Thursday Jun 11, 2020

Thursday, June 11, 2020

San Juan The

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Longtime Reality Show Canceled.

‘Whatcha Gonna Do?’ P20

‘The Same’ Mistake Leaves Hundreds Without a Penny Health Dept. Unveils New Formula to Classify COVID-19 Cases P3

Arecibo Drive-In Cinema Sues Governor Over Curfew P4

Unemployment Checks Stuck at Post Office Due to Postal-Residential Address Hitch P4

NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL P 19

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The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

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June 11, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star, the only paper with News Service in English in Puerto Rico, publishes 7 days a week, with a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday edition, along with a Weekend Edition to cover Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

A new math to fight COVID-19

Today’s

Weather Day

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By JOSÉ A. SÁNCHEZ FOURNIER Twitter: @SanchezFournier Special To The Star

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Precip 10%

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Health secretary unveils completely overhauled methodological model to trace the coronavirus on the island

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From E 16 mph 63% 10 of 10 5:47 AM Local Time 6:58 PM Local Time

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lanked by a new cast of health professionals as his aides de camp, island Health Secretary Dr. Lorenzo González Feliciano on Wednesday presented the new methodological model to be used in the statistical analysis of COVID-19 cases in Puerto Rico.

The novel procedure, which González Feliciano said was established by the United States Epidemiology Council, will now report on “confirmed” and “probable” cases. Confirmed cases were described as those that yield a positive result when submitted to the molecular diagnosis test, while probable cases were described as those that yield a positive result in the serological (quick) tests.

Previously, the island Health Department was compiling records of “unique” COVID-19 cases, meaning a patient who gave a positive result in at least one COVID-19 test.

Earlier on Wednesday, and using the previous methodology model, the Health Department’s records had 143 deaths registered as being caused by COVID-19, with 5,329 individual (or unique) cases, of which 3,927 were due to serological tests, and 1,402 due to positive molecular tests.

The Health secretary and his staff -- which included epidemiologist Dr. Idania Rodríguez and Miguel Valencia,

head of the Health Department’s surveillance system -at times had some difficulty explaining the details of the new model and how it contrasts with the previous one.

González Feliciano lauded the new methodology, saying that it more accurately reflects the behavior of the coronavirus in Puerto Rico.

“We’ve increased the number of COVID-19 tests to about 2,000 daily, sometimes 2,500, and they reflect a slight decrease in the number of positive cases being reported every day,” González Feliciano said.

He also said they are getting ready for the opening of the JetBlue terminal at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Isla Verde, unofficially scheduled for June 15.

He also praised the work of the Puerto Rico National Guard at the airport, where they work hand in hand with health officials to conduct body temperature checks and brief interviews with incoming passengers.

“If you get on a plane and visit [the] Miami or Los Angeles [airports], you will see that everybody will tell you that nobody has a more thorough process than at the airport in Puerto Rico,” González Feliciano said.

No COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes or jails The Health Department also announced that a thorough review found no cases of COVID-19 in local nursing homes for the elderly and none among the inmate population in Puerto Rico.

“With total certainty I can affirm that we examined all deaths occurring in nursing homes during this period and we found zero cases related to COVID-19,” said Forensic Sciences Commissioner Dr. María Conte Miller, who led the investigation. “This is very positive news, considering what we are going through.”

“We also found no COVID-19-related deaths inside our prison system,” Conte Miller added. “As for deaths occurring in private residences, we went back and researched 124 of these cases. Of those, only four yielded positive results on the molecular test for COVID-19.”

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The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Hundreds of unemployment checks are undeliverable. Here’s why

By THE STAR STAFF

T

housands are still struggling without money, waiting for the unemployment program checks. Unfortunately, the wait will be longer than expected.

A U.S. Postal Service employee charged Wednesday that hundreds of individuals, at least, in Puerto Rico may not get their unemployment checks because the letters were addressed to “the same.”

“I am upset about things that have been happening,” said the postal employee, identified as Edward Coss.

Workers who are filling out claims at the island Department of Labor and Human Resources are writing “the same” in the case of jobless individuals whose postal and residential addresses are the same.

“If you say the postal address is the same as the residential address, you are not going to write ‘the same,’” Coss said in a video posted on his Facebook page and shared on Twitter by Jorge Elguera, a social scientist.

In the printout of the check, the computers will indicate the address as “the same” instead of writing the postal address, the postal worker said.

“We have a whole bunch of checks that read ‘the same,’” he said as he showed a pile of checks. “A lot of people won’t get their checks.”

The video has gone viral.

The revelation comes Wednesday, a day after Puerto Rico Labor and Human Resources Secretary Briseida Torres Reyes tendered her resignation, effective on June 15, amid delays in the processing of close to 400,000 unemployment claims from individuals left jobless in the fiscal crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Former La Fortaleza labor adviser and attorney Carlos Rivera was appointed to succeed her. An immediate reaction from the Labor and Human Resources Department could not be obtained.

For his part, the appointed Secretary of Labor and Human Resources, Carlos Rivera Santiago, said he will take action on the matter, but didn’t specify how, He also stressed the

importance of direct deposit.

“In reference to a video that has been published on social media, this situation represents a problem in the validation process that undoubtedly has to be carried out in a strictly accurate way, to ensure that communications or checks

reach the recipient .We will certainly be taking action on this matter immediately. It should be noted that as we have mentioned, it is in our interest to be able to establish direct deposit, as it is the fastest and safest mechanism for the benefit of claimants,” Rivera Santiago said.

Arecibo drive-in theater sues governor over curfew

By THE STAR STAFF

T

he owners of Auto Cine, a drive-in theater in Arecibo, have filed suit in San Juan Superior Court arguing that Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced had no legal standing to impose a 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew and lockdown of businesses that has been in effect in Puerto Rico since 15 March because of the coronavirus crisis.

The curfew and closing of businesses decreed by executive order are not legal because they are not authorized

by the Puerto Rico Constitution, exceed the powers of the executive branch and violate fundamental rights, according to the owners of Auto Cine and 11 other plaintiffs.

“The Governor, illegitimately, arbitrarily, capriciously, and irrationally has injured protected constitutional rights of the plaintiffs without the State having demonstrated that it complies with the strict scrutiny applicable in cases where it interferes with fundamental rights,” indicates the lawsuit by listing that the curfew, “lockdown” and other provisions of the orders violate the rights to freedom of movement, privacy, dignity of the human being, protection of private and family life, association, freedom of assembly and due process of law, as well as prohibitions against unjustified searches and seizures, and property rights, the suit says.

The lawsuit challenges the executive orders because in Puerto Rico there are no laws that regulate the curfew and the lockdown order that has been in force for almost 90 days. The plaintiffs want the court to declare the orders illegal.

Former Gov. Ricardo Rosselló Nevares on Sept. 20, 2017 declared a curfew that lasted 27 days after the passage of Hurricane Maria. He was unable to extend it because the Legislature rejected bills that would have given him the legal authority to enact more curfews, said the plaintiffs, who are headed by Laura Llerandi González and Francisco Domínguez Llerandi.

The curfew affects plaintiffs directly because they have been unable to operate their drive-in cinema even though it is a safe activity because people watch movies

from their vehicles in the outdoors and have little risk of contracting the coronavirus from each other, the lawsuit says. At the same time, other activities such as church services have been allowed to resume.

The plaintiffs noted that they submitted a plan to the government for operating the drive-in cinema during the coronavirus pandemic over a month ago, but have not received a response.

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The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

5

Gov’t disburses over $115 million in stimulus payments to SMEs

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

G

ov. Wanda Vázquez Garced announced Wednesday that the Puerto Rico Treasury Department has disbursed over $115 million in stimulus payments to small and midsize businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The disbursement comes in the middle of Small and Midsize Enterprises (SMEs) Week. “[The funds] have already been deposited to a total of 22,803 small and midsize companies in the country that were affected after the government and private sector closings to control the spread of the coronavirus,” Vázquez said in a written statement. “Of the total businesses benefited so far, 21,730 were midsize companies that employ between 50 and 500 people and received a stimulus of $10,000. Another 1,073 businesses, with between two and 49 employees, received payments of $5,000.”

Treasury Secretary Francisco Parés Alicea

noted meanwhile that “this process of distribution of aid entrusted by the governor is a continuous one that should last until December.”

“Since we began disbursing aid in April, about $1.4 billion has been paid out of the $1,200 [per eligible recipient] stimulus from the CARES [Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security] Act and about $230 million among self-help grants of $500 and $1,000 that continue to be deposited,” Parés Alicea said. “The Treasury has also kept paying reimbursements and other incentives.”

The officials said small and midsize companies that can benefit from the aid include non-profit entities that provide direct services to citizens and that meet the requirements for the number of employees. The financial aid program applies to all types of business, both individually and through a legal entity such as a company, limited liability company or corporation.

To request payment for aid, merchants must access the link that was enabled in their Unified Internal Revenue System accounts.

They must certify that the aid amount will be used to compensate economic losses due to the interruption of operations necessitated by the COVID-19 emergency and/or for related allowed expenses, as established in program aid guidelines.

All merchants who apply for financial aid must submit a copy of Form 941-PR, the Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Declaration Form, for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, along with evidence of filing with the federal Internal Revenue Service.

Parés Alicea added that in the cases of SMEs that have not submitted the quarterly return for the quarter ended March 31, the Treasury Department will use the information provided in the quarterly return for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019, to determine their eligibility for aid, based on the number of employees reported in that return. Merchants must also provide their bank account information to receive payment via direct deposit.

Aid to SMEs will be granted on a first-come,

first-serve basis, and will be available until the funds allocated for these incentives under the Strategic Plan are exhausted.

For more details, the guides are available at the following link: http://www.aafaf.pr.gov/assets/guide-crf-small-medium-sized-bus-grantsprog.pdf. SMEs can also access Internal Memo 20-26 on the Treasury Department’s page, www. hacienda.pr.gov.

Union seeks labor justice for nursing staff at prison hospital

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

J

ulio Pizarro Valdés, who represents the Bonafide Association of the Labor Unit for Nurses and Health Workers (ULEES by its Spanish acronym) at the Bayamón Correctional Medical Center, urged Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced on Wednesday to do right by the nursing staff who work at the hospital.

“In recent days, we sent a communication to the governor explaining that the classification system for nursing personnel in the [Puerto Rico Department of] Correction [and Rehabilitation] Administration is more than 20 years behind schedule, which prevents nursing personnel from benefiting from the clear provisions of the Puerto Rico Personnel Law,” said Pizarro Valdés, who is a nurse at the Correctional Medical Center, in a written statement. “As an example, we pointed out that for the last 20 years the Correction Administration has not opened official calls for new nursing positions, either temporary or regular.”

The labor leader alleged that the nursing staff of the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation has been serving for many years and that they are never reclassified,

despite improving professionally by obtaining baccalaureate and master’s degrees.

He also alleged that the nursing professionals in the Department of Correction have to renew their associations and their licenses annually through continuing education as required by law, but they are not reclassified in their positions. Pizarro Valdés noted that correctional officers are constantly reclassified, which he said is fair, but the nursing staff is not reclassified, which he described as discrimination and denial of equal protection under the law.

