THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2021 STUDENT MEDIA
Suicide Prevention, Awareness Month unites community Students, professionals highlight campus resources for mental health By Michaela Rush @Michaela4Batt
Robert O’Brien — THE BATTALION
Students gathered in Academic Plaza on Tuesday, Sept. 14 to peacefully protest Texas A&M’s lackluster COVID-19 protocols.
Aggies protest A&M’s response to student death, COVID-19 policies Aggies call for stronger health, safety guidelines on campus after first current student dies from COVID-19 By Caroline Wilburn @carolinewilb
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n Academic Plaza on Tuesday, Sept. 14, students gathered to protest their disapproval with how Texas A&M’s administration has handled COVID-19 on-campus precautions and the recent death of biomedical sciences sophomore Kirstyn Katherine Ahuero. “We are not trying to use her as some political agenda, we are trying to avoid
another death of an Aggie and make sure that every Aggie here on campus and every former student knows about this incident,” protest leader and wildlife and fisheries junior Amanda Harvey said. “A&M should be held responsible for what they have done, and we should be allowed to hear her name and know her story.” Auhero was raised in Glen Rose and served as valedictorian of her high school. Her funeral was held on Tuesday, Sept. 14 at Kerrville Funeral Home. “Kirstyn was such a fun person,” a friend wrote in an anonymous letter to The Battalion. “She always wanted to help people and go out of her way to help. I can’t express how sad I am to have lost someone like her.” On Tuesday evening, students demanded A&M take action against the spread of COVID-19. In their official statement, the
students addressed A&M’s administration and asked for improved contact tracing, online learning options, better treatment of on-campus students, increased testing, reevaluated quarantine procedures and stronger and consistent university messaging. “A&M’s lack of COVID[-19] protocols have really endangered the lives of the student body,” anthropology junior Ellis Howard said. “The ways they’ve been handling housing here and online stuff, you can do more. Sure, you can’t mandate masks, but you can do more, and they’re not doing more.” Despite a police presence in Academic Plaza on Tuesday evening, students organized a peaceful protest to bring awareness of the COVID-19 situation on campus. “There doesn’t seem to be a lot of support PROTEST ON PG. 3
September is nationally recognized as Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month, and students, student organizations and Counseling and Psychological Services, or CAPS, are working to educate Aggieland on the realities of suicide, especially on college campuses. Megan Bonds is a licensed professional counselor and case management referral coordinator for CAPS and has a hand in many of this month’s events through the service. Bond said she feels CAPS’ platform brings attention to mental health and related crises at Texas A&M. “At CAPS [we] are able to have that voice and have that further impact, and so you know, the more we’re talking about suicide awareness and the importance of talking about it,” Bond said. “Pretending like it’s not a thing can have a big impact on our students here at Texas A&M.” Bond said the statistics surrounding suicide and college students are not hopeful, but this is why the awareness is even more critical. “We know that suicide is the second-leading cause of death in college students,” Bond said. “So, that just makes us that much more passionate about our reasons of why we need to continue raising awareness [and] providing students, faculty and staff with tools that show support [to] students and peers in need.” Though not a professional, communication sophomore Sydnie Harrell said she feels an emphasis on mental health awareness is key for college students. “I just think college students face so many difficulties because we’re trying to figure out everything on our own. Not only are we trying to figure out how to adult, but we’re trying to figure out how to take care of ourselves and figure out who we are as people,” Harrell said. “Having this awareness is nice because it’s the college showing, ‘Hey, we know times get tough, but we’re here, we’re trying to show we care.’” Throughout the month, CAPS will offer its standard “Question, Persuade, Refer” trainings, as well as a variety of special events such as screenings, new therapy types and opportunities to connect with mental health professionals. Bond said these are intended to give students a better idea of the resources available to them. “One of the big events that we’re hosting is ‘Coffee with a Counselor,’” Bond said. “What this looks like is students being able to sit down with a counselor and ask questions that they may have about what counseling looks like or talk about things like self care and wellness. Ultimately, it’s to ideally reduce some of the stigma or fears that there might be around initiating talking with a counselor.” Though approaching a professional may be challenging, Harrell said she feels this, alongside SUICIDE PREVENTION ON PG. 6
Students react to professors’ incentives for masking up Extra credit offered to students for wearing masks, social distancing By Aubrey Vogel @aubrey_vogel With a full return to in-person classes, many professors fearful of catching COVID-19 on campus are pleading with students to take proper precautions, including mask wearing while inside the classroom. According to the Faculty Questions Regarding Fall 2021 Teaching on the faculty senate website, professors can offer extra credit for masking and social distancing in the classroom. “You can provide an incentive that is similar to extra credit opportunities you may have provided in the past for other reasons,’’ the website reads. “If those are for a graded activity then such incentives should be reasonable in terms of other work required
for the class. Consideration should also be given to provide reasonable and equitable alternatives to students who elect not to wear a mask to avoid having a situation where students are treated differently academically based on mask wearing. Faculty can also ask students to follow the recommendation of the Executive Order that strongly encourages all Texans ‘as a matter of personal responsibility to consistently follow good hygiene and other mitigation practices.’” Many professors have made generous offers to students to promote such behavior with incentives that are too hard to beat when it comes to masking in class. Whether it is on a class or individual basis and what the terms are to receive the credit is up to each individual professor on a case by case basis. Visualization senior Paige Miller said when she went to one of her classes on the first day about one-quarter of the class was wearing masks. This quickly changed when the professor offered the class a deal — if
everyone wore masks then they would make every test open note and make some group projects extra credit as well. “After the first day, every single person has worn a mask every single day since then,” Miller said. “Now everybody walks in wearing a mask, and if they don’t have one, they ask around if anyone has an [extra] mask.” Miller said her professor explained to the class how they have kids who were too young for the vaccine, so they wanted to make sure they did not bring the virus home with them during their time on campus. “This new delta variant is kind of really dangerous to younger people now, so [they] just want to play it safe and keep the class safe,” Miller said. She said her professor is in the middle of the classroom while teaching, so they are able to ensure the mask wearing is happening by all. The professor told Miller’s entire
INCENTIVES ON PG. 3
Abbey Santoro — THE BATTALION
Professors are beginning to offer incentives to students who choose to wear masks in class.
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