Colorado State University’s newly developed SolaVAX vaccination may be one of the solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers at CSU have been awarded a $3.1 million contract from the National Institutes of Health, allowing for
work to continue on the University’s vaccination candidate. “I feel very honored about getting the funds from the NIH and thrilled with the opportunity to be able to contribute collectively to this issue for COVID-19 and how to treat and how to prevent it,” said Raymond Goodrich, principal investigator for the project and executive director of the Infec-
tious Disease Research Center at CSU. The contract assists with the University’s Bio-pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Academic Resource Center to “produce strains of the coronavirus” for the vaccine, according to CSU SOURCE. Fourth-year student and BioMARC employee Maddux Kimball said that COVID-19 is
arguably one of the most universal events to occur in the last 100 years. “For that reason, the discovery of a vaccine would be of acute benefit of the entire planet,” Kimball wrote in a message to The Collegian. “I believe the discovery of a COVID-19 vaccine would be on a similar scale to that of a smallpox vaccine.” SolaVAX is based on a
method Goodrich developed over 20 years ago. Originally, this method was intended to purify blood transfusions by inactivating viruses, bacteria and parasites that may have been in the donor’s blood, Goodrich stated. This would allow blood recipients to receive clean blood. see VACCINE on page 3 >>
2
Monday, October 5, 2020
Collegian.com
FORT COLLINS FOCUS
Julian Oertel looks back at his mother, Teresa Oertel, who is saying, “Look at you being so strong!” as he pulls on the wagon of pumpkins at Bartels Farm Oct. 3. PHOTO BY TRI DUONG THE COLLEGIAN EDITORIAL STAFF Laura Studley | News Director news@collegian.com Serena Bettis | News Editor Abby Vander Graaff | Content Managing Editor This publication is not an official publication of news@collegian.com managingeditor@collegian.com Colorado State University, but is published by an independent corporation using the name ‘The Matt Tackett | Digital Managing Editor Katrina Leibee | Opinion Director Rocky Mountain Collegian’ pursuant to a license letters@collegian.com managingeditor@collegian.com granted by CSU. The Rocky Mountain Collegian is a 4,000-circulation student-run newspaper intended as Alex MacDonald | Opinion Editor Renee Ziel | Night Editor a public forum and is printed on paper made of thirty letters@collegian.com copy@collegian.com percent post-consumer waste. It publishes two days a week during the regular fall and spring semesters. Jenna Landry | A&C Director Anna Schwabe | Copy Chief During the first four weeks of summer, The Collegian does not publish. During the last eight weeks of entertainment@collegian.com copy@collegian.com summer, The Collegian publishes online Monday Noah Pasley | A&C Editor through Thursday. Corrections may be submitted to Amy Noble | Design Director the editor in chief and will be printed as necessary on entertainment@collegian.com design@collegian.com page two. The Collegian is a complimentary publication for the Fort Collins community. The first copy is free. Jack Taylor | Sports Director Katrina Clasen | Design Editor Additional copies are 25 cents each. Letters to the sports@collegian.com editor should be sent to letters@collegian.com. design@collegian.com Ryan Loberger | Sports Editor Anna von Pechmann | Photo Director ADVISING STAFF sports@collegian.com photo@collegian.com Jake Sherlock Paige Moorhead | Social Media Editor Lucy Morantz | Photo Editor Student Media Adviser Jill P. Mott socialmedia@collegian.com photo@collegian.com Photo Adviser Kim Blumhardt Christa Reed Advertising Director David Slifka | Webmaster Hannah Copeland Senior Advertising Trainer dslifka@collegian.com Lory Student Center Suite 118 Fort Collins, CO 80523
Lauryn Bolz | Editor-in-Chief editor@collegian.com
“Do we have any Cheyenne pepper?” “Uh, you mean cayenne pepper?”
“You could work at Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated!”
KCSU Adviser
KEY PHONE NUMBERS Distribution 970-491-1774 Editorial Staff 970-491-7513
Classifieds 970-491-1683 Display Advertising 970-491-7467
CORRECTIONS Everybody makes mistakes, including us. If you encounter something in the paper you believe to be an error, please contact us at: copy@collegian.com.