“The Correction Administration has never created a classification system for health workers who provide services, which has become an obstacle to doing justice for nurses,” Pizarro Valdés said. “The ULEES Bonafide Association is requesting that the governor order the Correction Administrator to open calls for nursing positions and to reclassify all those personnel to their posts.

Nurses from the Correction Administration who have passed academic and professional levels should be rewarded in terms of classification, which will result in offering better services to the prison population. This reclassification request will produce salary increases for the staff, which will improve their quality of life.”

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Thursday, June 11, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

Comptroller issues qualified opinion on Demographic Registry fiscal operations

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

C

omptroller Yesmín Valdivieso announced on Wednesday that she has issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Puerto Rico Department of Health’s General Demographic Registry.

The report reveals that the comptroller’s auditors found some 10,000 blank birth, marriage and death certificates outside the registry vault. Puerto Rico Government Accounting Act 230-1974 establishes the prior control of all government operations; under this provision, blank certificates must be kept in locked files.

A similar situation had been discussed in the Audit Report DA-13-18 of 2012.

The audit of two findings indicates a lack of annual physical inventories from 2016 to 2019. The Demographic Registry had 1,718 units of property accounted for at a cost of $1,203,489.

The lack of annual inventories does not allow adequate control of operations to be maintained, the comptroller’s audit report said.

In addition, as of Jan. 29, the registry’s executive

director had not, in the absence of a property manager, submitted to the Treasury Department the appointment of an employee to perform the functions of substitute

property manager.

The audit report covers the period from Jan. 1, 2016 to Aug. 31, 2019, and is available at www.ocpr.gov.pr.

Lawmaker warns on fraudulent vacation packages

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

C

arolina District Rep. Ángel Matos García, spokesperson for the House Tourism Committee, issued an alert on Wednesday about fraudulent vacation packages being offered through social media.

“This [Wednesday] morning there are reports that citizens have booked vacations on the island in properties that do not exist, but are represented as existing businesses on different social media pages,” the legislator said in a written statement. “Many Puerto Ricans are looking for vacation opportunities after 90 days of ‘lockdown’ and are not taking care when sending money for deposits without verifying the existence of the property or the legitimacy of the business.”

Matos García said a complaint from a citizen alerted him about Facebook pages that offer properties in the western part of the island, and when contacted they ask for a deposit via ATH Móvil app and then disappear.

“My recommendation is to vacation in facilities endorsed by the Tourism Company and to use the page voyturistiando.com that has more than 35 100 percent secure local offers,” he said. “On any web page that has not been verified and the offer is exceedingly good, be very careful.”

“There is a great desire for internal tourism and to take advantage of the economic incentives to enjoy time with the family, but there are many unscrupulous people who see the opportunity to scam,” the lawmaker added. “I recommend a lot of vigilance and that fraudsters be denounced so that they can be processed by the authorities.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

7

Floyd’s brother testifies before Congress

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

A

day after George Floyd was laid to rest during an impassioned service calling for sweeping corrections to racial injustice, his brother Philonise Floyd testified before Congress on Wednesday, speaking of the deep pain he felt watching video of his older brother’s fatal encounter with the police and asking lawmakers to “make it stop.”

Philonise Floyd spoke before the House Judiciary Committee, appearing as the first and key witness among more than half a dozen civil rights experts and activists. The hearing will examine a legislative proposal that is the most expansive federal intervention into law enforcement that lawmakers have proposed in recent memory.

Philonise Floyd testified that “George’s calls for help were ignored” when he cried out that he could not breathe while pinned underneath the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer for nearly 9 minutes May 25. He was being arrested over a complaint that he had bought cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill.

“He didn’t deserve to die over $20,” Philonise Floyd testified. “I am asking you, is that what a black man’s life is worth?”

“Please listen to the call I’m making to you now, to the calls of our family, and to the calls ringing out in the streets across the world,” he said. “People of all backgrounds, genders and race have come together to demand change. Honor them, honor George, and make the necessary changes that make law enforcement the solution — and not the problem.”

The hearing centers on legislation put forth by Democrats and comes amid a groundswell of public support for the Black Lives Matter movement and widespread protests that have convulsed big cities and small towns alike.

City officials from Houston to San Diego are now banning chokeholds and other neck restraints used by the police, and the mayors of Los Angeles and New York City have pledged to move funds away from police in order to better invest in social services and communities of color.

The shifting public opinions during an election year has

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) greets Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, with an elbow bump on Capitol Hill in Washington.

sent Republicans scrambling to create their own policy proposals. Senate Republican leaders announced they would create their own legislative push to address racial discrimination and police brutality, to be led by Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Republican senator who is African American.

The announcements reflect a mounting sense of political urgency to overhaul law enforcement practices and address systemic racism in policing. House Democrats have indicated that they intend to act quickly, with a vote on their legislation planned by the end of the month.

Wednesday’s hearing will also include comments from Sherrilyn Ifill, the president and director counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer who represents the family of George Floyd.

House Republicans invited Dan Bongino, the conservative political commentator and former Secret Service agent, and Angela Underwood Jacobs, whose brother, Dave Patrick Underwood, a Federal Protective Services officer, was shot and killed late last month during a night of unrest in Oakland, California.

The call for more extensive policy changes and police accountability was a central theme of Floyd’s funeral in Houston on Tuesday, where families of other black Americans killed by the police were in attendance.

“This was not just a tragedy. It was a crime,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader who delivered the eulogy, calling for accountability in all pillars of society. “Lives like George’s will not matter until somebody pays the cost for taking their lives.”

Angry white counterprotesters in N.J. mock George Floyd’s killing

By ED SHANAHAN and TRACEY TULLY

T

he protest in the New Jersey township was similar to those that have unfolded across the United States since George Floyd was killed in police custody: About 70 people gathered to rally against police brutality and systemic racism.

But as the diverse group marched along Monday, waving signs and chanting slogans in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, it was met by several white men who had gathered near a sign that said “All Lives Matter” and in front of a pickup truck draped with an American flag and a pro-Trump sign.

One of the men yelled at the marchers angrily while kneeling on the neck of another who was face down on the ground — an apparent attempt to mock the killing of Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Condemnation of the scene, which was captured on video, came quickly. The mayor and the police chief in Franklin Township, the South Jersey community where it happened, issued a statement calling the episode “revolting” and saying that it had left them “appalled and saddened.”

On Tuesday, the state’s Department of Corrections said it had suspended one of its employees after confirming that he was among the group that taunted and tried to upset the protesters.

One man in the group can be seen on video filming the protesters.

“We have been made aware that one of our officers from Bayside State Prison participated in the filming of a hateful and disappointing video that mocked the killing of George Floyd,” the Corrections Department said in a statement that also pledged “a thorough and expedited investigation.”

The department did not identify the officer, but officials said he was a senior corrections police officer who joined the Corrections Department in March 2002 and worked at a youth detention facility in Bordentown until January 2019, when he moved to the Bayside prison in Leesburg.

Gov. Philip D. Murphy called the counterprotesters’ actions “repugnant.”

“We won’t let the actions of a few distract from our progress toward dismantling systemic racism,” Murphy said in a statement.

The union that represents New Jersey’s 6,000 corrections officers, PBA Local 105, said in a statement that under “no circumstance do we condone nor will we ever tolerate actions and expressions of discrimination, harassment and hatred” of the sort engaged in by the counterprotesters.

Late Tuesday, FedEx confirmed that one of its employees had also taken part in the counterprotest and had been fired as a result.

“We do not tolerate the kind of appalling and offensive behavior depicted in this video,” the company said in a statement.

Daryan Fennal, who organized the protest, said that it

had started at the local community center at around 3 p.m. and that protesters had then marched more than 2 miles to police headquarters.

There, Fennal said, the group knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds — the length of time the white officer had his knee on Floyd’s neck — and then had a discussion.

It was on the way back to the community center, where many of the protest participants had parked their cars, that the group encountered the counterprotesters, Fennal, 21, said.

“I was crying, immediately,” she said. “I was thinking about the kids who were marching behind me. That’s not something easily unseen.”

In addition to mocking Floyd’s death, she said, the men on the side of the road had yelled, “If George Floyd would have complied he wouldn’t be dead”; “Go cash your checks”; “Start running”; and “Black Lives Matter to no one” as the group passed.

Fennal — whose mother is white and whose father, now deceased, was black — said the expressions of hatred had not diminished her passion, or that of others, to continue protesting against injustice.

“There are more people who are encouraged, even more so, to stand up and march alongside us and help black people who are facing systematic racism,” she said.

Another protest is scheduled in Franklin Township on Saturday.

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The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

A black running mate for Biden? More Democrats are making the case

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. speaking with community leaders last week at a church in Wilmington, Del.

By KATIE GLUECK

E

arly last month, about a dozen leading black activists and Democratic political strategists joined a private call with Joe Biden in which they made the case for selecting an African American running mate.

Building on a public letter signed by African American women across the country, the group outlined how a black vicepresidential pick could help the campaign expand and energize the African American electorate, according to people on the call.

Biden spoke in broad strokes about the qualities he was looking for in a vice president, and he did not make any commitment. But participants came away believing that they had opened a substantive line of communication with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who had already promised to select a woman as his running mate.

One month later, amid a national reckoning over racism and police brutality, the subject of that private discussion has taken on more public urgency at every level of the Democratic Party. Longtime lawmakers and young liberal activists, state party officials and Biden loyalists have been increasingly vocal about their view that in a moment of extraordinary national upheaval over race, Biden must give deeper consideration to placing a black woman on the ticket.

“I think there will be some pressure,”

said Chuck Hagel, who served as defense secretary in the administration of President Barack Obama and before that as a Republican senator from Nebraska, and who is supporting Biden. “If there’s a problem — injustice, inequality — wouldn’t it be smart to pick an African American woman as your running mate? There’s a strong argument there. I think that the strength of that argument has just accelerated.”

Hagel, who served with Biden in the Senate and is friends with former Sen. Christopher J. Dodd — a member of Biden’s vice-presidential search committee — said he was offering his assessment of the unfolding political dynamics and not making any personal recommendation. But it is a view shared by a growing number of Biden supporters of diverse ages, races and political backgrounds.

Some note that Biden’s seemingly moribund candidacy early in the Democratic primary campaign was reinvigorated by black voters.

“His campaign got revived because of the African American community,” said Gilberto Hinojosa, the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party. “I just think it would be the right thing to do.”

Among those on the private call last month with Biden were Democratic strategists Donna Brazile, Leah D. Daughtry, Minyon Moore and Karen Finney; lawyer and media personality Star Jones; Roslyn M.

Brock, the chairman emeritus of the national board of directors for the NAACP; and a lengthy list of activists in civil rights, labor and other issues, according to a readout intended for women who had signed the original petition. Biden’s campaign manager, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, and two senior advisers, Anita Dunn and Symone D. Sanders, were also listed as participants, as was Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., and a member of Biden’s vice-presidential search committee.

A Biden spokesman declined to comment.

