The Daily Texan 2020-10-02

DT Volume 121, Issue 22 friday, october 2, 2020

CAN UT LOCATIONS OF

RELEASE COVID-19 CAsES?

destiny alexander

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PERMANENT STAFF Editor-in-Chief Emily Caldwell

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News

Hispanic undergraduate enrollment rates reach new high of 26.1%.

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sports

Junior center Charli Collier is learning from her time as a coach for elementary school students.

Emily Caldwell (512) 232-2212 editor@dailytexanonline.com

MANAGING EDITOR

Megan Menchaca (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@thedailytexan.com (512) 232-2207 news@thedailytexan.com

UNIVERSITY

UT can release COVID-19 case locations, experts say UT cites FERPA and HIPAA as reasons not to disclose information.

By Anna Canizales @annaleonorc

he University will not release information on the location of individual COVID-19 cases due to privacy laws, a University spokesperson said. But experts say the laws wouldn’t prevent UT from doing so.

Spokesperson J.B. Bird cited federal privacy laws such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act as reasons to not disclose information about COVID-19 cases and where the infected individuals are, either on or off campus.

FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of education records such as individual college transcripts and academic integrity files, and HIPAA protects individual health information,

journalism associate professor Amy Sanders said.

LeRoy Rooker, former director of the United States Department of Education’s Family Policy Compliance Office, said a school can identify the number of COVID-19 cases in a certain residence hall without violating FERPA because it would not identify any students. “(FERPA) protects student records,” Rooker said. “(The University) couldn’t disclose it in a way that would identify a student. If it is generic and can’t be linked back to a student … it’s not going to be subject to FERPA.” Within the UT system, UT-Dallas is the only school that reports the number and locations of COVID-19 cases on campus on its website.

Frank LoMonte, director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida, said colleges would not be penalized under

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FERPA for reporting statistical information that has no names attached to it.

“The courts have been all over the map in interpreting it, so there is a lot of legitimate confusion about what it covers,” LoMonte said. “Colleges are famous for opportunistically defining it either very broadly or very narrowly, depending on what suits their purpose.”

Susan Hochman, University Health Services associate director for assessment, communications and health information technology, said the University performs COVID-19 tests and is therefore a healthcare provider subject to HIPAA. Hochman said the University follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, which does not require the University to inform an entire residence hall about cases.

“UT works with Austin Public Health to determine what is the appropriate level of detail to release

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that meets the minimum necessary with respect to the goal of preventing transmission of a communicable disease,” Hochman said.

HIPPA only prevents healthcare providers from releasing medical records that identify an individual, Sanders said.

Bird said the University is also following the guidance of the Clery Act and the U.S. Department of Education, which directs universities to make notifications of immediate threats to the health or safety of campus.

“UT believes it is complying with those directives, and we are not aware of any Clery guidance that mandates sharing location information of individuals,” Bird said. “Sharing such information runs the risk of violating medical and federal privacy law.”

Rooker said any information that does not lead to the identity of any PRIVACY

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NEWS

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020

RESEARCH

Tech company donates computer equipment for COVID-19 research

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By Kevin Vu @KevinKek_

A technology company donated high-performance computing equipment to two UT labs in the College of Natural Sciences to support the labs’ COVID-19 research.

Advanced Micro Devices, an American company that develops computer processors and related technologies, initially donated similar equipment to other universities such as New York University and Rice University in June.

Company spokesperson Gary Silcott said in an email to the Austin American-Statesman that the company chose universities based on who could best use the new equipment.

“The selection process was based on an assessment of the likelihood that access to increased computing resources could accelerate time to findings,” Silcott said in the email. “The selected universities had ongoing work that would benefit nearly immediately.”

Mandi Argo, the assistant director of corporate and foundation relations for the College of Natural Sciences, helped send COVID-19 research proposals to Advanced Micro Devices after the company called for submissions to determine where to send the donations.

The Andrew Ellington Lab and Lauren Ehrlich Lab in the Department of Molecular Biosciences, as well as electrical and computer engineering professor

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copyright sean provost, and reproduced with permission

Two UT labs in the College of Natural Sciences received computing equipment from Advanced Micro Devices, an American technology company, to help with COVID-19 research.