“I just don’t understand water.” Have you overheard something funny on campus? Put your eavesdropping to good use. Tweet us @CSUCollegian and your submissions could be featured in our next paper!
Monday, October 5, 2020
@CSUCollegian
VACCINE >> from page 1 Goodrich said this method utilized the type of photochemistry, an area of chemistry that studies the chemical impacts of light, that occurs between riboflavin and ultraviolet light in the presence of nucleic acids. “It is doing damage to the nucleic acids, to those pathogens at that nucleic acid level,” said Izabela Ragan, a veterinary scientist and postdoctoral researcher working on the project. “It damages it in a way that these pathogens can’t repair themselves. It actually really does damage to them and inactivates them.” Goodrich thought about how this method could not only be applied to blood transfusions but to vaccines as well. Introducing an inactive virus to the body causes it to create antibodies to fight against the virus without actually harming the body with the effects of the live pathogen. “(The cells) are supposed to have a memory, so the next time that same virus comes in contact with our body, … we already remember, as an immune body, that we need to control that infection very fast,” said Marcela Henao-Tamayo, a researcher and assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology. The SolaVAX vaccine has had success with their “in vivo models,” which are models that test living organisms. Ragan explained that they used hamsters for their trials, finding that they were a “very good model” to study and understand the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
L P H E
“We gave (the hamsters) the vaccine, and we wanted to see if they’d be protected from exposure, and we did (see that),” Ragan said. “We saw that they were protected. So at this point, we just play with that idea and try to make it better. A next step would be to hopefully apply this to a human population and begin clinical trials.” Though the vaccine has produced results researchers were looking for, it is only the beginning, Goodrich said. “You always try to go as rapidly as you can but you always have to be limited by what the science tells you, and you always should do it in a way that makes sure that you’re addressing all the safety and compliance issues as you go,” Goodrich said.
“Each vaccine is just a little bit different and can be applied to different populations. There’s just not one vaccine in a pandemic. It’s going to be a combination of vaccines to stop this pandemic.” IZABELA RAGAN CSU VETERINARIAN SCIENTIST
There are multiple hoops to jump through before a vaccine can be made available to the general public, including filtration steps and other developmental processes to make sure all the virus is killed for the vaccine, Goodrich explained. Once the vaccine material is
D U R I N G
verified, researchers have to go back and look to see if the manufacturing process impacted the findings of the initial work, Goodrich said. “Are we still able to immunize animals and prevent them from getting the disease?” Goodrich said in regard to questions that may need to be addressed in this stage. “Do we still see antibodies being produced at the same levels that we saw before? Do we still see the cellular immune responses that we saw before?” After those questions are answered, researchers have a “high quality, high purity, (good manufacturing practices) compliant material,” Goodrich said, which then goes through a series of toxicity tests to determine if there is any toxic effect when the vaccination is administered. All the information is gathered and submitted to the Food and Drug Administration. Once approved, they can move onto phase one of human trials, which include around 20-40 subjects, Goodrich said. Each new phase adds more subjects until the study reaches phase four, or what Goodrich calls “post-market clinical trials.” “You’re still monitoring, still looking, but you’re administering the product in a routine at that point, but you’re still following, you’re still monitoring,” Goodrich said. “And those are hundreds of thousands or millions of people who would be receiving the vaccine at that stage.” There are still multiple vaccine candidates being worked on around the world with different methodologies, Henao-Tamayo said. “We have to think about the
WE NEED YOUR HELP: WATER RESTRICTIONS BEGIN OCT. 1 To lower risks to our community, we need all customers to reduce water use to winter (indoor) levels early this year. Mandatory restrictions for all customers begin Oct. 1. Stop lawn watering, don’t wash your vehicle at home, and sweep leaves and dirt instead of pressure washing.