“In the moment of our deepest racial division and crisis, really being able to have a ticket that is as reflective of the future and diversity of America as what we’re seeing happen in the streets right now — that, that is the opportunity,” said LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund.

“If there was a time in America we needed the leadership of a black woman, it is now.”

Brown, who was also listed as a participant in the call with Biden, declined to comment on the conversation, but said of the campaign, “I think there’s an openness to explore.”

Biden, 77, has been clear for months about some of his criteria for a running mate.

He wants to choose someone with whom he is “simpatico” on major issues and strategy, even if they disagree on tactics. His vice president must be prepared on “Day 1,” he has said, to assume the presidency if need be. He wants to have open conversations and a strong level of trust with his running mate, he has said, just as he and Obama did.

He has also suggested he wants someone who will balance the ticket and who “has capacities in areas that I do not,” he said at a fundraiser last month.

Biden’s closest allies — including Rep. James E. Clyburn, the highest-ranking African American in Congress, who would prefer that Biden choose a black woman — have been careful to stress that ultimately Biden must prioritize his personal connections to the contenders and be mindful of polling and vetting. And in an interview with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell, Biden said that the events of the past two weeks “haven’t” affected his choice, “except it’s put a greater focus and urgency on the need to get someone who is totally simpatico with where I am,” on matters including “the systemic things that you want to change.”

As part of a broader list, Biden is thought to be considering a number of black women

as running mates. Sen. Kamala Harris of California; Rep. Val Demings of Florida; Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Democratic nominee for Georgia governor; Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta; and former National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice are often discussed among Biden’s allies.

Harris, a favorite of many Biden donors, appeared at a virtual fundraiser with Biden on Tuesday. And amid the national unrest following the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of the police, Demings — a former Orlando chief of police — and Bottoms, who has spoken out passionately against racism while seeking order in her city, have caught fresh attention among some Biden supporters and donors.

Some allies suggest that the upheaval following Floyd’s killing has heightened the need for someone who can speak to passionate concerns around race, especially among a younger generation that Democrats need to turn out in the fall. The African American contenders Biden is thought to be considering are substantially younger than he is.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a close Biden ally, said the former vice president had seen weeks ago that the national moment called for a running mate who would help a Biden administration embrace “a new generation of leadership.”

“The sharpness of this past week, after the killing of George Floyd, I think heightens it, but I think Joe saw that moment clearly before this,” Coons said in an interview this month.

Biden and his team have long heard from allies about their preferences for the vice-presidential slot. As members of his search committee have started evaluating candidates in recent weeks, they have also been in touch with prominent leaders in the Democratic Party to talk through options.

“I’ve tried to give Vice President Biden the best ideas that I have regarding vice president,” said former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada. “More than advice, what I’m doing is trying to respond to questions that they have.”

In an interview late last month, Reid said Dodd had called him that day to discuss a particular candidate.

“We went over that person that I have worked with, and everything I could think of about her, I gave him,” said Reid, who declined to name the candidate discussed that day.

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

9

Jurors, please remove your masks: Courtrooms confront the pandemic

By SHAILA DEWA

D

ylan Potter, a public defender in Portland, Oregon, found himself in late April searching for case law on what had been an obscure legal question: whether witnesses are allowed to wear masks.

He found one decision on whether a confidential informant could testify in a ski mask (no), and another on whether Islamic veils were permitted in court (it depends).

But nothing addressed what Potter was about to encounter: a jury trial in the midst of a pandemic in which face coverings have become a matter of health and safety.

At the trial, of a man accused of rape and assault, the jurors wore masks as they trooped into court. The judge put his on when lawyers approached the bench.

The defendant remained barefaced throughout.

Courts across the country have managed to conduct a variety of legal proceedings remotely, including arraignments, guilty pleas and bench trials, but Oregon was one of the first states to reinstate in-person jury trials. Their handling provides a glimpse of the near future and raises new questions about fairness, safety and due process in a court system that, like everything else, is affected by the coronavirus.

Masks pose a number of conundrums. How would Potter choose a jury if he could not pick up on the fleeting smirks or scowls that normally tip him off to bias? How would the jury react if his client looked like a bandit in the courtroom?

Other questions involved more fundamental principles of jurisprudence. Would the jury pool reflect the community if people in groups hit harder by COVID-19, like older residents, African Americans and Latinos, were more reluctant to show up? Can a trial truly be considered public if the public has been told to stay at home?

“There’s an inherent conflict between the rights of someone on trial and our social distancing policies,” Potter said after his client, Michael Frank Moody, became the first defendant to be tried by jury in Multnomah County since the pandemic began. “As smooth as this went, at no point would I ever advise a client to go through with it in these times.”

Moody was found guilty.

With a number of states set to resume jury trials in the next few weeks, court administrators across the country have turned to math, measuring tapes and diagrams to figure out things like how many people a jury box can safely hold, or how long it will take to transport a socially distanced jury pool by elevator.

They have installed Plexiglas barriers for witness stands and pondered texting as a means of client-lawyer communication.

Potential jurors in Washington County, Ore., answered questions from lawyers during jury selection.

Not all of the planning has been strictly logistical.

The Arizona Supreme Court, anticipating that many calls to jury duty would be ignored, has reduced the number of potential jurors that can be struck by each side to two, from the usual six.

Texas has decreed that judges need not seek consent before conducting remote proceedings, and while the state has not yet conducted a remote criminal jury trial, it has experimented with jury selection by Zoom in a civil dispute.

A defense lawyer, Adam Stone, had to tell a jury pool in Ashland, Ohio, in late April that he had been exposed to the virus and was under doctor’s orders to self-isolate. The judge had declined to postpone the trial.

Then Stone’s client collapsed and had to be carried out of the courtroom (he tested negative for the virus).

The trial is set to begin again this month.

In Portland, Potter argued that potential jurors should be asked to remove their masks while they were questioned, and that witnesses be asked to remove them while on the stand. His request was granted.

But in the Ashland trial, Stone said, jurors and witnesses were to have been permitted to wear masks.

“You cannot effectively confront your accuser if that accuser’s allowed to wear a mask, and that is fundamental, as you know,” he said.

Stone usually advises his clients to have friends and family in the courtroom to demonstrate support, but in this case, he said, his client’s mother could not be there because she is a cancer survivor with a compromised immune system.

Many courts have declined to livestream proceedings because they could be recorded and replayed in ways that were not typically permitted.

Oregon’s courts have resumed holding jury trials because of a rigid statutory deadline of 180 days after arrest, which applies only to defendants in custody.

Most of the affected defendants are in jail only because they cannot afford to post bail, said Carl Macpherson, director of the Metropolitan Public Defender, the state’s largest public defense agency.

In Portland, Multnomah County’s first two jury trials during the pandemic have involved defendants who were homeless. Macpherson said the county could have solved the deadline problem by releasing the defendants until a later court date.

“Jurors are not essential workers,” he said. “Being a juror is already a difficult position to put someone in from our community — and to ask a juror to do that during a pandemic is unfair.”

Out of 500 potential jurors summoned May 4, only 121 appeared — about half the usual number, according to figures provided by a court spokeswoman.

“It was the same reaction I had when I found out I was having twins,” said Lori Hymowitz, 57, a lawyer who received a jury summons. “You can either laugh or cry, and I just laughed.”

The court website informed her that she need not appear if she had a “high-risk condition,” but that “the courts are considered essential under Governor Brown’s ‘Stay Home, Save Lives’ order, and jurors are critical for the court to meet its constitutional duties.”

Hymowitz said she was apprehensive but made a calculation: “I have three teenagers, so I was like, jury duty versus being home with teenagers — jury duty sounds good.”

She arrived at the courthouse to find what she called a thorough approach to social distancing: Lines on the sidewalk showed where to stand outside. Masking-tape arrows indicated safe places to sit inside. Masks and hand sanitizer were available for the asking.

She and several others who were present said there were very few African Americans or Latinos in the jury pool.

Eight rooms were needed to conduct jury selection and the trial itself, including one empty courtroom for deliberations and another for spectators (there were not many). Chairs and microphones were regularly wiped down. Most people in the courtroom took off their masks once they were seated.

Potter said he and his client had to confer so frequently that it was impractical to don masks, so they ended up getting much closer than health experts recommend. And there were other issues: Because the jury box could accommodate only three people, the rest of the jury was spread out behind Potter, where he could not see their reactions or be certain that they could see and hear the proceedings.

“Now, can I point to any rule of statute or law that says that’s wrong or unlawful? I can’t,” he said. “But it definitely changes the dynamic you normally look for in a jury trial — which is gauging the reaction of the jury.”

10

Thursday, June 11, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

Inside the newly spotless Subway: ‘I’ve never seen it like this’

By CHRISTINA GOLDBAUM

I

n Grand Central Terminal, the nexus of commuter rails and subway lines linking Midtown Manhattan to the far reaches of New York City and its suburbs, the usual blur of fast-paced commuters vanished.

Subway cars lurched through a system eerily devoid of stray plastic bags, unidentifiable liquids and, notably, people. In stations, the loop of prerecorded announcements that seep into New York’s collective subconscious (“Stand clear of the closing doors, please”) offered a new message to riders: “Please, do your part to reduce crowding.”

As the coronavirus pandemic ground New York to a halt, it crippled the subway, the city’s life blood, draining it of more than 90% of its usual ridership. Now, as the city slowly starts to reopen, the subway’s ability to regain the confidence of riders will play a crucial role in New York’s recovery.

For now, transit officials are uncertain what the coming months and years will look like for mass transportation and whether all 5.5 million weekday riders will ever return. But in the interim, the whiplash has transformed the subway from an emblem of the city’s overcrowding to a vivid reminder of the lasting aftershock of the pandemic.

“All my life, I’ve never seen it like this,” Melody Johnson, a nurse who lives in Brooklyn, said while riding an uptown No. 2 train one recent morning. “Look around — we’re empty.”

In the seemingly long-ago days before the pandemic, phalanxes of riders lined the platforms during rush hour, waiting to push and squeeze into every arriving train. Elbows pressed into strangers’ torsos, heads squeezed under armpits and train cars — with the apparent magic of Mary Poppins’ bag — absorbed infinitely more passengers at every station.

But today, only a smattering of riders are scattered across station platforms. Even during peak hours, people sometimes

sit in train cars with less than a dozen other riders. In the weeks before the city reopened, only one or two riders on entire 10-car trains exited onto the platform at some stations at peak hours.

One recent morning at the Winthrop Street Station in Brooklyn, a nurse who lives in Volga, South Dakota — population less than 2,000 — but who had come to New York to help with the coronavirus pandemic uttered words once inconceivable to native New Yorkers.

“Taking the subway is the easiest part of my day,” said the nurse, Judy Bergeland.

That same morning, the Times Square station in the heart of Manhattan was nearly empty at 9:30 a.m. It is the busiest station in the system, typically bustling with commuters crisscrossing among 11 lines on any given weekday. The scenes depicted in colorful mosaics on the walls — a crowd watching a camera crew filming on the subway, construction workers digging outside the entrance of a station — appeared in their entirety, oddly unobstructed by passersby.

Even as the system felt spookily empty, across train cars and stations the age-old rituals of riding New York’s subway were still very much alive.