Haris Vikalo’s research group, received the donations.

Lauren Ehrlich, molecular biosciences associate professor, said she and her colleagues are working on understanding why different immune systems have different reactions to the coronavirus.

“One of the things that you notice with COVID is that up to 20% of COVID patients end up with severe diseases,” Ehrlich said. “SARS-CoV-2 is so new that we’re learning every day what it means to have an immune response to the virus.”

The equipment will arrive at UT in October, Ehrlich said.

She said she is thrilled about the equipment as she knows it will allow the lab to sort large amounts of data.

“If you’re talking about (COVID-19) patients where

we’re trying to understand how immune response differs across age groups and genetics … this becomes a big data problem,” Ehrlich said. “So that’s why we need this big computational power to put all of this big data together.”

Molecular biosciences professor Andrew Ellington said his lab has been working with Kevin Dalby, a chemical biology and medicinal chemistry professor, on studying COVID-19 for vaccine efforts.

“The Ellington Lab has been working on identifying mutations in the viral spike protein that would lead to improvements for vaccine development,” Ellington said. “We are in need of local, high end computation support in particular to help with molecular dynamics and docking simulations.”

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privacy

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individuals, such as location information, does not violate FERPA. Guidance from the Department of Education regarding the Clery Act says public higher education

institutions are not required to “give regular, on-going updates on COVID-19 or to proactively identify positive COVID-19 cases within the campus community.”

LoMonte said the Clery Act mainly applies to violent crime or immediate threats to public safety, which could

apply to a pandemic but is not a very precise statute.

“When you have a judgment call to make, and the judgment call is, ‘Do we err on the side of protecting people’s health, or do we err on the side of a privacy law?’ It does not feel like that should be a difficult judgment call,” LoMonte said.

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Editor-In-Chief E M I LY C A L D W E L L FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020

OPINION

COLUMN

Help us help you pronounce our names Professors should install NameCoach on Canvas to learn how to pronounce their students’ names.

By Anandi Barker Columnist

magine this: It’s the first day of school. As you get settled, your professor begins the roll call. When they get to your name, there’s an awkward pause. You know what is happening. You resign yourself again and brace yourself for the now-familiar routine of pronouncing your name in front of the whole class.

My name is AH-nuhn-dee, not Ah-NAN-dee.

This is the experience that I share with countless other students. While the majority of my professors take the time to learn my name, I’ve still received several mixed reactions to my name.

Some professors ask me for an Anglicized nickname, as if my heritage is a burden to the classroom environment. Other professors are skittish around any potential situation to offend, so they overlook my identity by gesturing vaguely at my raised hand.

Students are often forced to dance around the situation. Is it

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worth it to stop the class to correct the professor? Does it mark me apart as a problematic student on the first day? How big is the class, and will they judge me for this?

Some international students like sustainability studies and marketing sophomore Enqiong, or Eric, Xie chose an English name to alleviate problems with pronunciation.

“I asked some (students) why they chose an English name for (themselves), and they said, ‘We don’t want to explain that,’” Xie said. “Sometimes people like asking you why you have this name

or the meaning behind it. It’s not a bad thing to explain your name, but for some people, it’s more personal.”

Professors could resolve these problems by adding the NameCoach option to their Canvas page. NameCoach is a software that allows students to record themselves pronouncing their names, and can be integrated into Canvas courses. This recording can be accessed by professors and other students and allows them to practice pronouncing names they may be unfamiliar with.

Government professor Scott

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Wolford said in an email that if that option were available, he’d make use of it.

“I always ask students to let me know what they’d like to be called, but in large classes, it can be tough to keep track of those names spread across multiple emails,” Wolford said. “As long as it’s not too burdensome on the students, then to me it seems like a pretty good idea.”

When a student is forced to speak up at an instructor’s mispronunciation, no matter how well-intentioned that attempt may be, it redefines the student

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as the outsider or the “different one.” Students can feel embarrassed, frustrated or even bitter as a result.

Psychology Today conducted an interview with Ranjana Srinivasan, who defined mispronouncing names as a microaggression.

“Microaggressions describe instances of subtle and indirect racism against marginalized populations,” Srinivasan said. “Under this umbrella, name-based microaggressions constitute a specific category of microaggressions that capture the subtle discriminatory comments that minority individuals experience when interacting with others given their first and last names of ethnic origin.”

