The show must go on Friday, January 7, 2022
Ellen Slater Staff Reporter
Some of Oklahoma State’s Cowboy Marching Band did not get to preform at the Fiesta Bowl.
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so any possible case is scary to me. I tried to sleep the rest of the way back but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t cry with everyone else,” Holguin said as she and her friends were headed home from what was supposed to be the last football game they would have played as seniors. Holguin said before leaving, the members of the band was expected to show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination status. If individuals were not vaccinated, those members would be expected to wear a mask. “I know us being sent home hurt many members continuing to Arizona simply because that was like losing your family for the last game,” Holguin said. The Cowboy Marching Band was not only down over 100 members but ended up taking on the challenge of learning and playing the Notre Dame fight song. While OSU’s band was short some of their members, Notre Dame was not able to send any. Some of the Cowboy Marching Band returned home at 5 a.m. which was 15 hours after they departed for Arizona, without even making it to their destination.
Bus No. 6 and Bus No. 7, full of excited cowboy marching band members heading west down the highway, made it all the way to Amillario, Texas, when they learned their crew was going to be turned back around due to a COVID-19 exposure. The Cowboy Marching Band was set to play at the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day in Phoenix. Two busloads full of band members were withheld from the occasion. Someone tested positive for COVID-19 at a stop in Amarillo and Bus No. 6 and Bus No. 7 departed back to DFW airport shortly after. The rest of the Cowboy Marching Band continued on to the bowl game, but then the band was over 100 members short. Sam Holguin, a senior art major and member of the Cowboy Marching Band was on one of the buses that was turned around. “I, myself, have health news.ed@ocolly.com concerns that put me at risk,
COVID-19 guidance for OSU’s spring semester Anna Pope News Editor Oklahoma State released updated guidance allowing faculty to choose the format of classes for the first two weeks of school. The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) reported 6,280 new COVID-19 cases as of yesterday morning. During the break, OSU’s Pandemic Response Team met to monitor the pandemic and because of the rise of omicron cases, the OSU officials sent out new guidance. Although courses will be begin next Monday, for the first two weeks of the semester faculty may choose to how classes can be held. Faculty can offer in-person classes with three choices. - In-person with mandatory masks. - Hold hybrid classes where students can attend in person with required masks or online. - Have only online instruction. Once the first two weeks of school have ended, faculty can offer classes under the same guidance as last semester. If someone
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tests positive in a class, faculty can choose to hold classes in-person with masks, move the course online or hold the hybrid instruction style for two weeks. Additionally, OSU is encouraging faculty, staff and students to get tested for COVID-19 before returning to campus. This guidance comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shortened the recommended quarantine period when an individual is diagnosed with COVID-19, and the quarantine time when someone is exposed to the virus. “People with COVID-19 should isolate for five days and if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving (without fever for 24 hours), follow that by five days of wearing a mask when around others to minimize the risk of infecting people they encounter,” according to the CDC. In the statement from the CDC, vaccinated individuals who have been exposed to COVID-19 do not need to quarantine, but it is recommended for them to wear a mask for 10 days from their exposer. For individuals who are exposed and unvaccinated, the CDC is suggesting for them to quarantine for 5 days and wear a mask for 10 days following their exposure. Preliminary data continues to be gathered about the omiTransportation Security Officers Positions starting at $16.51 per hour*
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Behind the scenes of OSU Dispatch
OSU dispatchers work to ensure students’ safety.
File photo The State of Oklahoma’s COVID-19 case numbers are rising.
cron variant and according to Dr. Johnny Stephens, OSU’s senior vice president for heath affairs, it shows the variant is highly transmissible and cases numbers are rising. “Early data also indicates cases of COVID-19 from the omicron variant appear to be less severe than the delta variant, particularly among those who are vaccinated and boosted,” Stephens wrote in a statement. “Statistics available show that getting boosters when eligible is extremely important to prevent serious infection.” news.ed@ocolly.com
“I went to school at OSU in 2011 and intended on getting my master’s degree, but it just wasn’t the right fit. I knew I needed to do something different. Dru Norton I wanted to help people,” Gipson said. “Lucky for Lifestyle Editor me, I get to help people every day now.” When you think of During the panfirst responders, you prob- demic, Gipson has been ably imagine paramedics, working single 12-hour emergency medical tech- shifts to promote social nicians, firefighters and distancing. police officers. However, “We have been there’s a first responder short-staffed due to CObehind the scenes who VID-19, which means a handles things long before lot of late nights for me as those individuals get the night shift, but we’re involved: the 911 dismaking it work,” Gipson patcher. said. “There will always Andrew Gipson, be someone here 24 hours public safety commua day, every day of the nications officer II, has week, to answer calls.” worked as a 911 dispatcher for Oklahoma State for seven years. See Dispatch on 3A