During rush hour at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station in Brooklyn, people passing through the turnstiles still sprinted to the tracks when they heard the familiar words: “There is a Manhattan-bound 2 train approaching the station.”

Another rider shouted into her dangling earphones — “I’m getting on the train. I’ll call you later!” — as she leapt onto a train, its metal doors starting to close.

The static-filled sound of a conductor’s voice announcing a delay (“Ladies and gentlemen, we have train traffic ahead of us. We should be moving shortly.”) earned a collective — if quieter than usual — sigh.

But inside the subway cars, the system’s new, daily disin-

Aboard a No. 3 train in Brooklyn during the morning rush on June 1.

fectant regimen combined with the dearth of riders has made the cars almost unrecognizable to New Yorkers all too familiar with trains that once felt like petri dishes for the city’s grime.

No trash or spilled drinks carpeted the floors. The metal walls were perfectly shined. Some train cars even smelled like lemons.

“It’s so, so, so much cleaner,” Jacqueline Mckoy, a home health aide, said as she waited at the Winthrop Station in Brooklyn for a train to take her to work in the Bronx. “I wish they were doing this years ago.”

Nearby, Albert Maury, 49, stood at the edge of the platform waiting to travel to Manhattan where he works in a post office. Over the past two months, he has been amazed, and relieved, by how empty the subway has been.

But now, as businesses begin to reopen, he worries that the brief respite from sardine-like subway cars and shoulder-toshoulder platforms will come to an end, triggering increased anxiety about public health concerns.

“I think it’s going to be more crowded. It’s going to get much, much worse,” Maury said. “I guess everyone’s just going to have to try their best to protect themselves when they’re on the train.”

Across the system, ridership has slowly begun to pick up in recent weeks. After hitting a low of 7% of the usual passenger load in April, ridership levels have crept up to around 15% in recent weeks. On Monday, as the city reopened for Phase 1, around 113,000 more riders rode the subway compared to the same day the previous week, according to transit officials.

At the 149 Street-Grand Concourse station in the Bronx, a transit worker said in the week before the city officially reopened that she had already noticed more people filling platforms and trains.

“I see some people not wearing masks. They take off the mask when they talk on the phone or ask me questions,” said the worker, who declined to give her name because she was not authorized to speak to the news media. “How are we going to enforce these new safety rules when people come back?

There’s no way.”

As the city reopens, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the subway, has outlined a number of safeguards to protect public health while ensuring commuters can still rely on the system: Subway service is being increased to reduce congestion, transit workers are patrolling stations to report overcrowding, additional police are deployed to enforce mask usage and floor markings have been added to encourage social distancing.

The subway will remain closed between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. to allow for deep cleanings.

At Grand Central Terminal, David Herring, an MTA customer service representative who has worked in the terminal for 20 years, has been encouraged by the slight uptick of people going in and out of commuter trains over the past two weeks.

Sitting beneath the station’s iconic clock in the grand concourse, Herring looked out longingly as a few dozen people took photos of the majestic space with their phones while they waited to board trains.

“Other than the days after 9/11, I’ve never seen it like this before,” Herring said. “But I like my job. I like answering people’s questions. I’m ready to get back to work.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Harper’s Bazaar appoints first woman of color as top editor H

By RACHEL ABRAMS

earst Magazines named Samira Nasr as the next editor of the U.S. edition of Harper’s Bazaar on Tuesday, the first time that a woman of color will hold the top job at the 153-year-old fashion publication.

Nasr, who will start on July 6, previously worked as the fashion director of the Condé Nast magazine Vanity Fair, where she oversaw the magazine’s presentation of celebrities including Renée Zellweger, Jennifer Lopez and Eddie Murphy for the annual Hollywood issue.

In a video message on the @Harpersbazaarus Instagram account, Nasr spoke of running an inclusive publication and expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

“As the proud daughter of a Lebanese father and Trinidadian mother, my worldview is expansive and is anchored in the belief that representation matters,” she said. “My lens by nature is colorful and so it is important to me to begin a new chapter in Bazaar’s history by shining a light on all individuals who I believe are the inspiring voices of our time.

“I will work to give all voices a platform to tell stories that would never have been told,” she added.

Nasr also offered a message to those taking part in the worldwide protests prompted by the killing last month of George Floyd, a black man who died after being pinned to the ground by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

“I see you, I thank you, and I hope we can join forces to amplify the message of equality, because Black Lives Matter,” she said.

Nasr succeeds Glenda Bailey, the anti-elitist editor who stepped down in February after nearly two decades. Bailey was credited with making the glossy — defined by its boundarypushing photography in the 1950s and ’60s — into something more accessible to readers in the age of the Instagram influencer, when fashion magazines have lost some of their old power to declare what is in and what is out.

Nasr’s appointment followed a number of editorial changes in the top ranks of Hearst Magazines under Troy Young, who became the company’s president in 2018 after leading its digital division.

“Samira’s important voice will continue to evolve the brand’s distinct position as a style touchstone for fashion’s most discerning,” Young said in a statement.

Before her time at Vanity Fair, Nasr over-

11

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Samira Nasr, previously the fashion director at Vanity Fair, will become editor in chief of Harper’s Bazaar starting on July 6. saw fashion at Elle, a Hearst publication, and InStyle. She also worked on campaigns for fashion, luxury and beauty brands including Tory Burch, Laura Mercier and Tiffany & Co. The New York Post earlier reported Nasr’s appointment, which comes at a moment of upheaval in the media industry. Journalists, frustrated by some of the coverage of the protests after Lloyd’s killing, have been emboldened to question issues of systemic racism and bias in their own institutions. The executive editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and the editor of The New York Times’ opinion section resigned in recent days after staff protests.

Condé Nast lost Nasr to one of its main rivals one day after Adam Rapoport, the longtime top editor of the Condé Nast food magazine Bon Appétit, resigned under pressure because of a photograph that appeared online showing him dressed in a costume derogatory to Puerto Ricans.

On the same day, Christene Barberich, the top editor of the women’s lifestyle site Refinery29, stepped down after former employees posted descriptions on social media of a workplace culture that discriminated against black women and other women of color.

A spokeswoman for Harper’s Bazaar said Nasr was not available for interviews. In her Instagram video, she described her approach to fashion. “Great style is about more than the way we wear our clothes,” she said. “It is also how we see and occupy space in the world around us.”

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The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Stocks

S&P 500, Dow retreat as focus turns to Fed; Nasdaq hits fresh high

T

he S&P 500 and Dow slipped on Wednesday, as losses in financial stocks countered a boost from the technology sector, with focus now shifting to the Federal Reserve’s first projections on the economy since the coronavirus outbreak.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC, by contrast, hit a record high for the fourth straight session, with gains for Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) driving a rally which has taken the index back into bull market territory.

The Fed concludes its two-day meeting on Wednesday, with investors expected to parse the outcome for signs on how long the central bank plans to maintain its ultra loose policy along with any plans to introduce yield control measures aimed at U.S. Treasuries.

The projections and the central bank’s policy statement will be released at 2 p.m. (1800 GMT), followed by a press conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

“If the Fed is going to control the yield curve, then stock valuations make much more sense than many people believe they do,” said Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. A surge of more than 45% in the three main U.S. stock indexes, since falling sharply in March, has been underpinned by unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus measures and resulting hopes of an economic rebound.

The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX is about 5.5% below its all-time high.

Any hint that the Fed could rein in stimulus could derail the stock market’s recovery in the past month.

The global economy will suffer the biggest peacetime downturn in a century before it emerges next year from a recession, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said on Wednesday.

“Markets are climbing a wall of worry, but that wall has a lot of holes in it,” said Dan Genter, president and chief executive officer of RNC Capital Management LLC, in Los Angeles.

At 1:02 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 157.81 points, or 0.58%, at 27,114.49, the S&P 500 .SPX was down 8.03 points, or 0.25%, at 3,199.15. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 50.19 points, or 0.50%, at 10,003.95.

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The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

13

The world reopens, despite skyrocketing Coronavirus cases

By MARC SANTORA

T

wo months ago, when there were roughly 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases and the primal politics of survival was sweeping the world, shutting down was the order of the day.

This week, the number of cases soared past 7 million, with 136,000 new infections detected Sunday alone, the highest single-day total since the pandemic began.

The order of the day? Reopening.

Terrified after watching economies built over the course of decades hollow out in a matter of weeks, countries seem to be saying, in effect: Enough.

For health officials who have been watching the virus with alarm as it began claiming a foothold in continent after continent, it is a dizzying moment.

“This is not the time for any country to take its foot off the pedal,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, warned at a news conference in Geneva this week. The crisis, he said, is “far from over.”

While infection rates in the hardesthit cities in United States and Europe may have slowed, the virus remains deeply woven into the fabric of the world. Indeed, the global peak of infection may still be months away.

In the absence of a vaccine or even effective treatments, the only proven strategy against the coronavirus to date has been limiting human contact. Cities around the world have done just that, reaping the benefits as new infections dwindled and then gingerly lifting movement restrictions.

But it is not that simple. In the longer term, as outbreaks wax and wane, public health officials say, there might need to be a period of repeated closings and openings. And that could prove a much harder sell.

Amid economic pain unlike anything seen in generations, there simply may not be the same political will, or even desire, to shut things down again. And while the public largely went along with restrictions (which were often not really enforceable on a wide scale, in any case), it remains to be seen if citizens would be so accom-

Commuters heading to work in Gurugram, India, on Monday. modating a second time around.

The virus itself is certainly anything but accommodating. It is now spreading exponentially in parts of the developing world where fragile health care systems may soon be overwhelmed if the numbers continue to spike.

On Tuesday, the United States’ top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, delivered a grim assessment — he described COVID-19 as his “worst nightmare” — and a warning. “In a period of four months, it has devastated the whole world,” Fauci said. “And it isn’t over yet.”

Of the 136,000 new cases reported Sunday, three-quarters of them were in just 10 countries, most in the Americas and South Asia. They include India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa.

The Pan American Health Organization on Tuesday painted a dire picture for Latin America and the Caribbean. The crisis, said the organization’s director, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, “has pushed our region to the limit.”

It is spreading swiftly in some countries ruled by leaders who are used to suppressing information to shape the public narrative.

In Russia, Moscow lifted its lockdown orders this week even as the number of detected infections continued to

climb steadily.

In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro’s government took another approach: It stopped reporting the cumulative toll of the virus altogether, before a Supreme Court justice ordered it be reinstated.

And in Mexico, the government is not reporting hundreds, possibly thousands, of deaths in Mexico City. It has dismissed anxious officials who have tallied more than three times as many fatalities in the capital than the government publicly acknowledges, according to officials and confidential data.

Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has struggled to balance a response to the coronavirus with the economic needs of a country in which more than half of the population lives hand-to-mouth, working informal jobs, without a safety net.

Now, Mexico is starting to bustle again as the country gradually reopens.

Even some countries that moved against the virus head on are losing ground. Among them is India.

“There will be a total ban of coming out of your homes,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his citizens on March 24.

“Every state, every district, every lane, every village will be under lockdown.”