NameCoach would alleviate the burden on students trying to teach everyone their names and place the responsibility on their professors and classmates to respect and affirm the student’s identity and cultural heritage.

Special education sophomore Elena Regalado said that she would definitely use the software if the option was offered on Canvas.

“I feel like I would be seen and noticed a lot more by my professors and my classmates,” Regalado said. “My pronouns and the pronunciation of my name are also parts of my identity, so I would love any way to clarify that and express that to people.”

In order to make their classes more inclusive spaces for all students, UT professors should make NameCoach an available option in their classrooms.

Barker is a government sophomore from Arlington, Texas.

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NEWS

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020

UNIVERSITY

UT meets qualifications to be Hispanic-Serving Institution

By Amanda Figueroa-Nieves @amandafn02

UT-Austin surpassed 25% Hispanic undergraduate enrollment for the first time, according to a Sept. 22 press release, qualifying UT to apply to become a Hispanic-Serving Institution.

Hispanic-Serving Institutions are eligible institutions of higher education with 25% or more total undergraduate Hispanic full-time enrollment, according to the United States Department of Education website.

This fall, the University reached 26.1% undergraduate Hispanic enrollment.

University spokesperson J.B. Bird said UT can’t be designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution until next year because the Department of Education requires an institution to reach 25% Hispanic undergraduate enrollment in the year prior to designation.

If UT is designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution, it will be eligible for three discretionary grants from the Department of Education to support Hispanic students.

John Morán González, director of UT’s Center for Mexican American Studies, said being able to apply for the federal funding will help increase Hispanic student success.

“This particular event is incidental to that ongoing mission of recruitment,” Morán González said. “(The University) is going to continue its efforts in terms of recruitment and retention because I think … the future success of the University really is dependent upon Hispanic student success.”

Morán González said he believes the more important milestone is the four-year graduation rate being above 70%. This year, UT’s four year graduation rate was 72.2%, an increase from 69.8% in 2019, according to the press release.

“If you look at the statistics underneath (the graduation rate), students of color, but particularly Hispanic students, have to be doing pretty well in order for the University to meet that 70% goal,” Morán González said.

Deborah Parra-Medina, Latino Research Institute director, said the Council for Racial and Ethnic Equity

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and Diversity in the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost undertook a Universitywide assessment of the status of Hispanic students, staff and faculty at UT during the 2018-2019 academic year.

Parra-Medina said the council’s assessment found that Hispanic students had a lower enrollment rate.

She said one way to increase this enrollment rate is to build relationships with students and their families in their hometowns.

Morán González said one effort by the admissions office includes the Brownsville Send-off. The event began in 1993 to welcome students from the Rio Grande Valley and ensure parents their students are in good hands, according to a press release from July 2018. “(The students) get their parents, get their abuelos, get their hermanos and hermanas together in a community with other families to see them off,” Morán González said.

Corporate communications senior Vallery Valle said she has been involved with recruitment and retention efforts for Hispanic and Latinx students as a student representative on the Subcommittee for Hispanic Recruitment in the Office of Admissions.

Valle said the grants associated with being a Hispanic-Serving Institution need to be used with the intention of effectively helping Hispanic and Latinx students.

“We need this money allocated,” Valle said. “But I hope — and I’m going to fight until I graduate — that this money and these grants aren’t just used for the name of being an HSI but are truly used to help the families and the Latinx (students) on campus.”

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020

NEWS

RESEARCH

College of Education implements virtual research approach due to COVID-19

By Samantha Greyson @GreysonSamantha

Eleven College of Education research projects funded by more than $12 million in research grants from the Institute of Education Sciences have encountered significant roadblocks since researchers are unable to conduct in-person research.

In the summer, researchers were hopeful that in-person data collection would be possible by the fall, but as the school year drew near, they began discussing virtual alternatives, graduate research assistant Alexis Boucher said.

“We are not getting to actually implement our ideas in a school setting,” Boucher said. “We’ve had to completely redesign our approach to this study to ensure that the research moves ahead.”

Boucher said she thinks the research projects likely cannot last more than a year and a half without in-person research because the institute’s program officers will eventually stop granting modifications to projects.

