How COVID-19 impacts student mental health With universities closed and social distancing in place, many have found themselves struggling in ways they haven’t before PAGES 4-5
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ASMSU elects Missed opportunities: Students react to study abroad cancellations Abii-Tah Bih as By Dina Kaur dkaur@statenews.com Although many Michigan State students were disappointed their study abroads were canceled, they said they understood why. “I know a handful of people who were also going to study abroad this summer and are disappointed it is not going to work out,” hospitality business sophomore Claudia Andre said in an email. “We all made peace with it because we know how big of an issue COVID-19 is and the importance of staying home.” Claudia Andre was set to go to Australia this summer, but in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all MSU education abroad programs for the spring and summer semesters were suspended. Students who were already abroad when the decision was made had to return to the U.S. no later than March 17 and most were heavily screened by either the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or both, upon arrival, according to the Office for Education Abroad’s website. “Education abroad at MSU will certainly remain an opportunity for students once this unprecedented situation subsides,” Cheryl Benner, communications manager in the Office for Education Abroad, said in an email. “However, it’s hard to say what the future will hold in terms of health and safety precautions. We will rely on the expert advice from RSAC (MSU’s Risk and Assessment Committee) for those recommendations.” Benner said the decision to suspend all programs was made by the interim provost following a recommendation from RSAC. This isn’t the first time study abroads have been canceled by MSU, either. In recent years, programs in Hong Kong, Turkey, Israel, Mexico, Mali and Egypt were halted due to political unrest or rapid growth in crime and violence, Benner said. “These suspensions are always due to safety and security reasons,” Benner said. “This would obviously include things like this year’s global pandemic, but programs have also been suspended for ... other health issues such as Swine Flu in 2009, SARS in 2003 and Foot & Mouth Disease in 2001.” After learning about the university’s decision, social relations and policy sophomore Troy Distelrath said he felt disappointed that his study abroad became a missed opportunity. Distelrath was preparing to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem over the summer with James Madison College, and said he and his best friend had this trip planned for a while. “Aside from the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study in one of the most ancient cities in the world, I’m really disappointed to lose the chance to do it with my best friend,
“I haven’t ruled out studying abroad in the future, but I think it’s unlikely at this point.”
Parker Renberg English and economics sophomore
Parker, who was accepted on the program as well,” Distelrath said in an email. “We had been planning to go together for a little over a year when we got the news.” His friend, English and economics sophomore Parker Renberg, reiterated the same sentiment and also said he might not be able to study abroad in the future. “I haven’t ruled out studying abroad in the future, but I think it’s unlikely at this point,” Renberg said in an email. “My friend and I won’t have schedules that line up next summer and I’m not sure if I’ll still be eligible for some of the scholarships I had applied for.” Packaging sophomore Marissa Murphy, who was supposed to go to London this summer, said she was heartbroken to miss out on this educational opportunity. “I was looking forward to getting to experience a new culture,” Murphy said in an email. “I was also looking forward to learning how the packaging industry operates in a different country and getting to tour plants and just exploring in general.”
FRANCE
However, Murphy said she plans to participate in the same program next summer. For business sophomore Olivia Andre, attending the Business Law, Ethics and Sustainability in an Emerging Global Marketplace education abroad program would have been her first time out of the U.S. “I was looking forward to not only being in Greece and experiencing everything it had to offer, but also being out of the country for the first time,” Olivia Andre said in an email. Benner said the university is working on moving spring study abroad coursework to MSU colleges, as well as issuing refunds to students whose programs were cut short. Students who had yet to leave for their programs already received refunds for their application fees and confirmation deposits. “For spring semester students who were abroad when the suspension was announced, we are working on getting approval for a refund package,” Brenner said. “Currently, the Office for Education Abroad only has authorization to reimburse for additional incurred airfare costs. Information will be communicated directly to impacted students as soon as possible.” Students who are signed up for fall study abroad programs are being instructed to be as flexible as possible and to have a back-up plan just in case, she said. “As of right now, all fall semester 2020 education abroad programs are proceeding as planned,” Benner said. “There is a possibility that they may be suspended but that will be determined by the provost in consultation with RSAC which continues to monitor the situation.”