The ambition was staggering. India

is a country of 1.3 billion, and hundreds of millions of its citizens are destitute, with countless millions living in packed urban areas with poor sanitation and weak public health care.

Despite the swift action, the country is now grappling with a sharp surge of infections.

In just 24 hours, India reported 10,000 new cases, for a total of at least 266,500, surpassing Spain to become one of the five countries with the highest caseloads. Public health experts are warning of a looming shortage of hospital beds and doctors.

But this week, Indians can once again dine out, shop and pray at religious sites.

Manish Sisodia, a government official in New Delhi, warned that the capital was likely to have 500,000 coronavirus cases by the end of July, based on the current rate of infection.

Rajnish Sinha, the owner of an event management company in Delhi, was able to secure space for his 75-year-old fatherin-law on a stretcher in a missionary hospital only after an eight-hour search. He tested positive for the coronavirus Tuesday.

“This is just the beginning of the coming disaster,” Sinha said. He said, “Only God can save us.”

In Latin America, cases are surging both in countries that took early isolation measures, like Peru and Bolivia, and in those that ignored many public recommendations, like Brazil and Nicaragua.

Governments, forced to choose between watching citizens die of the virus or watching them die of hunger, are loosening lockdowns.

It appears clear that the playbook for slowing the spread of the virus used in Western Europe and the United States may not work everywhere. Societies with informal economies simply cannot enforce lockdowns without running the risk of societal collapse.

But even those countries that have made progress after being hit hard by the first wave of the virus are by no means out of the woods. Social-distancing rules in many places — and adherence to them — remain haphazard, little match for the most basic of human desires: to connect.

14

Thursday, June 11, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

Indonesia’s new Coronavirus concern: A post-pandemic baby boom

Newborns at a maternity facility in Jakarta in April.

By RICHARD C. PADDOCK and DERA MENRA SIJABAT

T

he government vehicles began appearing in Indonesian towns and cities in May, equipped with loudspeakers blaring a blunt message.

“You can have sex. You can get married. But don’t get pregnant,” health workers read from a script. “Dads, please control yourself. You can get married. You can have sex as long as you use contraception.”

Indonesian officials are worried about a possible unintended consequence of the country’s coronavirus restrictions: a post-pandemic baby boom.

In April, as people across Indonesia stayed home, about 10 million married couples stopped using contraception, according to the National Population and Family Planning Agency, which collects data from clinics and hospitals that distribute birth control.

Many women couldn’t get access to contraceptives because their health care provider was closed. Others did not want to risk a visit, for fear of catching the virus. Now, officials are expecting a wave of unplanned births next year, many of them to poor families who were already struggling.

“We are nervous about leaving home, not to mention going to the hospital, which is the source of all diseases,” said Lana Mutisari, 36, a married woman in a suburb of Jakarta, the capital, who has been putting off an appointment to get an IUD. “There are all kinds of viruses there.”

Hasto Wardoyo, an obstetrician and gynecologist who

heads the family planning agency, has estimated that there could be 370,000 to 500,000 extra births early next year, in a country that typically sees about 4.8 million a year.

That would be a setback for Indonesia’s extensive efforts to promote smaller families, a key aspect of its fight against child malnutrition. President Joko Widodo has made it a national goal to reduce child stunting — impaired development resulting from poor nutrition and other factors — by half within four years.

“There should be no unwanted pregnancy,” Hasto said.

Contraception is provided free to Indonesia’s poor, and young married couples of various incomes are visited by government representatives who encourage the use of birth control — often the wife of a neighborhood official, or one of the family planning agency’s 24,000 counselors.

According to the agency, half of the Indonesian women who use contraceptives receive hormone injections, which are administered monthly or every three months. Another 20% use birth control pills, which women had been required to pick up monthly if they were on government insurance.

(Condoms are widely available but unpopular, at least among married couples.)

Those regular clinic visits were largely disrupted by the coronavirus, which in Indonesia has caused more than 34,000 infections and nearly 1,900 deaths. In Jakarta, the country’s first epicenter, new infections had been on the decline, and mosques, malls and offices have been gradually reopening this month. But cases are rising in other parts of

Indonesia, including the provinces of East Java and Papua.

Hasto, the family planning chief, said his estimate of up to half a million unplanned births was a conservative one.

But he said he was confident that changes his agency had begun making could prevent a much larger baby boom.

Regulations have been revised to allow for home delivery of contraceptives and to let women obtain more than a month’s supply of birth control pills at a time. In April, the government began delivering contraceptives along with the emergency food supplies that many families were receiving because of the pandemic.

“We conduct door-to-door distribution while handing out staple food packages,” Hasto said. “We give free injections. We also bring birth control pills.”

The agency has also ramped up its promotional efforts — involving radio pitches and social media, as well as loudspeaker trucks — to encourage couples to put off getting pregnant until the COVID-19 crisis is over.

In the city of Semarang, one female health worker’s direct talk about contraception over a loudspeaker briefly became a national controversy, with some saying the language was inappropriate. But the attention helped to spread the message.

Novita Saputri, 28, a secretary for a foreign trading company in Jakarta who has been married for 18 months, wants to have a baby, but not until the pandemic ends. Her doctor’s office is at a nearby hospital, and she does not want to risk the monthly visits she would need if she became pregnant now.

“If I go to the hospital, the risk of getting the virus is higher,” she said.

But she prefers not to use birth control pills or injections, worrying that she might gain weight. Instead, she and her husband, who have been mostly housebound for three months, are using condoms occasionally and having sex less often. (His video game habit helps, she joked.)

The Indonesian authorities’ involvement in family planning dates to 1970, when the country was under a military dictatorship run by President Suharto. Soldiers promoted the use of contraception, and army doctors performed vasectomies and tubal ligations, according to the family planning agency.

The agency still works with the military and the police, who have been involved in the recent home delivery of contraceptives. Hasto said the agency would observe National Family Day on June 29 by mobilizing teams to hand out contraceptives to 1 million people.

Lana, the suburban Jakarta resident, has a 2-year-old daughter and said she would like to wait two years before having another child. But fear of COVID-19 has her reluctant to schedule an appointment to get an IUD. “People think that when we are working from home, we always make a baby,” said Lana, a researcher for Gojek, a well-known Indonesian ride-hailing company. “There are two nannies at home. My child is active. Our home is lively.

It is not a romantic environment.”

Still, she admitted, anything could happen, especially if their home confinement continues.

“We could have a baby sooner than we plan,” she said with a laugh. “There is always a risk in life.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

15

For Indian women, the Coronavirus economy is a devastating setback

By KAI SCHULTZ and SUHASINI RAJ

O

ver and over, Seema Munda kept refusing her parents’ pleas to get married. She wanted to be a nurse, not a housewife — and why was employment all right for her brother but not her?

So last summer, Munda lied about where she was going and slipped out of her conservative village in northern India. She traveled 1,000 miles south, to the city of Bengaluru, where she found work stitching shirts at a factory.

“This job liberated me,” she said.

But when the coronavirus pandemic hit, Munda’s life of independence shattered. In March, India instituted one of the strictest lockdowns in the world. In April, more than 120 million Indians lost their jobs, including Munda, 21.

As the world takes stock of staggering losses from the coronavirus, economists predict especially dire setbacks for women in the workforce.

The United Nations warned in a recent report that the pandemic has not only exacerbated inequalities between the sexes but threatened to undo decades of gains in the workplace.

The International Labour Organization found that 41% of women were employed in sectors at high risk for job or working-hour losses from the pandemic, compared with 35% of men.

The global slowdown could have especially stark consequences in developing economies, where around 70% of working women are employed in the informal economy with few protections.

After Ebola quarantine measures were lifted in West Africa, for instance, women were slower than men to recover their livelihoods and had a harder time securing loans to rebuild businesses.

In India, a nation of 1.3 billion, the coronavirus lockdown, which was imposed in late March, has only added to the setbacks for women, who were already being shaken out of the workforce in greater numbers in recent years.

One national employment study conducted in May found that a higher proportion of women reported losing their jobs than men. Among

Indians who remained employed, women were more likely to report anxiety about their futures.

Rohini Pande, an economics professor at Yale who researches women’s employment patterns in India, said female migrant workers could face steep challenges recovering work.

Many women struggle to persuade their parents to let them defer marriage and leave their villages for jobs.

“The pipeline was already extremely leaky,” said Pande, who directs the Economic Growth Center at Yale. “It’s just going to get leakier.”

Employment figures for India’s women have been a cause of concern for years.

From 2005 to 2018, female labor participation in India declined to 21% from about 32%, one of the lowest rates in the world. The rate for men also fell — India is experiencing a youth boom and has not been able to create enough new jobs to keep up — but not nearly as far as for women.

Economists have offered several explanations for the slide, including a cultural one: As India’s economy expanded, families that could afford to keep women at home did so, thinking it afforded them a degree of social status.

Domestic duties cut into the time women can search for jobs. In India, women perform 9.6 times more unpaid care work than men, about three times the global average. The pandemic has increased that burden for many women, according to the International Labour Organization.

Swarna Rajagopalan, a political scientist and founder of Prajnya Trust, an organization focusing on gender equality in India, said job scarcity could make it harder for women to enter or reenter the workforce — at least in the short term.

India’s economy may contract by 5% this year, according to some estimates, representing perhaps the worst slump since the country became independent from the British.

“I really worry about this,” Rajagopalan said. “We still think of men as being the primary breadwinners of our families, and if we have to make choices about letting people go, women will lose their jobs. It doesn’t matter how desperately

Women working in a textile factory in Bangalore, India. they need them or how hard they work.”

Many of the hardest-hit industries have been those with a high proportion of female workers, including hospitality and manufacturing, where women are often employed without contracts, making it easier to let them go.

Although India recently lifted most of its lockdown measures in an effort to ease pressure on the economy, many women fear that even a limited degree of economic freedom will be difficult to regain.

Seema Munda said she had found “the key to unlocking my dreams” when she moved to Bengaluru in July to work at Pearl Global, a garment factory that employs women from poorer states like Odisha and Jharkhand, where she is from.

Munda started fresh. She moved into a hostel with dozens of other young women from the factory. They slept on straw mats on the ground.

When Munda received her first paycheck, about $112, she went to a clothing store with a handful of crisp notes.

“I bought my favorite dress,” she said. “It was exhilarating.”

But when India went under lockdown, the factory closed, and the women found themselves

in a precarious situation. Around the country, businesses shut down. Trains and buses suspended their services, stranding millions of migrant workers in cities.

Within a few weeks, Munda said, Pearl Global stopped paying her. She was forced to leave the hostel and take shelter in a school.

By the end of May, as India’s travel restrictions eased further, Munda made a wrenching decision and joined others in boarding trains home. With little money left, she said she had no other choice but to return to Jharkhand.

“My family will never let me come back now,” she said by telephone. “I don’t want to get married.”

Munda stopped answering calls from a reporter. Friends from Bengaluru were also unable to reach her. They worried that her parents had taken her phone.

In one of her last conversations with a reporter, Munda expressed anger that “parents value sons more than daughters.” She said returning home could mean “the end of my economic activity and hence my life.”