“The government funding needs to be used for actual research with children,” Boucher

said. “It’s a scary time to be an education researcher because the whole foundation upon which our work operates is interaction with schools. In a time where human interaction is a safety issue, it doesn’t bode well for our efforts.”

In the spring, Austin ISD announced that they didn’t want any active data collection in schools for the entire school year, said Sarah Powell, a special education associate professor.

Powell said research involvingaaaintervention with students in a classroom has been postponed, but some virtual tutoring has continued.

“All of us are in constant communication with school principals, school teachers (and) the Texas Education Agency just to understand what is going on in schools and what we should be prepared for when students come back to school,” Powell said.

Graduate research assistant Katherine O’Donnell’s project, Temple, is focusing on virtual communication with teachers in order to glean insight from the student’s performance. O’Donnell said more than anything, she misses in-person interaction with the kids.

“There’s not as much connection with the kids, the people you are hoping to help,” O’Donnell

said. “We haven’t done much virtually yet. Projects are still getting started right now.”

Another problem facing research projects is the added variable of virtual interaction with teachers and children, Boucher said. For example, when conducting student tests, researchers have to make sure the parents aren’t helping their children.

“The problem is that most (past) research has not been done virtually, so you are adding a new variable to the research that was not intended,” Boucher said. “Those results may not transfer to in-person learning, which is the norm. Using a scientific approach to things, you want

to keep things constant.”

Boucher said researchers considered pushing all projects back a year but decided not to in order to protect the graduate research assistants. Many graduate students within the College of Education depend on research hours to pay their tuition.

Boucher said the goal of this year is to meet the institution’s requirements by conducting meaningful virtual research.

“It is government money, and we want to make sure we use it in the most effective way possible,” Brochure said. “People thought, ‘How can we appease IES to do what we said we’d do in year one?’”

copyright sarah powell, and reproduced with permission

Sarah Powell conducted in-person research for the College of Education before COVID-19. Now, her research is virtual.

LIFE&ARTS

Life&Arts Editor A R I A N A A R R E D O N D O FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020 COVID-19

‘Sad, scared and unsure of what to do next’ Students recount their experiences with the Austin-Travis County isolation facility.

By Anissa Reyes @anissaareyes

n Sept. 11, Sophia Rios was standing in line at Starbucks when she got a phone call. She had tested positive for COVID-19. She said she was sad, scared and unsure of what to do next.

With intense body aches and painful migraines, Rios didn’t want to leave the comfort of her dorm in Duren Residence Hall. Her single-occupancy dorm has a private bath, isolating her from other residents. Her friends had even offered to drop off food for her.

However, after a series of long and confusing phone calls, she was told she would have to spend the next 10 days in the Austin-Travis County isolation facility, a converted hotel located off of North Interstate 35.

“My conscience (felt) better that I was away from people and not possibly getting them sick, (but) it’s almost as if (I) turned myself in,” said Rios, a political communication and Plan II freshman.

Since March 22, the city of Austin has been working to convert local hotels into isolation facilities for people who have tested positive or are symptomatic and can’t isolate at home.

Susan Hochman, University Health Services associate

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director for assessment, communications and health information technology, said in an email that students are not required to go to the isolation facility. However, they must isolate somewhere off campus. “(Students) may selfisolate at their location of choice off campus so long as the accommodations provide a separate bed and bathroom and the student will have access to food and other essentials without having to leave their room,” Hochman said.

On the morning of Aug. 31, business freshman Cora Tien woke up in her off-campus apartment, The Castilian, with a cough and fever. She got tested for COVID-19 at Texas MedClinic, and that same day, her result came back positive.

Tien said the isolation

facility was her only option because of concerns from her roommates and at-risk family members. The morning after testing positive, she was taken to the facility in an ambulance and spent the next 10 days there.

“The whole ambulance thing was very intimidating,” Tien said. “They parked outside of Castilian, I got in and everyone around me was like, ‘Okay, this girl is walking with a bunch of bags to (get) inside of an ambulance.’”

Tien was delivered three meals a day by facility staff, and while she had everything she needed, Tien said the food was unappetizing, and noisy neighbors made it hard to sleep.