STOP OUTDOOR WATER USE OCT. 1
WHAT’S IN THE WORKS Outdoor water restrictions begin Oct. 1. Restrictions will help manage water availability for our community due to the Cameron Peak Fire, drought conditions and the Horsetooth Outlet Project (HOP). HOP is an important infrastructure project on the outlet that provides water to Fort Collins Utilities and Soldier Canyon water treatment facilities and will strengthen the Horsetooth Reservoir water delivery infrastructure for the future. The Cameron Peak Fire could affect water quality in the Poudre River during future runoff seasons, making it crucial to complete the reservoir maintenance now.
Details: fcgov.com/water-restrictions ••••••••••••••••••••••• Safety is our top priority. We are monitoring water quality and quantity for wildfire impacts and other issues.
fcgov.com/HOP HOP@fcgov.com, 970-416-8040 or V/TDD 711 Esta información puede ser traducida, sin costo para usted, 970-212-2900. Aids and services are available for persons with disabilities. 09/20 | 20-22539
3
CSU researchers were recently awarded a $3.1 million contract from the National Institutes of Health assisting the University’s Bio-pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Academic Resource Center in continuing their research to find a COVID-19 vaccine. PHOTO BY RYAN SCHMIDT THE COLLEGIAN
diversity we have in terms of people that require vaccination,” Henao-Tamayo said. “And because of that, we should have a huge amount of vaccines actually tested to see which populations they would serve better.” Ragan said, when developing a vaccine, it is not going to be one size fits all. These vaccinations vary in number of shots received, production time and methodology as well as the price. If the vaccine is too expensive, it would not be accessible by lower-income countries, Ragan explained. SolaVAX is more affordable since it is made from an inactivated form, she said. “Each vaccine is just a little bit different and can be applied to different populations,” Ragan said. “There’s just not one vaccine in a pandemic. It’s going to be a combination of vaccines to stop this pandemic.”
Goodrich said that if everything goes according to plan, phase one human trials should begin by 2025 or 2026. “If nothing has changed from this sort of plan that we have right now, yeah it could be pushed out to that type of time frame,” he said. “But again, our hope is to be able to move more quickly, whether we’ll be able to do that or not depends again on how things behave as we go through this process.” Kimball explained that vaccine research takes time, but there is a lot of work being done, despite the difficulties of being in a lab during a pandemic. “We are all working extremely hard toward the same goal to help develop a viable COVID-19 vaccine,” Kimball wrote. “And we are making progress every day in the pursuit of that goal.” Laura Studley can be reached at news@collegian.com.
Breckenridge Palisade Peach
$7.49 6pk btls
Aggie Discount Liquor 429 Canyon Ave. 482-1968
Berthoud
Brewing $7.49 6pk cans
Aggie Discount Liquor 429 Canyon Ave. 482-1968
4
Monday, October 5, 2020
Collegian.com
SERIOUSLY
Monday, October 5, 2020
@CSUCollegian
5
CSU FOOTBALL
8 reasons why voting is useless and time consuming Rams are back with contact practice and home opener Oct. 24 By Cat Blouch @BlouchCat
Editor’s Note: This is a satire piece from The Collegian’s opinion section. Real names and the events surrounding them may be used in fictitious/semi-fictitious ways. Those who do not read the editor’s notes are subject to being offended. FORT COLLINS, Colo. — If I hear one more buffoon spout nonsense about the importance of voting, I will go, as scholar Travis Scott once said, “SICKO MODE.” Wake up, sheeple. Voting holds less weight than Chad’s
mom telling him to quit vaping. While the masses are gearing up for the 2020 election, I’m here to tell you my inherently superior opinion about how voting is just an illusionary tactic of giving people false hope.
“Don’t you have some prerecorded lectures you should be watching instead?” Here are the top eight reasons why you shouldn’t vote: 1. Mother Earth is fighting back either way. I’m not sure if you noticed, but the state is on fire. I walked outside yesterday and it smelled like a barbecue. Do you really think that either Trumpet or Joey have the gall to take on the bad b*tch known as Mother Earth?