“I dread to think of that possibility,” she said. “Our future is in darkness.”

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Thursday, June 11, 2020

Coup threats rattle Brazil as virus deaths surge

Gravediggers in São Paulo. President Jair Bolsonaro brushed aside the threat of the coronavirus even as the number of people dying surged.

By SIMON ROMERO, LETICIA CASADO and MANUELA ANDREONI

T

he threats are swirling around the president: Deaths from the virus in Brazil each day are now the highest in the world. Investors are fleeing the country. The president, his sons and his allies are under investigation. His election could even be overturned.

The crisis has grown so intense that some of the most powerful military figures in Brazil are warning of instability — sending shudders that they could take over and dismantle Latin America’s largest democracy.

But far from denouncing the idea, President Jair Bolsonaro’s inner circle seems to be clamoring for the military to step into the fray. In fact, one of the president’s sons, a congressman who has praised the country’s former military dictatorship, said a similar institutional break was inevitable.

“It’s no longer an opinion about if, but when this will happen,” the president’s son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, recently told a prominent Brazilian blogger, warning of what he called a looming “rupture” in Brazil’s democratic system.

The standoff traces an ominous arc for Brazil, a country that shook off military rule in the 1980s and built a thriving democracy in its wake. Within two decades, Brazil had come to represent the energy and promise of the developing world, with a booming economy and the right to host the World Cup and the Olympics.

Since then, its economy has faltered, corruption scandals have toppled or ensnared many of its leaders and an impeachment battle ousted its powerful leftist government.

Jair Bolsonaro, a former Army captain, stepped into this tumult, celebrating the country’s military past and promising to restore order. But he has come under blistering criticism for downplaying the virus, sabotaging isolation measures and cavalierly presiding over one of the highest death tolls in the world, saying, “We are sorry for all the dead, but that’s everyone’s destiny.”

He, his family and his supporters are also being pursued on allegations like abuse of power, corruption and illegally spreading misinformation. Yet nearly half of his Cabinet is made up of military figures, and now, critics contend, he is relying on the threat of military intervention to ward off challenges to his presidency.

A retired general in Bolsonaro’s Cabinet, Augusto Heleno, the national security adviser, shook the nation in May when he warned of “unpredictable consequences for national stability” after the Supreme Court let an inquiry into Bolsonaro’s supporters move forward.

Another general, the defense minister, swiftly endorsed the provocation, while Bolsonaro lashed out as well, suggesting that the police ignore the “absurd orders” of the court.

“This is destabilizing the country, right during a pandemic,” said Sergio Moro, the former justice minister who broke with Bolsonaro in April, of the threats of military intervention. “It is reprehensible. The country does not need to be living with this type of threat.”

Political leaders and analysts say that a military intervention remains unlikely. Even so, the possibility is hanging over the nation’s democratic institutions, which are scrutinizing Bolsonaro and his family on multiple fronts.

Two of the president’s sons are under investigation for the kind of disinformation and defamation campaigns that helped get their father elected in 2018, and late last month the federal police raided several properties tied to influential allies of Bolsonaro. The Superior Electoral Court, which oversees elections, has the authority to use evidence from the inquiry to annul the election and remove Bolsonaro from office.

Two of his sons are also under investigation for corruption, and the Supreme Court recently authorized an inquiry into allegations that Bolsonaro tried to replace the federal police chief in order to protect his family and friends.

Even the president’s handling of the pandemic is under legal threat: On Monday, a Supreme Court justice ordered the government to stop suppressing data on Brazil’s surging death toll.

The threats of military intervention have incited a broad backlash, even from some senior members of the armed forces. And Heleno, the national security adviser, later said he that did not support a coup, contending he was misunderstood.

Still, military and civilian officials in Bolsonaro’s own administration — as well as allies of the president in Congress, evangelical megachurches and military associations — say the maneuvering is aimed at heading off any attempts by Brazil’s legislative and judicial institutions to oust the president.

Silas Malafaia, a right-wing televangelist close to Bolsonaro, insisted that the president had not told him of any plan for military intervention. Still, he argued that the armed forces had the right to prevent courts from overstepping or even ousting the president.

“That’s not a coup,” Malafaia said. “It’s instilling order where there is disorder.”

The pro-Bolsonaro officials issuing such threats are

generally not referring to the way coups have often been carried out in Latin America, with the armed forces toppling a civilian leader to install one of their own.

Instead, they seem to be urging something similar to what happened in Peru in 1992, when Alberto Fujimori, the right-wing leader, used the armed forces to dissolve Congress, reorganize the judiciary and hunt down political opponents.

Bolsonaro, who still draws support from about 30% of Brazilians, already casts himself as the embodiment of Brazilian military culture, and portrays the armed forces as ethical and efficient managers.

Brazil’s armed forces already exercise exceptional influence in his government. Military figures, including retired four-star generals, account for 10 of 22 ministers in the Cabinet. The government has named nearly 2,900 other activeduty members of the military to administration posts.

Building on Brazil’s public health successes in fighting previous epidemics, the Health Ministry pushed early on in the crisis for social distancing measures to slow the virus’s spread.

Even Bolsonaro seemed on board with the approach, dissuading followers from attending street rallies. Then he abruptly changed his stance, fist-bumping supporters outside his palace.

Bolsonaro also shifted leadership of the pandemic response to another general, Walter Souza Braga Netto, his chief of staff.

Sidelined and balking at expanding the use of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug promoted by Bolsonaro that has not been proven effective against the virus, the health minister was replaced. His successor lasted only a few weeks until he resigned, replaced by an army general, Eduardo Pazuello.

One former official in the health ministry said the abrupt changes created a sense of chaos within the agency, resulting in weeks of dysfunction and paralysis at the most crucial time — when the country should have been fighting the uncontrolled spread of the virus.

Brazil now has more than 700,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, second only to the United States. At least 37,000 people have died from the virus in Brazil as of Tuesday, with the death count often climbing by more than 1,000 a day.

The upheaval in Brazil is leading investors to rush for the exits. Capital flight is reaching levels unseen since the 1990s. The World Bank expects the economy to contract 8% this year. Car production, a once-thriving pillar of the economy, has plummeted to its lowest level since the 1950s.

Carlos Fico, a historian at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro who studies the Brazilian military, said the growing power of the armed forces carried the risk of revealing their incompetence in crucial areas.

“They think that bombastic declarations will make things happen as in the military realm, where an order is given and those of lower rank obey,” Fico said.

But with the military now guiding the pandemic response, Fico added, “They’re running the risk of being blamed by society for what happens next.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

17

Black Lives Matter is winning

By FARHAD MANJOO

I

t’s wondrous, isn’t it, how the people just keep coming out? Day after day, night after night, in dozens of cities, braving a deadly virus and brutal retaliation, they continue to pack the streets in uncountable numbers, demanding equality and justice — and, finally, prompting what feels like real change.

How did this happen? How did Black Lives Matter, a hashtag-powered movement that has been building for years, bring America to what looks like a turning point?

I have a theory: The protests exploded in scale and intensity because the police seemed to go out of their way to illustrate exactly the arguments that Black Lives Matter Demonstrators in Minneapolis marched last Friday to protest the killing of George Floyd. has been raising online since 2013.

For the last two weeks, the police reaction to the movement has been so unhinged, and so well documented, that way that felt revolutionary.

It feels like the dam is breaking again. it couldn’t help but feed support for the protests. American The movement behind Black Lives Matter has taken public opinion may have tipped in favor of Black Lives to the streets before — but nothing on this scale, with this Matter for good.

By “the police,” I mean not just state and municipal intensity. And not with these results. The National Football police across the country, but also the federal officers from League was once a powerful and bitter rival; now it has various agencies that cracked down on protesters in front embraced the movement, though it still has not apologized of the White House, as well as their supporters and politi- to or signed Colin Kaepernick, the player who first knelt in cal patrons, from police chiefs to mayors to the attorney protest against police brutality.

Politicians at every level are professing newfound general and the president himself. support, and, right before our eyes, the Overton window of Black Lives Matter aims to highlight the depth of brutality, injustice and unaccountability that American society, acceptable public discourse about police reform has shifted especially law enforcement, harbors toward black people. to include terms like “demilitarize,” “defund” and “abolish.”

It’s not clear how far the politics will go, but the shifts Many protesters set out to call attention to the unchecked so far are significant. “Never before in the history of modern power of the police, their military weaponry and their capricious use of it. They wanted to show that the problem polling has the country expressed such widespread agreeof policing in America is more than that of individual bad ment on racism’s pervasiveness in policing, and in society officers; the problem is a culture that protects wrongdoers, at large,” The Times reported last week.

More important, we are no longer just talking about tolerates mendacity, rewards blind loyalty and is fiercely resistant to change. More deeply, it is a law enforcement culture imposing new limits on how the police can operate. We’re finally asking more substantive political questions: What that does not regard black lives as worthy of protection.

And what did the cops do? They responded with a roles should be reserved for the police in our cities, and display of organized, unchecked power — on camera, in what roles would better be served by hiring more teachers, a way that many Americans might never be able to unsee. social workers or mental health experts?

In Los Angeles, where leaders on the left and the right To understand why this moment may prompt structural change, it is worth putting the latest protests into a larger have long showered resources on the police, the mayor context. To me, the past two weeks have felt like an echo of has now proposed spending $250 million more on social that heady moment late in 2017, after The New York Times services and $150 million less on policing. Last week, New and The New Yorker exposed Harvey Weinstein’s history York’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, resisted cutting the $6 billion of sexual assault. At the time, #MeToo, as an online rallying police budget; on Sunday, he promised future cuts. And in cry against sexual abuse and harassment, was more than a Minneapolis, a veto-proof majority of City Council members decade old. The Weinstein story didn’t create that move- pledged to dismantle the city’s police department.

The proximate cause of the latest protests was the ment, just as the videos of George Floyd’s death at the hands of the Minneapolis police didn’t create Black Lives Matter. horror of George Floyd’s death. But we’ve seen videos of Instead, the Weinstein news broke the dam. Since cops killing black men before and they have rarely led to then, #MeToo activism has gone on to upend society in a criminal prosecution, let alone broad societal upheaval.

What’s happening now is about more than that video.

Just as, after the Weinstein story broke, when women came forward with stories too numerous to ignore or dismiss, what we’ve seen in the last two weeks are episodes of excessive force too blatant and numerous to conclude that the problem is one of a few isolated cases.

The evidence of police brutality has become too widespread even for elected officials to ignore. They can no longer easily coddle police unions in exchange for political support; now ignoring police misconduct will become a political liability, and perhaps something will change.

Alex Vitale, a sociologist and the author of “The End of Policing,” which argues for a wholesale dismantling of American policing, told me that he has high hopes for structural change because organizers had laid the groundwork for it. “My reason for optimism is that before Minneapolis happened, there were already dozens of campaigns to divert police funding,” he said. “So that’s why that demand emerged so quickly — people were already doing that work.”

Vitale also suggested that the movement can take hold permanently, that what’s happening now has cracked “the ‘ideological armor’” of policing in America.

I think he’s right.

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Thursday, June 11, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL

What’s our motto? Out of many, one? Out of many, none?