“The food was like mysterious meats and things of that nature,” Tien said. “My neighbor never slept, and I would always hear the Liberty

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Mutual commercial at three in the morning.”

Residents had two onehour breaks each day when they could leave their rooms and walk around a courtyard.

“When you’re with friends in an apartment or a dorm, if you don’t go outside, it doesn’t feel like the end of the world because you can still interact with people,” Tien said. “But some days, I had class during (break) times (and) couldn’t go, which was hard.”

Both students said that the living conditions and monotony of their days made the isolation period drag on.

“I sat around all day for 10 days,” Tien said. “It was just (log onto) class, lay in bed, sit at a desk, maybe walk outside, eat the food that they give you and then go to sleep and do it all over again the next day.”

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020

Cultural organizations encourge student connections on campus

By Alaina Bookman @alainabookman

During her first month on campus, Kenedi Houston joined an organization for Black and brown women and was given a care package filled with masks, T-shirts and notes of encouragement.

“In the FLI (Fearless Leadership Institute) mentorship program, I get to meet different Black and brown women who share my same interests,” political communication freshman Houston said.

Every semester, some students of color join organizations with students from similar cultures and backgrounds. These groups help students find a sense of belonging at UT, which has historically had a predominantly white student body. This fall, cultural organizations are doing this virtually.

Houston is originally from Dallas, Texas, and didn’t know anyone when she came to UT. She said she joined student organizations, such as FLI, to become more involved in campus life.

STUDENT LIFE

FLI is designed to help Black and brown women achieve academic excellence, professional development and personal growth.

“You just feel so welcomed in the Zoom (meetings),” Houston said. “I can talk about my feelings regarding navigating the spaces I am in as a Black woman.”

Houston is also a part of Bridges International, a Christian organization that connects international students on campus.

“Meeting people from all over the world wasn’t something I expected (from) my first semester of college, especially with everything

Every time I attend a meeting, it feels very intimate, genuine and empowering to be surrounded by other Black and brown women who have a desire to be successful.”

KIANA LOWERY biochemistry freshman

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being online,” Houston said.

Biochemistry freshman Kiana Lowery also found community through FLI. In August, FLI hosted BAWSE UP, a virtual event where industry leaders spoke to her and other Black and brown women about empowerment, financial well-being

and goal setting.

Lowery said the event and the organization in general have helped her find a community at UT. “Every time I attend a meeting, it feels very intimate, genuine and empowering to be surrounded by other Black and brown women who have a desire to be successful,” Lowery said.

Nina Mbonu, a Plan II and anthropology freshman, is a member of the Black Honors

Student Association, which fosters community between UT’s Black honors students.

The BHSA provides a safe space for Black honors students of all majors to network with other honors students and faculty.

“It’s nice having a community of all of us so we feel less alone,” Mbonu said.

The organization hosts virtual activities such as game nights, discussion-based projects and team-building

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icebreakers. The BHSA also hosts discussion panels about topics such as setting goals and time management.

Mbonu said that she is excited to participate in more activities and get to know the personalities of the other BHSA members.

“I’ve learned a lot about stress management and that you’re not alone,” Mbonu said. “There’s a community of Black students on campus who are going through the same struggles that I am.”

LIFE&ARTS

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020

FEATURE

Local thrift store goes viral on TikTok

By Miranda Garza @mirandagarzza

A huge mural of neon pink flamingos marks the storefront of Flamingos Vintage Pound.

Inside, customers can browse through endless racks of tiedye, concert T-shirts and letterman jackets. Flamingos received new student customers this summer after a TikTok, uploaded by influencer couple Tiffany Nguyen and Aaron Perez, featuring the storefront garnered half a million views.

“We were in complete shock,” Nguyen said. “We made a couple of videos before that, (and they) didn’t get nearly as many views.”

The Austin-based couple uploaded the TikTok on their travel account, @cloudatx, where they often share their favorite locations around Texas. After posting the TikTok, Flamingos owner Ashley Cooper invited the pair into the store to meet the staff and shop.

“I would say the staff is our favorite part about Flamingos because they are so welcoming,” Nguyen said.

Flamingos Vintage Pound is located on Guadalupe Street.

Cooper said it has become a popular place for UT students to shop.