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next president
PHOTO COURTESY OF ABII-TAH BIH
By Wendy Guzman wguzmanr@statenews.com The 57th General Assembly of the Associated Students of Michigan State University, or ASMSU, elected Abii-Tah Bih as the undergraduate student body president for the 202021 academic year. Bih will take over for Mario Kakos, winning the election against Dylan Catalano with 21 votes in ASMSU’s first contested presidential election since 2016. The election, which began at 7 p.m. on April 15 and lasted until 4 a.m., was conducted over Zoom. The international relations and comparative cultures and politics junior from Yauande, Cameroon said she dreamt of joining MSU’s student government before even knowing where Michigan was on a map. “Even before I ever stepped foot at MSU, I really knew that I wanted to find purpose in empowering everybody, empowering my peers through ASMSU. And so even before I even Googled where the map of Michigan was, I already Googled what the student government at MSU looks like,” Bih said. “These past few years ... I have pretty much dedicated every ounce of my energy and strength to ensure that life is worth living for every single student on campus.” Bih most recently served as a representative in the General Assembly, or GA, for the James Madison College. Additionally, Bih has served as chair of the cultural exchange committee and an ASMSU representative to the University Council. Her candidacy for president was monumental and historical on its own, Bih said, as it’s unheard of for a GA representative to run. “The fact that it’s unprecedented also comes with the fact that it’s a historical right,” Bih said. “I really want everybody to be able to partake and share this history that we
“This is really setting a precedent for everyone who looks like me ... to actually know that they too can achieve this because you are indispensable.”
Abii-Tah Bih ASMSU president-elect are creating by running this election, and I really want every single person to understand that the position of president at ASMSU is a position that we can all run for. It’s a democratised position, and nobody should ever have to feel intimidated running for that position as long as they know who they want to serve, how they want to serve and who they want to empower through the process.” Bih said she believes coming from the GA is important, as the GA is what gives ASMSU its power and voice. As a member of the GA, Bih has introduced and seconded a number of bills that have showcased her dedication to the student body. During ASMSU’s April 14 presidential debate, Bih highlighted these initiatives as well as some of her points in her “100-Point Plan.” This includes initiatives involving affordability, inclusion, academic life, transparency, the COVID-19 pandemic and more. “This is really setting a precedent for everyone who looks like me, sounds like me, comes from the position that I come from to actually know that they too can achieve this because you are indispensable,” Bih said.
Vol. 110 | No. 29
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EDITORIAL
Wanda Blanchett best equipped for provost role By The State News Editorial Board feedback@statenews.com Michigan State will soon appoint one of three finalists to the position of provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. The position carries a magnitude of responsibility behind it — the provost works closely with President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. to hire deans and professors while administering their promotions across the board. June Youatt, the last permanent provost, resigned after an investigation from the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights concluded she knew of complaints against William Strampel, the former dean of Osteopathic Medicine who enabled ex-MSU doctor Larry Nassar’s decades of sexual abuse and who was himself found guilty of sexual misconduct. In Strampel’s trial, Youatt testified that she knew of complaints against him but still recommended he remain as dean. Strampel was released early from jail last month. The next provost is unable to rewrite the past, but they can chart out a path for the future. The State News endorses Wanda Blanchett for the open provost position, not just because she has an impressive set of qualifications and plans for diversity inclusion, but because she focuses on students, research and the integrity of the university. The provost search committee selected strong candidates with many admirable qualities and accolades. Blanchett made a powerful first impression that stuck with us at The State News as we evaluated the merits of each finalist. We believe Blanchett would provide a refreshing outside perspective to the administration and is the right fit to tackle the issues that face our community. She made a point to focus on the expansion of student research, has BIG Ten experience and a strong academic background. She crafted a structure for diversity, equity and inclusion at Rutgers