If there’s one thing we’ve all learned from college, it is how much men love to not take accountability for their actions. No matter who steps into office next year, we can expect that they will be ghosting Mother Nature, and she will continue to ravish the planet with her impeccable rage. 2. It’s a meme. In an age of intense political discourse where folks latch onto political doctrine like it’s a religion, you can be the ultimate troll and have the privilege of pissing off both sides. 3. It takes too much effort. Don’t you have some prerecorded lectures you should be watching instead? 4. It’s hipster to not vote. This is the perfect opportunity to, “nOt bE LiKe oThEr GiRLs.” While everyone may be doing their civic duty by voting, this is the perfect opportunity to latch onto a feeble
attempt at having a personality. While you’re at it, make sure to pull sh*t out of your *ss and spout nonsense about how you’re simply “above voting.” You couldn’t imagine being a feeble-minded sheep and watching your vote dissolve into nothingness by the hands of a corrupt government. 5. This is all probably a simulation. If Elon Musk believes we’re in a simulation, then it must be true. Must we waste more of our precious time in the matrix yelling at each other over political differences? 6. The Romans voted, and we all saw how that played out. Preceding the Roman Empire was the Roman Republic, in which the people elected positions of authority. Just look at how the voting turned out for them — is that what you want? 7. You’re probably not informed anyway.
When is the last time you even read a book? Do you really think you have the knowledge required to make an informed decision? If you can’t even muster up the strength to fully read the article you just used in your research paper as “evidence,” how can you really lie to yourself that you’re ready to make an informed decision? 8. You’d be hurting someone’s feelings. Voting for Donald Trump means being a meanie-weenie to Joe Biden, but voting for Biden means being a heartless scrub to Trump. Didn’t your mother ever talk to you about the golden rule? How do you think it would feel to not be voted for? The clear solution here is to not vote at all. To read the full version of this column please go to collegian.com. Cat Blouch can be reached at letters@collegian.com.
By Scott Nies @scott_nies98
The Colorado State University football team had their first practice in full pads on Tuesday, and players are excited to get back to the gridiron as the CSU athletic department navigates the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the athletics’ COVID-19 testing update page, as of Sept. 30, the athletic department has conducted 924 tests with 36 coming back positive. Of the 36 cases, 22 are from the football team. Currently, only eight active cases remain among all student-athletes. CSU will play football this fall and, in accordance with the Mountain West Conference guidelines, all student-athletes, coaches, trainers and on-field members will have mandatory testing three times a week. The Mountain West football season is slated to start on Oct. 24, giving the Rams less than a month to ramp up game intensity. This reduced timeline seems to have increased excitement instead of nerves. CSU athletics released a transcript of interviews conducted with four players to local media after their first contact practice of the fall, and the
energy of being able to return to play is evident. “You can sort of feel the emotion on the team right now just going full pads,” senior running back Marcus McElroy Jr. said. “It was just a different kind of vibe outside.” McElroy Jr. is going into his final year at CSU and is looking to build off a productive junior season where he finished with 370 yards and three touchdowns over 11 games. In regards to the competitive nature seen at practice, junior linebacker Dequan Jackson said, “I think everybody is bought in, and everybody is going 100%, so iron sharpens iron.” Senior defensive lineman Ellison Hubbard seconded this sentiment. “Everybody’s fighting to start, everybody’s fighting to get on that field and make plays Head coach Steve Addazio addresses the Colorado State University football team during the Rams’ first day of and help make a championship fall camp with full pads. PHOTO COURTESY OF BRANDON RANDALL VIA CSU ATHLETICS run in this program,” Hubbard “The coaches are doing nunzio was put on scholarship, said regarding the new pracsaid. The ability to adapt has tice system. “I think ... coaching very well, trying to help us get which is always a great moral become a consistent theme staff and ... players are starting everything down to plays the booster for any squad. The Rams will see their throughout this season, and to kind of mesh together a lot playbooks and all that,” Scott said. “(Addazio) is just very big first opportunity to transition entering a completely different better.” Redshirt junior wide on the effort and emphasis of what they have achieved in system under new head coach Steve Addazio, adaptability is receiver E.J. Scott believes winning the rep and winning practice to the field as they take on the University of New MexiAddazio’s focus on the little that particular down.” as important as ever. To cap off a productive day co at home on Oct. 24. “I think, right now, we’re things is what is helping Scott Nies can be reached starting to put it all together to make this transition as of football activities, junior wide receiver Thomas Pan- at sports@collegian.com. and work on it,” McElroy Jr. seamless as possible.