“We definitely have a big customer base that is UT students,” Cooper said.

“Whenever it’s football season or any sports-related event is going on, people usually get their Longhorn gear from us.”

Exercise science senior Enebong Ephraim said Flamingos’ flashy exterior first caught his eye in the

courtesy of ashley cooper

Flamingos Vintage Pound is a local thrift store on Guadalupe Street that recently went viral through TikTok. Flamingos sells vintage clothing by the pound and offers game day gear for students.

spring of 2018 when he was shopping across the street.

Now, most of his burnt orange gear is from the shop.

“One of my favorite things about Flamingos is that they had an incredible amount of UT apparel, which was cheaper than any option outside of the store,” Ephraim said.

Ephraim also said he was drawn by their “price by pound” policy.

Whenever it’s football season or any sportsrelated event is going on, people usually get their Longhorn gear from us.”

ASHLEY COOPER flamingos owner

“I had never seen anything like it,” Ephraim said.

Flamingos sells apparel at about $7 to $10 per pound, which means customers are able to buy items in bulk for a lower price.

“We weigh everything out per pound,” Cooper said.

“It’s been a really great thing for our customers, and they really appreciate it.”

Cooper said apart from their location and marketing

strategies, their apparel is what attracts customers to the store.

“We have a really great inventory, and sometimes we run across some unique pieces and have some super old vintage T-shirts,” Cooper said.

Flamingos is currently operating at 60% in-store capacity.

Fitting rooms are closed and masks are required.

Overall,

Ephraim

said

Flamingos’

location

and

prices offer an affordable and fashion-forward

shopping

option for students.

“They

provide

a

much

needed source of clothing … for most students who want a close location to buy new clothes that are good looking

and

Ephraim said.

very

cheap,”

10

Sports Editor M Y A H T A Y L O R FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020

SPORTS

LACROSSE

Lacrosse season still in limbo

After tasting success in the spring, the team is facing obstacles in the upcoming season.

By Daniela Perez @danielap3rez

he Texas club lacrosse team should have been riding a high

going into practice March 12.

Five days earlier, the Longhorns crushed the Oklahoma Sooners in a 25-6 win, cruising to a 5–1 record.

That Thursday at Caven-Clark Field would be their last practice of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now a few months away from a potential 2021 season, the lacrosse team must go through a new set of obstacles to compete, head coach Seth Bokmeyer said.

“Everybody was very disappointed because we thought it was gonna be a pretty special year on the field,” Bokmeyer said. “I guess the worst part for me was we never got closure, we never got to say goodbye because

all the classes went online, guys started going home. … That was probably the worst part just off the field — not being able to get together one last time.”

Things were falling into place for the team at the beginning of the 2020 season. The Longhorns made the move into the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference and were sitting at the top of the standings in mid-March. Texas attackman Rowan Hart was the number one scorer in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association with 32 goals in six games.

Following the victory over the Sooners, Texas was set to play Colorado State for Senior Day, but Bokmeyer received a text from the Rams’ head

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coach March 10 saying his team would not be traveling due to the growing gravity of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Some teams started canceling, and then from that point on, every practice was like, ‘This can be the last practice’ or ‘This could be the last game of the season.’ So, that’s kind of where it started dawning on all of us that the season might be canceled early,” said Ryan Thompson, junior long stick midfielder and Texas lacrosse’s vice president.

The Longhorns met two days later for what would be their last practice. The team played touch football, shot around and talked about the COVID-19 pandemic. Garrett McCullough, who felt like his senior season would be a “revenge tour” after ending the previous one with a championship loss, said the practice was full of mixed emotions.

“I remember standing with one of my close friends … we were the last ones to leave that field that day, and he

and I came in as freshmen and we’ve been captains and involved in other leadership on the team,” McCullough said.

“Just standing there, it was a weird feeling of not knowing.

We thought it was the last time we’d ever step foot on a lacrosse field competitively.”

Though McCullough is able to return to the team for one more season because of his master’s program, it is uncertain whether the 2021 season will happen.

The pandemic also created a new set of financial issues for the team. The lacrosse team receives less than 5% of its funding from the University. The Longhorn Shootout, a youth and high school tournament that brings in the bulk of the team’s money, is canceled because of the pandemic. Bokmeyer said motivated alumni and parents have helped ease the funding loss, and the team is still optimistic about the season.