“The State News endorses Wanda Blanchett for the open provost position, not just because she has an impressive set of qualifications and plans for diversity inclusion, but because she focuses on students, research and the integrity of the university.” The State News Editorial Board
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FOR MORE STORIES PLEASE VISIT US AT STATENEWS.COM University and has her own research background in educational inequity and disproportionate representation — experience Michigan State needs. Antonio Dwayne Tillis would make an excellent choice, as he’s played a role in university administration at multiple institutions including Dartmouth College. However, Blanchett’s depth of experience at Rutgers is preferable to Tillis’ breadth of experience because she has a dedicated focus on students and ways to improve opportunities for them. Teresa Woodruff also has BIG Ten experience and her 56-page CV is impressive, but Blanchett’s expertise draws a necessary contrast to Stanley’s background in medicine. While her accomplishments at Northwestern are astounding, Rutgers is a more diverse university that shares MSU’s land-grant mission. MSU is planning a university-wide diversity assessment with educational programming and a multicultural building. Stanley voiced concerns in our interview with him on April 2 that the pandemic might delay these initiatives. Blanchett is not only the best candidate to follow through on MSU’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, but to bring proactive responses to the table. In addition, Blanchett showed in her public forum that she has an understanding of the challenges MSU has faced in the last few years. Just two years ago, the university community was engulfed in crisis related to the sexual
abuse cases against Nassar, and MSU’s handling of the situation led to protests, resignations and a widespread distrust of the university. MSU needs transparency and integrity in its provost role, and Blanchett understands that. “I know I have the integrity and honesty and transparency you desire,” Blanchett said. “Regardless of how this turns out — Michigan State will emerge from COVID-19 and all of the other challenges that you've been dealing with, better than it was before.” Although it’s difficult to choose between the three finalists to be MSU’s next provost, Wanda Blanchett stands out as the best equipped to any challenge that might come our way.
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SPOTLIGHT
APPLY TO BE THE FUTURE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FALL 2020-SPRING 2021
‘UNCERTA THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 By Emily Bevard ebevard@statenews.com or professional and public writing sophomore Charlotte Bachelor, being quarantined during the COVID-19 pandemic has meant more than just isolation. Bachelor said she had already suffered from mental health issues. Now, with chronic health issues of her own, she is worried for the future in a time where uncertainty has taken the reins. “That’s been the biggest, most stressful part, Bachelor said. “You don’t know when this is going to get better.”
ISOLATION AND GRIEF
With schools and universities closed nationwide and executive orders calling for people to stay home, many students have found themselves struggling with mental health in ways they hadn’t before. According to the American Psychological Association, a lack of social connection heightens health risks, creating an effect similar to smoking 15 cigarettes a day or having an alcohol use disorder. Bachelor lived in Holmes Hall at Michigan State where she said she had a close-knit group of friends around her every day. They would get dinner, study and hang out often. Now, they’re stuck at home, catching up virtually via FaceTime and Zoom to stay in touch with one another on a daily basis.
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She is also coping with grief and loss. Bachelor lost her grandfather to COVID-19, unable to visit him when he was sick. She’s made the transition to life behind a screen with no indication of when this unprecedented situation will end. “My professors have been ver y lenient. Some of them have had pass/ fail policies before the university even came out,” Bachelor said. “So, I’m not so much concerned about my grades, it’s just (with) everything else going on, it becomes very hard to focus on school work.” During this time, Bachelor said MSU’s Counseling and Psychiatric Services, or CAPS, have been a huge resource for her during a time of struggle. CAPS offers remote counseling to any MSU student as needed. With a crisis hotline available 24 hours a day, students may call at any time to receive assistance from a crisis counselor over the phone.
MENTAL HEALTH DURING A CRISIS
On April 13, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced a peer-run “warmline” to aid those with mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. This will operate seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. and can be reached at 888-PEER-753.
