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THE MUR R AY STATE
NEWS
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March 12, 2020 | Vol. 94, No. 22
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CORONAVIRUS UPDATE University moves classes online Gage Johnson Editor-in-Chief gjohnson17@murraystate.edu Daniella Tebib News Editor dtebib@murraystate.edu President Bob Jackson sent an email on Wednesday, March 11, alerting the campus community that after students return from Spring Break on Monday, March 23, faceto-face instruction will be prohibited and courses will continue online or through alternative methods until April 5. While classes will move online, Murray State’s campus and regional campuses will remain open and staff operations will continue as usual during this period. Faculty, staff and teaching assistants will participate in online training on Friday, March 13, to properly provide online instruction for students. The University’s Coronavirus Work Group will continue to meet daily and evaluate future plans and decisions before April 3. The World Health Organization announced on Wednesday, March 11, that the COVID-19 coronavirus is now a global pandemic and WHO officials expect the number of cases, the number of deaths and the number of affected countries to climb even higher than they already are. The News sat down with President Jackson and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bob Hughes on Tuesday, March 10, for an in-depth interview regarding the University’s response to the worldwide coronavirus outbreak. There
News Sports Opinion Features
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are no reported cases at Murray State or in the western Kentucky region as of press time. “The big issue is the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff,” Jackson said. “We’re making decisions based on that...for no other reasons.” The University administration has set up www.murraystate.edu/healthupdate as a centralized communication hub to provide important information regarding the coronavirus as it relates to the campus community. “Murray State has been planning, again, for weeks and trying to make good decisions and I think today we have,” Jackson said. “I am proud of the team that’s been in this room for hours on occasion helping make those decisions.”
University travel halted All international travel was halted in February and all non-essential domestic University travel was suspended as of Tuesday, March 10, through at least April 30. Jackson said he and the vice presidents will determine what is considered essential travel, which could include athletic travel. “No unit will be singled out because there are certain trips that may be essential,” he said. “I suspect there will be very few of those [essential trips]. I know the NCAA to the point of athletics is looking at all this very closely and I think will be assisting us in the days to come, as well as the Ohio Valley Conference.” At 3:32 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11, NCAA President Mark Emmert announced that the men’s and women’s basketball
Norman, Logsdon win top 2020-21 SGA seats page 2
NCAA Tournament will not have fans in attendance because of the possibility of the virus spreading. “The NCAA continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 in consultation with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel,” Emmert said. “Based on their advice and my discussions with the NCAA Board of Governors, I have made the decision to conduct our upcoming championship events, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only essential staff and limited family attendance.”
Spring Break Jackson said he is asking all faculty, staff and students to reconsider Spring Break travel in an effort to limit the exposure to the coronavirus. He is also requesting anyone from the campus community who is traveling outside of Murray for Spring Break to fill out a voluntary travel form to let the institution know where they plan to travel. Filling out the form is important, Jackson said, in the event a location visited by a member of the campus community has an outbreak. The recommendation to reconsider travel is not just related to international travel. “I would not recommend highly populated, high-risk areas in this country,” Jackson said. “Seattle would probably not be a great place to go. Do we have students traveling there? I hope not. I’m going to do everything I can to discourage that in my role and we’re going to do that on behalf of the institution as well. Other institutions are doing this as
Watford signs professional contract in Iceland page 5
well too, just for good practice and from a health and safety standpoint.” The University’s work group met on Tuesday, March 10, via conference call with the Council on Postsecondary Education and other college and university presidents in Kentucky to discuss how each institution is handling preparations. “Every campus is managing their campus and they’re all very different,” Jackson said. “They’re going to make different decisions at different times. Our system in Kentucky is very independent and we operate autonomously in regard to our decision making. For the most part everyone is on the same page doing what is best for their campus and their students, faculty and staff in a very thoughtful manner.”
Kentucky colleges and universities
Berea College, a private liberal arts college in Berea, Kentucky, has suspended the remainder of the academic semester and canceled graduation services. Students are required to leave campus by Saturday, March 14. The University of Kentucky announced on Wednesday, March 11, that classes will move to an online format following that institution’s Spring Break for at least two weeks. The University of Louisville is extending Spring Break through March 17 and will then move to online instruction through at least April 5.
Minimum wage value is plummetting page 9
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see CORONAVIRUS page 3
Student self-publishes poetry collection page 11