TRASH TALK
Sports betting allows fans to win with their teams By Scott Nies
COMIC ILLUSTRATION BY SCOTTY POWELL @SCOTTYSSEUS
NOPE
&
Thinking your friends hate you.
@scott_nies98
DOPE Great friends.
Sleeping outside. COMIC ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN GREENE @TFOGDOGS
Sleeping outside.
Missing your alarm.
“Pride and Prejudice” (2005).
Mid-semester burnout.
Sticky notes.
Cereal for dinner.
Cereal for dinner.
Sports bettors in Colorado were limited to betting on a lot of table tennis for the initial months of betting’s legalization. Now, with the National Basketball Association’s finals, the Major-League Baseball playoffs and professional and collegiate football in full swing, bettors have a much larger slate to choose from. If you are new to sports betting, here are some key terms to know: Odds: All odds are put in the context of a $100 bet. This does not mean that you have to bet $100 by any means, but it helps establish an easy baseline for mentally calculating payouts or losses. If the odds are -110, this means you would have to bet $110 to profit $100. If the odds are +110, this means if you bet $100, you would profit $110. Spread: The point spread of a game indicates the amount of points a team must win or lose
by rather than just a team specifically winning or losing. For example, if the Colorado State men’s football team was a -6.5-point favorite against the University of Wyoming football team, it would mean that CSU is the favorite and would need to win by seven or more points in order for the bet to win. You could also bet the opposite of this, which would mean Wyoming is the +6.5-point underdog indicating that in order for the bet to win, Wyoming needs to lose by six or less points, tie or win. Money-line (ML): If you do not want to wager on the point spread, you can always bet the team to win or lose straight up. This is called a money-line bet. If the odds have a “+” in front of them, that indicates the team is the underdog and if there is a “-,” that team is the favorite. For example, if the CSU women’s basketball team was playing the University of Nevada women’s basketball team and CSU was a -450 favorite,
that would indicate CSU as a significant favorite going in and you would need to bet $450 to profit $100. If you wanted to bet Nevada as the underdog at +450 and bet $100 and they won, you would profit $450. Over/Under (O/U): Games will have a set line for the total point amount scored by both teams. This is the cumulative run total for baseball or point total for basketball and football. This one is quite simple: you either wager if you think the total will go over the line or under. Parlay: If you have multiple wagers you are confident in, you can tie them together to create a single bet. Choosing to create a parlay often boosts the odds and the resulting payout significantly, but in order for the bet to win, every single one of your wagers within your parlay must hit. I use the DraftKings sportsbook app, but there are multiple available for bettors in Colorado and each has their
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY RACHEL MACIAS
own unique benefits. I like DraftKings because their layout is easy to navigate and they offer lines on a wide variety of sports. No matter which bookie you choose, most sportsbooks are fairly similar with the odds they offer. It should also be noted that as the public bets, odds will change to reflect this. Thus, odds are subject to change prior
to the start of games, although these changes are usually very minor. If done as entertainment, sports betting can be fun, but be sure to know your limits and never bet outside them. If you feel you need help, call the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700. Scott Nies can be reached at sports@collegian.com.
6
SO
Monday, October 5, 2020
Collegian.com
The end of September and beginning of October is the peak opportunity to see fall colors. While you might need to hurry to catch the last of the changing leaves in the mountains, the leaves in Fort Collins are just getting started. This time of year, it is a fashion blogger’s dream to get that perfect fall outfit photo surrounded by golden leaves. If you’re wondering the best places to go to capture fall in all of its glory, keep reading.
STYLEOVERVIEW
Located right outside of Estes Park, this beautiful road through Rocky Mountain National Park will give you those warm autumn shots you’ve been dreaming of.
Just an hour and a half drive from Fort Collins, this dreamy state park just outside of Golden is filled with aspen trees that turn a beautiful bright yellow in the fall.
If you’re looking for a scenic route that is more local, Lory State Park right here in Fort Collins could be the perfect photoshoot excursion.