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T H E STAT E N EWS
TH UR S DAY, AP R IL 1 6 , 2020
S POT L I G H T
AINTY AND LOSS’ ON STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH
National data shows that many students are already struggling with anxiety and depression, said CAPS Director Mark Patishnock. When we self-isolate, he said, it’s hard not to see that turn into an emotional or personal isolation as well. “I think a lot of students are kind of grieving,” Patishnock said. “They’re grieving and they’re trying to respond to the loss of, essentially, normalcy and losing the common, everyday connections that we have with each other through classes and spending time with friends — just being amongst other people.” With graduation commencement ceremonies up in the air, he said the loss of such anticipated events plays a role in how students might be feeling. “There’s a reason why people spend a whole day sitting and waiting at Breslin (Center) and other places to walk across that stage for a mere few seconds, because there is something
Kaitlyn Bowen Environmental studies and sustainability junior about closure,” Patishnock said. “There is something about a finale of some physical environment and in-person experience where it feels like it closes a chapter.” Patishnock said students who have never registered with CAPS can go to their website and complete a survey outlining the kind of services they might be looking for. A CAPS counselor will then reach out to them for a phone consultation where they may address how they are doing and what their needs might be.
COLLEGE STUDENT ANXIETIES
Kaitlyn Bowen, an environmental studies and sustainability junior, said the stress of having the semester end so early has hit her hard. She had to move back home with a continued responsibility for paying rent at her off-campus apartment. “I was out of a job. I worked at Wharton Center, so all the shows and stuff closed so I didn’t have any more income,” Bowen said. “I definitely know it has been a huge, huge stressor for not just me, but my roommate and all of my friends ... that live in off-campus apartments.” With the closure of gyms, Bowen said
she has noticed her body image has taken a huge toll as well. “It’s affected me in ways I never thought it was going to,” Bowen said. To cope, Bowen said she and her friends have tried to host weekly virtual game nights to keep in touch. Further, she said the ability to create somewhat of a schedule has helped her get by. Education junior Neha Chellury, who has been in and out of counseling since the end of last semester, said she’s noticed this quarantine period having somewhat of a positive impact on her mental health. Chellury said leaving campus and being with her family has made her feel better as a whole, though she knows not everyone shares the same luxury. The stay-at-home order has made her family closer through everyday interaction, she said. “I was struggling with bad thoughts ...and I feel like those thoughts were worse when I was at school for some reason,” Chellury said. “Now that I’m at home, I feel like there’s just less stress. Just this whole idea (that) I don’t have to go anywhere, and I can just get up every day and have autonomy over my own things.”
SEPARATED FROM HOME
For international students at MSU, with many unable to return to their home countries, they are left on campus uncer tain and anxious about their futures. Shalvi Save, a mechanical engineering senior from India, said her summer internship was canceled, so she’s stuck waiting to see what is going to happen. With her work closed, she is out of a job she needs to be able to pay for food, rent and summer classes and has gone back to relying on her parents for the first time since her freshman year. Save said the separation has caused her to worry for the safety of her family back home, while she is left in the dark as to when she may be able to return.
Graduating international students, she said, need to apply for another visa in order to stay in the country. With many jobs halting their hiring processes and international travel remaining banned, Save said these students will be left with nowhere else to go. “I know a lot of international students who are supposed to be graduating this summer and they cannot go back home,” Save said. “They need to apply for these visa-related documents … and basically, once you get those documents, if you don’t get a job within like 90 days, you have to leave the country.” Moving forward, in a time of tremendous change, uncertainty and anxiety, Patishnock said students should know they are not alone in their feelings.
“We all share in the sense of uncertainty and loss. Some of us know people who are either being impacted directly or indirectly by this,” Patishnock said. “Just have compassion. Know that we truly are all in this together and that there will be a time when this ends.”
Mark Patishnock Counseling and Psychiatric Services director
Editor’s note: Charlotte Bachelor worked at The State News in fall 2018.