By THOMAS. L. FRIEDMAN

T

here are so many prisms through which to view the tectonic events taking place on America’s streets since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, but to my mind the most important is that our country is in the process of renegotiating its founding motto, carried on the seal of the United States: “E pluribus unum,” or “Out of many, one.”

I’d say that our motto used to be “Out of many, one,” but it’s now heading for “Out of many, none.” I fear it could become “Out of many, me.” But I am certain that if we’re to thrive in the 21st century it needs to be “Out of many, we.”

Why do I say this? Two reasons. First, I was born and raised in Minneapolis, and I have come to realize how much its good sides and ugly sides — both of which have been on national display lately — are a microcosm of the broad national struggle over what exactly our motto should be today.

Out of many, one? Out of many, none? Out of many, me?

Out of many, we?

I was born in 1953 on the Northside, in the same part of the city as my parents were born, after their parents immigrated from Eastern Europe. The Northside was basically a ghetto of mostly Jews and blacks, who were not integrated there but isolated together by walls of racism and anti-Semitism.

After World War II, much of the Northside Jewish community made an exodus, en masse, to one suburb — St. Louis Park, because it did not have restrictions on home sales to Jews and had enough housing stock to take them all. Practically overnight a suburb that had been almost 100% white, Christian and Scandinavian became 80% white Christian Scandinavian and 20% Jewish.

If Sweden and Israel had a baby it would have been St. Louis Park.

Meanwhile, the African Americans, weighed down by structural racism — with its bad schools, zoning restrictions, polluting highway and factories, all reinforcing multigenerational poverty — mostly could not escape the Northside, which exploded in riots in 1967. When I graduated high school in St. Louis Park in 1971, we had two African Americans in our class of about 2,500.

I also had an aunt and uncle who had moved to the small town of Willmar, in west dentral Minnesota, to start a steel company in 1949, and I spent summers visiting them. For many years they, and two other Jewish families there, constituted “diversity” in the virtually all-white, largely Protestant/Catholic Willmar.

After high school, I left Minnesota to discover the world. I returned some 40 years later to write a book (partly about Minnesota) in 2015, “Thank You for Being Late,” and I found that the world had discovered St. Louis Park and Willmar.

By then, St. Louis Park High School had become 58% white, 27% black, 9% Latinx, 5% Asian and 1% Native American. The black student body was roughly split between African Americans and recent immigrants from Somalia, and my high school, which had essentially no Muslims in my day, now had more Muslims than Jews.

In May 2019 I visited Willmar High School to research a column about its transformation since my boyhood and found that its student body comprised young people from some 30 countries across Latin America, the Middle East and Asia — and nearly half the town of 21,000 was made up of Latinx, Somali and other East African and Asian immigrants.

Have no illusions; necessity was the mother of inclusion.

Willmar, like so many Minnesota towns, needed workers at all skill levels. But that’s often how walls first get broken down.

Towns in Minnesota today that cannot manage diversity know that they will most likely wither. And they are seeing places like Willmar and St. Louis Park, which still have plenty of racial issues to manage, thrive by becoming more diverse.

As I noted in my book, “Minnesota nice” — the state’s informal motto — covered for a lot of structural racism and police brutality over the years and still does. George Floyd’s death was not a freak event. But it’s also true that the state is full of people who want to get caught trying to reverse that. (Check out the Itasca Project and the Northside Achievement Zone as just two among many examples.) Floyd’s killing has shown them that the effort needs to get into a whole new gear, though.

And that brings me back to our national motto. It was easy to say “Out of many, one” when most of the “many” were white and from Europe and when the black and brown minority was small and formally and then informally not treated as equal members of the “one.”

But as St. Louis Park and Willmar testify, even a state like Minnesota is now just so much more diverse. And like the country, its major cities will become minority majorities over the next two decades. Unfortunately, this new level of diversity, rather than being a source of our strength, has lately become a source of paralysis.

That is how we got into “Out of many, none.”

Our founders created a system of divided powers, but they assumed that politicians would in the end compromise to get stuff done. Lately, however, polarization has become so tribal that compromise is impossible and the system has frozen into a veto machine, political scientist Frank Fukuyama observed. So, we can’t do anything big or hard — or together — anymore.

“As many people point out, it wasn’t symmetric polarization,” Fukuyama said in a Zoom discussion for The American Interest. “There’s been a shift clearly to the left by the Democra-

tic Party, represented by Bernie Sanders, but the real thing that changed was a shift by the Republican Party to a position that was very unfamiliar to Reagan Republicans, in which the state itself became the enemy for a lot of the Tea Party wing of the party. And then it’s captured by the Trump wing that was kind of an identitarian right-wing nationalist group. And that has led, I think, to the current crisis that we’re in, where fundamental decisions are really deadlocked.”

This paralysis has led some on the right to long for a third motto, “Out of many, me” — or as Donald Trump once proclaimed, “I alone can fix it.” Trump believes that he can simply cut through the paralysis by seizing more executive power, the Constitution be damned, but he is not alone in this view. The leaders of Russia, China, Hungary, Turkey and Brazil all share this authoritarian impulse.

This is a fantasy. The only way we are going to remain America is if our motto becomes “Out of many, we.”

“Out of many, we” acknowledges that “we the people” are now more diverse than ever — that diversity, when it can be made to work, is a tremendous source of resilience, innovation, creativity and renewal. But for that diversity to be a strength again for America, it cannot be based any longer on a white majority learning “tolerance” for nonwhites — the descendants of slaves and immigrants.

Tolerance is important to be sure. But “Out of many, we” summons us all — people of every color — to a deeper commitment to pluralism: a robust appreciation of the distinctive contribution of every community and a commitment beyond rhetoric to make sure that each one has the schools, governance and policing that enables that contribution.

I like how Kay Coles James, the first African American and the first woman to head the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, put it in a recent essay on Foxnews.com: “It’s time America takes responsibility and expands human flourishing to all of its citizens — not just the majority of them.” (Hat tip to Michael Gerson for quoting this.)

It is clearly the fear of living in such a diverse America that has brought a hard core of whites to stick with Trump no matter what he does and to encourage the Republican Party to try to hold onto power any way possible — through gerrymandering, voter suppression, control of the Senate through sparsely populated non-diverse states, and the courts — in order to keep winning the Electoral College while losing the popular vote.

That is not a sustainable strategy for sustaining America.

We need a healthy conservative party in America — one that embraces diversity but offers conservative principles for how to get the most out of it. The GOP can’t just keep trying to hold the presidency through maneuvers while losing the national vote by bigger and bigger margins.

If that continues, America, this great experiment, will eventually just blow apart. And then our tombstone will read: “Out of many — just bits, pieces and fragments.” We can’t let that happen.

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

19

Cámara de Representantes investigará industria hípica Por THE STAR

E

l presidente de la Comisión de Recreación y Deportes de la Cámara de Representantes, José ‘Che’ Pérez Cordero, anunció la celebración, el próximo lunes, 15 de junio, de una vista pública en donde se estará tomando el insumo de todos los sectores del hipismo para así delinear nuevas estrategias que resulten en un mejor desempeño.

“Durante las pasadas semanas hemos escuchado las preocupaciones de muchos sectores de nuestro hipismo, particularmente relacionados a la crisis por la cual atraviesa esta industria tan importante para el desarrollo socioeconómico de Puerto Rico. Por tal razón hemos citado a todos los componentes de este sector a una vista pública donde haremos preguntas directas y detalladas para averiguar que está pasando, porque no despunta el hipismo y que podemos hacer, desde la Cámara de Representantes, para ayudar”, comentó Pérez Cordero en comunicación escrita.

La vista se encuentra pautada para comenzar a las 10 de la mañana en el Salón de Audiencias Número 2, localizado en el Anexo de la Cámara.

La Comisión citó a la Comisión de Juegos de Puerto Rico, y su director ejecutivo, José Maymó Azize, al igual que a la gerencia del Hipódromo Camarero Racetrack, Inc., miembros de la Aso-

ciación de Criadores de Caballos Purasangre de Puerto Rico, la Confederación de Caballos de Puerto Rico y la Asociación de Dueños de Caballos de Puerto Rico.

“La intención es tener una radiografía real y detallada de lo que actualmente sucede en la industria, con datos verificables, para así hacer un estudio que permita mejorar este sector y hacer de esta industria una viable para todos y un motor para el desarrollo económico de nuestra Isla”,

agregó Pérez Cordero.

La vista se realiza bajo el amparo de la Resolución de la Cámara 95, de la autoría de Pérez Cordero, y la cual ordena a la antes mencionada Comisión a realizar un estudio comprensivo sobre la política pública existente en cuanto a la aplicación de la recreación y el deporte como elementos constituidos de la salud, el bienestar, el disfrute y la calidad de vida; y para otros fines relacionados.

Márquez denuncia nuevamente control de la JSF del proceso de aprobación del presupuesto Por THE STAR ras el anuncio del inicio de visT tas públicas sobre el presupuesto del país, el representante del Parti-

do Independentista Puertorriqueño (PIP), Denis Márquez Lebrón, denunció el miércoles, la apropiación por parte de la Junta de Supervisión Fiscal (JSF) de la agenda y la aprobación final del mismo.

“Como en años anteriores denunciamos enérgicamente la intromisión de la JSF que una vez más ha usurpado la función legislativa dictando la agenda del proceso en la discusión del presupuesto y reservándose la aprobación final del mismo con la vergonzosa colaboración de la Cámara de Representantes que le sirve de sello de goma”, expresó Márquez Lebrón en comunicación escrita.

El líder independentista hizo referencia a una carta que la JSF cursó, el pasado 29 de mayo, tanto a la

gobernadora como al liderato legislativo.

“En dicha carta la JSF establece burdamente la fecha en la que se somete el presupuesto y el tiempo que la Legislatura tiene para aprobarlo pero, al final del proceso, se reservan la aprobación final o certificación del presupuesto. Todo ello al amparo de la Ley Promesa, de la que ya hemos dicho y reiteramos, instaura una dictadura colonial y la única forma de combatirla es mediante una confrontación política que conduzca a un verdadero proceso de descolonización”, agregó Márquez Lebrón.

El también abogado emplazó al Gobierno y a la Legislatura a “tener la voluntad de retar a la JSF y sacar la cara por el pueblo convencido de que el ente impuesto por el Congreso continuará con su agenda de garantizar el pago de la deuda a costa del sacrificio y el detrimento de los puertorriqueños”.

20

Thursday, June 11, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

‘Cops,’ long-running reality show that glorified police, is canceled

By NICOLE SPERLING

“C

ops” is no longer.

The Paramount Network confirmed Tuesday that it had removed the reality show from its schedule, as protests nationwide call for police reform.

Late last month, the network had temporarily cut the show from its schedule. “‘Cops’ is not on the Paramount Network, and we don’t have any current or future plans for it to return,” a spokeswoman for the network said.

Spike TV, the predecessor to the Paramount Network, picked up “Cops” in 2013 after the show was canceled by Fox, its network home for 25 years. The show’s 33rd season was expected to premiere on Paramount on June 15.