Last on the list, but not least, CSU’s Oval is a prime location in Fort Collins to see fall leaves and leaf piles. Everyone knows that photos on the Oval are already breathtaking, but fall colors make it that much more magical.
Monday, October 5, 2020
@CSUCollegian
EVENTS
Diversity Symposium to provide opportunities for learning
7
KCSU IS OUT OF THIS WORLD
By Jenna Landry @yesjennalandry
The Diversity Symposium will return from Oct. 19 to Oct. 23 to begin dialogues on issues surrounding racial bias and reaffirm Colorado State University’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The 20th annual Diversity Symposium will explore topics from equity mentoring to dismantling whiteness in the workplace to an exploration of Jewish identities at CSU. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event is 100% virtual via Zoom, as with many other CSU events. The event is free and only available to CSU faculty, staff and students. The symposium began in 2001 with only being a one-day event and has grown into a weeklong event. “I think it’s a combination of the high-quality presentations our CSU community has delivered year after year, which builds excitement and recognition for the event, and CSU’s increased commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and our community’s increased awareness of the critical nature of these topics,” Program Coordinator Alicia Sprague said. There will be 24 live-session events and a variety of other special events. There will be a conversation on the Race, Bias and Equity Initiative with co-chairs Mary
Odells
Hammer Chain
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY CHRISTINE MOORE-BONBRIGHT
Ontiveros, Blanche Hughes and Mary Pedersen. The Career Center at CSU will also host Diversity Connect, a career event for students. Eight pre-recorded sessions will be available during the week of the symposium for those who cannot attend the times of the live events. In partnership with the ACT Human Rights Festival and CSU communication studies, the film “We Are the Radical Monarchs” will be available to watch during the week as well. According to the symposium’s website, there will also be five to 10 TED Talk-like sessions that will be led by staff, faculty and students of CSU. The goal of the sessions is to encourage sharing, engaging and inspiring initiatives at CSU connecting to social justice. The event includes keynote speakers, the first being Melina Ab-
dullah, an expert on race, gender, class and social movements. Abdullah is part of the initial organizers of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles chapter and currently serves as a chapter member there. The second keynote speaker will be Claudia Rankine. Rankine is a poet and author of many titles, including “Just Us: An American Conversation” and “Citizen: An American Lyric.” The event is filled with opportunities for growth for faculty, staff and students at CSU, and there are a lot of things to be excited about. For Sprague, it’s the range of topics offered by the presenters. “It’s amazing to be able to attend one symposium and learn about topics ranging from the school-to-prison pipeline to trans masculinity (to) reproductive health,” Sprague said. Jenna Landry can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com.
Save $2.00 per 6pk
Aggie Discount Liquor 429 Canyon Ave. 482-1968
Kona Brewing 12pk variety
$13.49 12pk cans/btls
Aggie Discount Liquor 429 Canyon Ave. 482-1968
COMIC ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN GREENE @TFOGDOGS
COMIC ILLUSTRATION BY MIKAYLA RUST @MIKAYLA_RUST
Possibly pregnant? Find out for sure. • Lab-quality pregnancy testing • Pre-abortion screening • Ultrasound
All services are provided at no-cost to you. Call 970.239.2272 to schedule
OCT. 8, 7:00 P.M. Lorna Dee Cervantes
CELEBRATE MAJOR LITERARY VOICES The CSU Creative Writing Reading Series is made possible by the generous support of the Organization of Graduate Student Writers, the CSU Department of English, the College of Liberal Arts, the donor sponsor of the Crow-Tremblay Alumni Reading Series, the Lilla B. Morgan Memorial Endowment, and other generous support. Learn about how you can support the series at advancing.colostate.edu/CWRS
Event details & author bio english.colostate.edu/cwrs
Protect YOURSELF. Protect OTHERS. WASH Your Hands. TOGETHER WE CAN SLOW THE SPREAD OF COVID-19.
KE CAR TA
RAMS T
N
E
RAMS
91%
of students practice public health behaviors to avoid spreading COVID-19.* Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If using hand sanitizer, make sure it contains at least 60% ethanol or ethyl alcohol. * recovery.colostate.edu/socialnorms
E ACTIO AK