CALL MSU’S COUNSELING AND PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES (CAPS) AT (517) 355-8270 TO SPEAK WITH A CRISIS COUNSELOR
Charlotte Bachelor Professional and public writing sophomore
CALL MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES “WARMLINE” AT (888) 733-7753
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RELIGIOUS DIRECTORY Stay up to date at: www.statenews.com/religious
All Saints Episcopal Church 800 Abbot Rd. (517) 351-7160 Sun. Worship: 8am, 10am, & 5pm Sunday School: 10am www.allsaints-el.org Ascension Lutheran Church 2780 Haslett Road East Lansing (517) 337-9703 Sunday worship: 10:00am Sunday Bible study: 8:45am Thursday Bible study: 2:00pm www.ascensioneastlansing.org Crossway Multinational Church 4828 Hagadorn Rd. (Across from Fee Hall) (517) 917-0498 Sun: 10:00am crosswaymchurch.org Greater Lansing Church of Christ 310 N. Hagadorn Rd. (Meet @ University Christian Church) (517) 898-3600 Sun: 8:45am Worship, 10am Bible Class Wed: 1pm, Small group bible study www.greaterlansing coc.org Hillel Jewish Student Center 360 Charles St. (517) 332-1916 Shabbat – Services@ 6pm / dinner @ 7, September–April www.msuhillel.org instagram: @msuhillel
The Islamic Society of Greater Lansing 920 S. Harrison Rd. (517) 351-4309 Friday Services: 12:15-12:45pm & 1:45-2:15pm For prayer times visit www.lansingislam.com/ Martin Luther Chapel Lutheran Student Center 444 Abbot Rd. (517) 332-0778 Sun: 10:30am & 7pm Wed: 7pm Mini-bus pick-up on campus (Fall/Spring) www.martinluther chapel.org The People’s Church Multi-denominational 200 W Grand River Ave. (517)332-6074 Sun. Service: 10:30am with free lunch for students following worship ThePeoplesChurch.com Riverview Church- MSU Venue MSU Union Ballroom, 2nd Floor 49 Abbot Rd. (517) 694-3400 Sun. Worship: 11:30am-ish www.rivchurch.com St. Paul Lutheran Church (ELCA) Worship with us on Sundays at 10am 3383 E. Lake Lansing Rd 517-351-8541 www.stpaul-el.org officemanagerstpaul el@gmail.com
St. John Catholic Church and Student Center 327 M.A.C Ave. (517) 337-9778 Sun: 8am, 10am, Noon, 5pm, 7pm M,W: 5:30pm T & Th: 8:45pm F: 12:15pm www.stjohnmsu.org University Christian Church 310 N. Hagadorn Rd (517) 332-5193 Sun. Bible Study: 10am Sun. Worship: 11:15am www.universitychristianwired.com University Lutheran Church (ULC) “We’re open in every way” 1020 S. Harrison Rd (517) 351-7030 Sun. Worship: 8:30am & 10:45am Fridays@Five: Dinner, discussion & fun 5pm Mon. Bible Study: 6:30pm @Wells Hall Quad www.ulcel.org Facebook: ULC and Campus Ministry University United Methodist Church 1020 S. Harrison Rd (517) 351-7030 Main Service: Sun: 11am in the Sanctuary Additional Services: NEW contemporary service Sundays at 9am with band titled ‘REACH’ TGiT (Thank God its Thursday): Thur: 8pm in the Chapel of Apostles universitychurchhome.org office@eluumc.org WELS Lutheran Campus Ministry 704 Abbot Rd. (517) 580-3744 Sat: 6:30pm msu.edu/~welsluth
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COVID-19 leads to uncertainty for upcoming college football season By Brendan Gumbel bgumbel@statenews.com No one has any idea what to expect anymore. What seemed unlikely or impossible a month ago has become our new reality. When it comes to less important things like sports, everything is on the table: The Masters in November, the NFL Draft via FaceTime and ... baseball on Christmas? As the timeline of the coronavirus changes by the day and people are stuck inside their homes, a new speculation has started to arise. The status of the upcoming college football season is up in the air, and to say there is a definitive approach or understanding of what that is going to look like wouldn’t be an accurate statement. It’s too early to tell. Michigan State President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. said in an interview with The State News on April 2 he could see a potential delay to the start of the season and that he’s been in contact with Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren and others regarding the uncertainty. “I think it’s just really fluid,” Stanley said. “Everybody is thinking, the (Power Five) conferences