The team is hosting socially distanced practices where players are grouped by position and

practice on one side of the field.

To accommodate its 54-man roster, the team moved from the Caven-Clark Field to the Berry M. Whitaker Sports Complex and have hourly blocks: Four groups of players come from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and then another from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Bokmeyer and Thompson said that the University’s club sports office has been responsive and helpful in answering their questions. The fate of the season has not been decided yet because of the evolving situation, Bokmeyer said, but he and his players have kept their hopes and high.

“I think the expectation is to pick up where we left off,” McCullough said. “We’ve got a lot of talent coming back … and I would say the freshmen coming in have great talent. …

There’s a lot of hoops we have to jump through between now and the season starting, but (the) expectation (is to) definitely go out to that conference championship again.”

copyright seth bokmeyer, and reproduced with permission

Then senior Andrew Brown tries to evade an Oklahoma defender in a March game where the Longhorns won 25-6. Before the pandemic cut the team’s spring season short, Texas lacrosse was 5–1.

COMICS

Comics Editor

B A R B R A D A LY

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020

11

12

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020

SPORTS

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Texas center Collier volunteers as youth basketball coach

By Carter Yates @carter_yates16

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Charli Collier is used to watching the basketball bounce off the rim as she hustles for a rebound, but the junior center is seeing the game from a different perspective this fall as a youth coach.

Collier coaches at Competitive Edge, a basketball program that has teams with players ranging from elementary students to high schoolers. copyright charli collier, and reproduced with permission The program, founded by 2014 Junior center Charli Collier high-fives one of her elementary school Texas women’s basketball players. Collier is spending time as a youth coach in a program alumna Ashley Roberts, exclu- created by a former Texas women’s basketball alumna. sively employs female coaches different from actually coachchecking in with the girls to who are playing or have played ensure they are giving their ing. She’s coaching the younger collegiate basketball. Roberts best effort on and off the court, group, so it is helping her with reached out to Collier about an Roberts said. patience, which I think will coropportunity to coach the fourth relate to her playing with her to fifth grade teams as a volunown teammates.” teer this fall.

Leading younger players I just go and coach “It was not a thing where is something that Collier will she had to convince me,” have to master this upcomthem on the weekCollier said. “She’s also a UT ing season. While she won’t ends, attend their alum, and it’s always good be sharing the court with fifth when you have someone that practices and just try graders, Collier will be surcan come coach who is a playrounded by freshman teamto be a role model er right now and can help mates who are not as experiher girls.” for them.” enced as she is.

Collier, who is entering her “We have a lot of young junior season as the centerfreshmen on the team, so CHARLI COLLIER piece for new head coach Vic junior center it’s about being a leader on Schaefer’s squad, said her staand off the court and making tus as a Texas basketball play“Within the mentorship sure that everyone is doing er is something that resonates program, we are checking what they are supposed to with the kids and gives her an their grades,” Roberts said. do,” Collier said to the Texan opportunity to be a positive in- “Every two weeks they have in September. fluence in their lives. to send in their grades to the Collier said that the op“I just go and coach them coaches. We are making sure portunity allows her to eson the weekends, attend their their grades are up to par for cape the normal stressors of practices and just try to be playing with us. We send them being a big-time collegiate a role model for them,” Col- recaps throughout the week athlete and enjoy the pure lier said. “I know they look of how they are playing and excitement and passion that up to me, and their team how school is going, things of the younger kids have for went to a lot of our games that nature.” the game. last year, so they know who I Roberts believes Collier’s “It’s really fun, and I enjoy am. It’s just good to go there experience this fall will teach it,” Collier said. “When you and give them some insight her valuable lessons that are that young, you just play on basketball.” she can use to develop her basketball because it is fun.

Impactful mentors are overall game and mentality They like it and they enjoy it, the most important aspect in college. and when they ask me quesof Competitive Edge, Rob“I think (being a coach) tions and I answer them, they erts said. As an all-girls prohelps see the game in a differ- are really attentive. It’s a regram with all female coach- ent lens,” Roberts said. “When ally fun deal for both me and you are playing, it’s very the kids.” es, the adults are constantly