Volume 76, Special Issue 1
A year since COVID By: Samantha Simmons Broadcast Editor
March 13th, 2020 was most students’ last time on the HVCC campus. Since then, the world has seemed to “open” and “reopen” dozens of times and many students and staff have been left feeling drained from Zoom classes. Students and staff alike ran into many challenges as they were all forced to move completely online in the last half of the Spring ’20 semester. This was new for everyone, as the widely used Zoom was not familiar to most at the time. Since the start of COVID-19 in the United States, the whole country has seen shifts in how people communicate to what hobbies people have. For students and staff, going out after class or work a huge part of daily life, whether it was to the store, to see friends or a gathering of some sort. Everyone has seen a change in almost all of their daily activities. Many students feel as though they were left behind when everything moved online. Carson Simmons, a mortuary science student said, “we have not been able to complete our required labs for our national boards.” For students in this program, this means that they have to retake labs to meet lab hour requirements. Professors have had to make some changes to their schedules too. Michelle D. Bannoura, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology said she has not had to change much of her curriculum but made some changes to the style in which she
April 26, 2021
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Politics with Nolan: Cuomo’s deadly lie By: Nolan Cleary Editor-in-Chief Sean Tedeschu Staff Contributor
Student waits at COVID Testing station.
gives out assignments. Instead of an assignment every two to three weeks, she believes that weekly assignments have kept her students more involved with the class and the materials. “I don’t do nearly as much group work or changing of activities during Zoom,” Jessica Brouker, English Professor, said. She thinks it does not work as well through breakout rooms and finds it takes longer on Zoom than it would in a classroom. Brouker continued to state that there have been fun group activities that she has had to cut out of her curriculum adding that having full class discussions is not ideal over Zoom for students who are afraid to share their thoughts either. In many classes, students are unable to gather the information that they would have if they were on campus. Bannoura said in her Experimental Psychology classes students are unable to collect data in the real world because of the
PHOTO BY NOLAN CLEARY
virus. Before Covid, her students would be observant on campus and record data for research proposals. Now, they are creating data making the class less interesting. Journalism students are not able to get out and interview people as per usual due to being afraid of Covid-19 and all of the restrictions that go along with this deadly virus. Communications student, Angel Rivera-Barrett said regarding learning, “I’m not learning anything really. I’m getting the work done but only getting the work done, I’m not retaining the information.” Just like many students, he feels as though learning online is nowhere near the same quality as learning in a classroom. Many students feel Zoom lectures, especially being at home, allows for more distractions than if they were in a classroom.
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Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a heightened look at real leadership in America. For many, Governor Andrew Cuomo was the poster child for that leadership. From his viral press briefings to his impassioned television monologues, Cuomo became coined by the media as the gold standard for COVID-19 leadership. Many Democrats called Cuomo a front runner for the 2024 Democratic nomination for President. Late-night host Stephen Colbert coined the term “Cuomosexual.” The Governor won a commemorative Emmy award for his actions regarding COVID-19. At the height of the summer, amid the pandemic, Cuomo published his book about leadership. In light of recent events, however, many are taking a second look at the Governor’s handling of the situation. In March, a report from the New York State Department of Health advised against patients infected with the virus being placed in nursing homes. Despite the caution, Cuomo proceeded with plans. This led to some deaths being allegedly covered up or not counted as COVID-related deaths. Recent news stories have been casting doubt on the Governor’s political future. New York Attorney General Letitia James is a Democrat who was previously endorsed by Cuomo. She published
a recent report indicating that nursing home deaths may have been 50% higher than what was previously reported. Cuomo himself has consistently denied any cover-ups that took place. “Who cares [where they died]? They died.” Cuomo said at a recent news conference Many high-level New York officials, including members of Cuomo’s party, have been calling on him to be investigated. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called for a full investigation into Cuomo’s actions. Heather Mott, an employee at Barnwell Nursing Home in the town of Valatie witnessed the effects of Cuomo’s controversial policy first hand and spoke exclusively to The Hudsonian about her experience. “Everybody started getting sick and then they had the COVID tests going around in there. So they did a lot of COVID tests, they had to wait for the results and a lot of the residents suddenly had COVID. The floor I was serving on had no PPE at first or anything, people were coughing and they didn’t sound good at all. They looked sick. They looked really bad and I was like, ‘Are they alright?’ and they were like, ‘Oh. Yeah, sure. They’re fine’. A couple of days later, when they got tested, there were seven people on the floor with that,” Mott said. “There were, I believe, a hundred-and-something people there with COVID because of what [Cuomo] did,” Mott said.
Continued Politics Page 2
‘Shoplifters of The World’ The Smiths’ inspired movie filmed in Troy
By: Lomie Blum News Editor Nolan Cleary Editor-in-Chief “Shoplifters of the World,” a new movie written and directed by critically acclaimed and Sundance award-winning writer, director, and documentarian Stephen Kijak was filmed in Troy and features local Troy landmark the River Street Beat Shop record store. Kijak is best known for directing music documentaries on artists such as Judy Garland, the Rolling Stones, Scott Walker, and the Backstreet Boys. He discussed shooting the movie, his return to narrative, and filming in Troy. “I loved [Troy]. I just loved it. It was a really fun experience,” Kijak stated. “It’s got really great vintage architecture. And, you know, it’s this little small city streets feel of
another time, you know, and some of the houses and neighborhoods just felt like, you know, we had stepped back into the 80s.” Kijak also talked about how he discovered Troy. “Some local crew who were from the area and I know a lot of production is moving into the Hudson Valley area. I just kept going up and looking at Troy and Albany, it hasn’t been filmed too much and it’s got a beautiful time capsule feel,” Kijak said. The most notable Troy location in the film is The River Beat Shop, a record store. The store is where The Smiths fan who infiltrates the radio station works, and where fans go because he lets they shoplift them without notifying anybody.
Continued Shoplifters Page 4
Ellar Coltrane as Dean in the drama/comedy SHOPLIFTERS OF THE WORLD, an RLJE Films release.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF RLJE FILMS