are meeting and thinking about things. ... There’s nothing decided yet. Everybody’s kind of hoping, but everybody also realizes there is a possibility that it may be difficult to play. So, it’s going to be driven by safety, ultimately.” Of course, there will be several hurdles to jump on the way to starting the season on time, or having one at all for that matter. The decision will have to be made on whether to have fans at the games or not. From a financial perspective, schools will lose out on significant revenue with the loss of ticket sales and other aspects of the game day experience. It’s a bigger deal for some programs than it is for others, but it will still be a big loss altogether, which might make it more feasible to start back up when large gatherings become socially acceptable again. College football in the spring? It’s certainly not out of the question. Dr. Arjun Krishnan, an assistant professor at MSU within the College of Natural Science and head of The Krishnan Lab for Genomics
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Freshman wide receiver Julian Barnett (2) is tackled during the game against Penn State on Oct. 26, 2019 at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans fell to the Nittany Lions, 28-7. PHOTO BY MATT SCHMUCKER
and Computational Biology, said there are two major keys to having a safe football season. “Assuming that physical distancing and isolation help in reducing the burden on our health system, resuming basic normal life — leave alone bringing 70,000 people together — completely depends on two things: 1) Widespread, aggressive COVID-19 testing and 2) Massive contact tracing by having state/ local health systems building apps and databases using the new privacy-preserving technology,” Krishnan said in an email. “Both are required and very soon.” MSU’s Athletic Director Bill Beekman said that the medical experts will be the driving force when it comes to making any decisions regarding the upcoming season, as health will be the top priority. “The health, safety and wellness of our studentathletes, coaches, staff, fans and everyone throughout our community is our top priority and at the heart of any decision making on the upcoming football season,” Beekman said in a quote sent to The State News by Associate Athletic Director Matt Larson. “As athletic directors and administrators throughout the Big Ten and the rest of the country, we are in a situation where we rely first and foremost on the advice of our medical experts, and then make decisions that align with the guidelines for public gatherings put in place by the governors of each state. Beyond that, we are trying to
T H E STAT E N EWS
look at all possibilities while understanding that it’s a constantly evolving situation.” Yes, America is suffering from the coronavirus as a whole. However, different areas of the country are getting hit harder than others. This could present an issue when it comes to traveling for games. Finding neutral site locations for games could be difficult. There are too many teams across all levels of college football and the players have other responsibilities, such as their academics, and most feel that school athletic teams cannot compete if the universities they represent are not holding in-person classes. “Our campus has to be operational for us to run football,” University of Utah Athletic Director Mark Harlan told the Salt Lake Tribune. “Students have to be back. That’s my view, and I think that’s the view of a lot of ADs that I talk with. I think that’s a clue to look at, where is your campus?” Coaches have already been stripped of spring activities with their teams and have been forced to work remotely from home. This makes it especially challenging for coaches entering their first season with a program, such as new MSU coach Mel Tucker. These are just a few of the many obstacles facing college football starting the season on time. In the meantime, the fastest way back to normalcy is to comply with social distancing while the experts figure this thing out. And whether it’s in a couple months or next spring, we will have football again.
TH UR S DAY, AP R IL 1 6 , 2020
COMMU N I T Y
Spartans fundraise to provide protective equipment to medical communities in need By Kaishi Chhabra kchhabra@statenews.com Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Spartans are helping professionals on the frontlines by raising funds and contributing resources to make 3D-printed personal protective equipment, or PPE, including N95 masks and face shields. Michigan State’s Chinese Faculty Club has raised more than $31,000 to help the community combat COVID-19. According to their GoFundMe page, the funds will be used to acquire PPE gear and help local people who are at an economic disadvantage due to the shutdown of businesses. “We realized that it’s very difficult to get the supplies in the U.S. right now, there’s just so much demand,” Xuefei Huang, president of the Chinese Faculty Club, said. “What we can do is use our connections because we have a lot of members here, use our connections in the U.S. to identify the sources for the supplies and in order to do that we needed a fund.” Huang, also an MSU Foundation Professor and chemical and biomedical engineering professor, said the club has donated more than $10,000 of medical supplies to Sparrow Hospital, McLaren Greater Lansing Hospital and to some local clinics. They plan to continue their efforts. "We are very happy and very impressed by the response of our community that we were able to reach this much of funds,” Huang said. “But on the other hand, as I’m talking to the hospitals, I realized that their need is far greater than that. So we hope that the community continues to donate the funds and we’ll be able to do more for the hospitals and local people in need.” Dr. Nathan Tykock, a pharmacology and toxicology assistant professor in the MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine, said the MSU Office of Environmental Health and Safety sent out a request to the research laboratory for any PPE gear available to be donated to the university and local health centers. "We’re simply hoping to be able to help the medical community,” Tykocki said. “I’m in (the) College of Osteopathic Medicine but I’m not a clinician. I’m a Ph.D. in science, I’m a researcher. I can’t help people in the clinic but what I can do is use the tools that they do have to do something other than just staying at home.” The team decided that printing N95styled masks wasn’t the right fit for what they envisioned, and in order to get effective results, they had to move fast and manage their time, Tykocki said. But he said there were some very good and validated face shield designs underway and that his team wanted to try those. Tykocki said he met with the School of Packaging, which had access to the clear plastic for the shield, followed by the Department of Theatre and the College of Arts and Letters, which donated the first elastic that was used for the headband on the face shields. The printers came from multiple business units and Information Technology Services. "This just rapidly multiplied and grew as more and more people around campus with 3D printers volunteered to help,” Tykocki said. “All over the campus, including the Lansing Makers Network, have volunteered to run their printers basically around the clock to make parts for these shields.” As of last week, the team has donated about 1,000 of the face shields to health centers at MSU, as well as in East Lansing.
“I think it’s a neat project because not only is it helping people or making people safe but it’s also giving a whole group of people focus and a way to chip into the fight.” Michael Savage MSU alumnus and FIRST Robotics Coach at Romeo High School
“As the needs change, now we have this huge and growing network of people with these printers that if the health centers decide there’s something different that they want, we can stop on a dime and change to that, make that instead with very little problem at all,” Tykocki said. Michael Savage, an MSU alumnus and the FIRST Robotics Coach at Romeo High School, said one of the ways they got involved was with the 3D printers the team uses to manufacture robotic parts. With the schools shut down, the robotics team was looking for a way to help. “We have a handful of students and mentors on our team that had their own 3D printers, they were able to start printing," Savage said. “What we’re really trying to do is make something that can help people. But with the supply shortages what we could do to either extend the life of their equipment or to help them be a little bit safer.” The team started producing face shields that provided an extra layer of safety and also helped extend the life of the N95 masks, Savage said. The team then started distributing the 3D-printed face shields to their friends and family in the community. “After that, it really took off. We ended up getting calls from all over the area,” Savage said. “I’m very impressed with what the kids and the surrounding community has been able to do. We got a lot of support through them. We ... had a GoFundMe that’s really taken off.” Savage estimated the team was able to send out at least 2,000 shields as of last week. "It’s incredible," Savage said. “I certainly owe it a lot to the support of our school district and our community. Everyone has been really eager to help. … I think it’s a neat project because not only is it helping people or making people safe but it’s also giving a whole group of people focus and a way to chip into the fight."
Brayden and Harper Savage wear face shields printed by the FIRST Robotics team from Romeo High School. PHOTO COURTESY MICHAEL SAVAGE
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What life was like when my mom had COVID-19 “It was not a cold where she just felt ‘under the weather,’ or a flu where her symptoms gradually crept up on her ... She was fine until she was bedridden and the sickest she had ever been.” By Jayna Bardahl jbardahl@statenews.com
State News reporter Jayna Bardahl poses with her parents, Richard Bardahl and Mariellen Bardahl. PHOTO COURTESY OF JAYNA BARDAHL
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My family did not binge-watch “Tiger King.” We watched the first episode on our couch one night, finding comedic relief in Joe Exotic, but that’s as far as we would get for a while. The next morning, my mom woke up with a 102.5 degree fever and a headache that left her screaming in pain. My mom, an active 50-year-old who you would never even know left college when she visits me, had COVID-19. For the next two weeks, no day seemed to get any better than the last, and they all went something like this: 10 a.m. — Wake up. Sometimes this wake-up call would come earlier than 10 a.m. at the sound of my mom crying out from her pounding headache. I’d want to help, but I knew I was no match to the virus and nothing I could do would ease the attack it was throwing at my mom’s body. 11 a.m. — After my first Zoom lecture, where I would act like everything was all normal and like I had all this extra time on my hands, I’d check on mom. I’d walk about halfway down the long hallway that leads to her bedroom and call out to her, “How are you feeling today?” I never really got an answer. Some days she would still be sleeping, others she would murmur through her pillows words I could barely understand. But it wasn’t like a flu or a cold where her symptoms would ease at certain times of the day. It was a constant feeling of defeat, pain and weakness and no matter what murmur she left me with, it always meant those feelings. Noon to 3 p.m. — These hours were the hardest, as they were the ones where my dad and I were most busy with remote work, and we didn’t have much time to check up on her.
Jayna Bardahl State News reporter
One day she told us she had fainted on her way to the bathroom. She said she got out of bed and the next thing she remembered was waking up on the tile floor no more than 6 feet away. Neither my dad nor I had known this. 5 p.m. — Dinner time. A time when I saw my friends’ families coming together, cooking fun quarantine meals and playing board games. In my family, my mom’s dinner table turned into a wooden tray she could place on her lap in bed. As a small family of three, my dad or I would make dinner every night. We’d put my mom’s meal on her tray and bring it to her room, leaving it at the foot of her bed. We’d leave the room and immediately lather ourselves in our homemade hand sanitizer, since the stores were running low, to avoid spreading the virus from my mom’s bedroom-turnedhospital-room to anywhere else in the house. But every time we left her room, we knew there was a chance. Watching how this virus attacked my mom proved no amount of hand sanitizer could stop its rage once it caught a grip on your body. Later that night, we’d go back for the tray, which was usually not even half eaten, to disinfect it and to wash her dishes for the next day. 10 p.m. — Mom goes to sleep. She told me she hated sleeping during these weeks. She said she was scared of sleeping, scared of how she would feel when she woke up the next morning. Those short hours of no pain were nothing compared to the pain she
would feel when she woke up, the screaming headache that became my new alarm. This went on for two weeks straight, with no break whatsoever. There was never a day when her headache went away, or her fever went down or she moved from her bed even the slightest. It was not a cold where she just felt “under the weather,” or a flu where her symptoms gradually crept up on her, giving at least some time to prepare and gulp down Vitamin C. She was fine until she was bedridden and the sickest she had ever been. As her symptoms lightened, she started to move around more, still confined to her bedroom. She tried to fold her laundry, but couldn’t finish. She had to stop midway through and take a nap, her arms too tired from the movement we all consider so simple.
Flash forward a couple weeks, and life has started to
get back to normal, or at least the twisted kind of normal we have nowadays. Mom has been symptom-free for about three weeks now and is in the process of being cleared to go back to work as a nurse at a local hospital. She wants to “save other lives,” she says. We eat dinner at the table together and have finally finished “Tiger King.” We will celebrate my mom’s birthday this Friday, and it will indeed be a celebration. One for my mom and for our family and the fact that we can be together, eat together and spend time together instead of the hallway-long conversations we had just weeks ago.
“Sometimes this wake-up call would come earlier than 10 a.m. at the sound of my mom crying out from her pounding headache. I’d want to help, but I knew I was no match to the virus and nothing I could do would ease the attack it was throwing at my mom’s body.” Jayna Bardahl State News reporter
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T HE STAT E N EWS
THU R SDAY, A PR IL 16 , 2020