The death of George Floyd last month in Minneapolis has catalyzed a movement, setting off hundreds of protests and efforts to change criminal justice policy. Floyd, a black man, was held down for nearly nine minutes by a white police officer.

Civil rights group Color of Change began a campaign in 2013 urging Fox not to renew the unscripted law-enforcement show and called on advertisers to withdraw support.

Since “Cops” made its debut in 1989, the group said, the

A scene from “Cops,” a reality series that debuted on Fox in 1989. Spike TV, the predecessor to the Paramount Network, picked up “Cops” in 2013. network, the show’s producers and the advertisers “have built a profit model around distorted and dehumanizing portrayals of black Americans and the criminal justice system.”

The organization argued that although “Cops” was marketed as unbiased, the show “offers a highly filtered version of crime and the criminal justice system — a ‘reality’ where the police are always competent, crime-solving heroes and where the bad boys always get caught.”

The cancellation from Fox’s prime-time lineup was a small victory for Color of Change in March 2013, until Spike TV picked up the show that May. It has run on the cable network ever since.

“This is the right move and I want to give Paramount credit for being one of the first,” said Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color of Change. “We want to see more.”

He added, “These cop reality shows that glorify police but will never show the deep level of police violence are not reality, they are PR arms for law enforcement. Law enforcement doesn’t need PR. They need accountability in this country.”

“Cops” has provided Paramount with subpar if stable ratings. In mid-May, the show had about 470,000 total viewers per episode, according to Nielsen data. To compare, “Pawn Stars” on the History channel had 816,000.

In 2017, “Cops” celebrated its 1,000th episode. Its first episode featured a raid on a Florida crack house. According to a 2005 report in Broadcasting & Cable, most police departments, which reserved the right to screen the video before the broadcast, said the show served as a recruiting tool.

The show has followed officers in Britain, Hong Kong, Russia and the United States.

Theater artists decry racism in their industry

By MICHAEL PAULSON

M

ore than 300 theater artists — black, indigenous and people of color — on Monday published a blistering statement addressed to “White American Theater” decrying racial injustice in their industry.

“You are all a part of this house of cards built on white fragility and supremacy,” said the statement, which was published on the web. “And this is a house that will not stand.”

The signatories include Pulitzer Prize winners Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Quiara Alegría Hudes and LinManuel Miranda; film and television stars Viola Davis and Blair Underwood; and many Tony Award winners, including actor and director Ruben Santiago-Hudson and playwright David Henry Hwang, who is the chair of the American Theater Wing.

The statement is the artists’ response to the unrest that has roiled the United States since George Floyd, a 46-yearold black man, was killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.

In the weeks that followed, as discussion of race relations has intensified, numerous black theater artists have taken to social media to describe experiences of racism.

Two playwrights have begun surveying theatermakers of color about their experiences.

The Broadway Advocacy Coalition, an organization pressing for social change, this week is holding a three-part forum “for the Broadway community to heal, listen, and hold itself accountable to its history of white supremacy.”

In Britain, a group of theater artists has put together its own letter, calling for greater disclosure about diversity statistics by theaters there.

There is even a petition circulating to make the Apollo Theater, the historic Harlem venue, a Broadway house.

The statement addressing “White American Theater,” outlining the ways in which, it argues, artists of color are unjustly treated in the theater world, declares itself to be “in the legacy of August Wilson’s ‘The Ground on Which I Stand’,” an important 1996 speech by the playwright about race and the American stage.

Headlined “We See You, White American Theater,” the statement repeatedly uses the phrase “we see you” to punctuate its observations about the theater world, and adds, “We have always seen you. And now you will see us.”

It expresses concerns about programming (“We have watched you program play after play, written, directed, cast, choreographed, designed, acted, dramaturged and

produced by your rosters of white theatermakers for white audiences”); labor unions (“we have watched you turn a blind eye as unions refuse to confront their racism and integrate their ranks”); media (“a monolithic and racist critical culture”); and nonprofit organizations (“asking us to politely shuffle at your galas, talkbacks, panels, board meetings, and donor dinners, in rooms full of white faces, without being willing to defend the sanctity of our bodies beyond the stages you make us jump through hoops to be considered for”).

The statement comes at a time when most American theaters, including all of those on Broadway, are closed indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic and most theater artists are unemployed. As unrest in the country over race relations has intensified, many theaters, as well as many commercial theater productions, have issued statements decrying racism and pledging to support systemic change; some have also opened their doors to protesters.

It was not immediately clear who organized the statement, or what the collective’s next steps will be. Several signatories referred news media questions to an email address; an inquiry to that address was not answered. The statement was posted as a petition on change.org, where tens of thousands of people signed.

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

21

When will it be safe to sing together again?

By ALEX MARSHALL

I

magine the scene: You’re at church, belting out a hymn, and the sound is so joyful that you turn, smiling, to look around. You notice a spray of spit coming from the mouth of the person next to you: One particularly large droplet arcs toward the person in front, then lands, right on their neck.

Three months ago, you might have thought that moment was gross. Today, you’d probably find it frightening.

In the space of a few months, group singing has gone from being something life-affirming to a potential source of disease, even death.

Outbreaks of the coronavirus have been linked with choir rehearsals and church services in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, and, this month, South Korea.

Some countries have banned group singing as a result, and scientists are studying the risks. But with conflicting messages from authorities worldwide, singers are left for now with little but anxiety.

To many scientists and doctors, the risk of singing is clear.

“It’s not safe for people to simply return to the choir room and pick things up,” Lucinda Halstead, president-elect of the Performing Arts Medical Association, said in a telephone interview.

William Ristenpart, a chemical engineer at the University of California, Davis, who has studied how disease-carrying particles spread during speech, said in a Zoom interview that he “would strongly agree with the assessment that singing, especially indoors in enclosed spaces, is a terrible idea right now.”

The most obvious reason that singing is a risk for virus transmission is that droplets of saliva can spray from someone’s mouth, just like when they cough, Ristenpart said. Those droplets can be made out of the mucus that coats the lungs and larynx, and could contain virus particles.

But a potentially bigger issue comes from particles you can’t see, called aerosols, he added. Those are so light that they travel “wherever the air currents take them,” Ristenpart said.

“Think of it like smells,” he said. “If someone on the other side of your house starts baking chocolate-chip cookies, eventually you smell the chocolate aroma.”

In a poorly ventilated room, aerosols would accumulate.

There is uncertainty over whether aerosols spread the virus, but Ristenpart said outbreaks among some choir groups would sug-

gest they had played a role, especially because the attendees in some cases said they had followed social-distancing rules.

Ristenpart’s research has focused on speech, but other researchers are studying aerosol production from singing specifically. In May, members of the Bavarian Radio Chorus, a choir in Munich, took part in experiments organized by the Ludwig Maximilian University in which choristers inhaled vapor from an ecigarette and then sang, so researchers could see the plume of aerosols that emerged and watch how it behaved. Matthias Echternach, the project’s lead researcher, said in a telephone interview that he hoped to reveal preliminary results this month.

Echternach said his group had also looked at whether wearing a mask had an effect on how aerosols spread, as a potential — if hot and uncomfortable — way to minimize risk. The researchers have also studied the effects of wearing a plastic face shield, he said. A boy’s choir in Austria had started to rehearse wearing those, he added, but in his team’s experiments, the aerosols simply hit the shield, then spread out around it and into the room.

“They’re meaningless,” he said. “Unfortunately.”

Governments and health authorities around the world have taken different approaches to turning this scientific advice into rules and guidelines. Health officials in the Netherlands, where more than 100 choristers became ill after a single concert in Amsterdam, have advised against all “joint singing activities.” In Germany, the rules vary by region: In some, choirs can rehearse with 10 feet between singers; in others, group singing is banned, including at religious gatherings. (When a church near Frankfurt ignored the rules May 10, it led to a cluster of infections.)

In Norway, 50 people or fewer can sing together, as long as everyone keeps at least 1 meter, or 3 feet, apart. Just over half the country’s choirs have returned to practice, Asmund Maehle, secretary general of the Norwegian Choir Association, said in a telephone interview.

In the United States, the question of whether and how groups can safely sing together is becoming more urgent, as states allow houses of worship to open across the country.

In May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance that churches should ensure choirs at services follow social distancing, revising previous advice that said they should “consider suspending or at least

decreasing” singing in services.

The same month, Halstead of the Performing Arts Medical Association spoke on a 2 1/2-hour-long webinar co-organized by the association, which has been widely viewed and discussed among America’s choirs. In it, she was asked: “Can you imagine a safe way to have a rehearsal right now?” Her answer was blunt: “No, I can’t.”

She quickly clarified the comment, saying that if “it’s a small group and it’s outside and the wind is not at your back,” the risk of catching the virus while singing would be reduced.

But she said that until there was a vaccine or rapid testing, no one should be returning to choir rehearsal as they had known it before the pandemic, with many of singers gathered in a room. A vaccine could be over a year away, she added.

Her comments sparked panic among some choirs and singing teachers in the United States — one podcast said comments in that webinar were a “death sentence.” But in a telephone interview, Halstead said that people should realize changes to rehearsals would only be temporary and that singing in small groups was still possible.

“This is only temporary.” she said. “God understands you can’t sing right now.”

Members of the boys’ choir at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim spaced out at least five feet apart to perform in May. Since then, Norway has reduced the required distance to three feet.

22

Thursday, June 11, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

AMC says ‘almost all’ U.S. theaters will reopen in July

A small group of moviegoers watch “Bloodshot” at the AMC Village 7 in Manhattan, March 14, 2020.

By BROOKS BARNES

I

t’s almost showtime. But how many people will show?

Movie theaters around the world are reopening, with AMC Theaters, the world’s largest cineplex operator, announcing Tuesday that “almost all” of its locations in the United States and Britain would reopen next month.

Overall, theaters in 90% of overseas markets will be running again by mid-July, according to the National Association of Theater Owners, a trade organization for movie exhibitors in 98 countries.

In just three weeks, Hollywood is scheduled to restart its supply pipeline of new films. “Unhinged,” a $33 million Russell Crowe thriller, will arrive in theaters July 1, followed in mid-July by Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” a $200 millionplus mind bender.

The question, however, is whether people — even while watching movies in well-sanitized theaters with limited capacity — will feel safe from the coronavirus, the spread of which rose to a worldwide high Sunday, as measured by new cases. As the United States has started to reopen its economy, new hot spots have emerged. Mass protests against police brutality raise the specter of a coronavirus surge in the coming weeks.

“Moviegoers will be looking for assurance that condi-

tions are completely safe,” said David A. Gross, who runs Franchise Entertainment Research, a movie consultancy.

“There is real and legitimate concern.”

Theater executives say they are confident that aggressive safety measures will offset any fears. Some states, including California, the nation’s No. 1 movie market (New York is second), are requiring cinemas to limit capacity to 25%, at least initially. Groups will be seated at least 6 feet apart in a “checkerboard” style. Some cinemas may designate arrival times for ticket buyers to reduce last-minute crowding at concession counters. More theaters will allow patrons to order concessions with their phones. Seats will be sanitized before each showtime; California officials asked theater owners to consider using disposable seat covers.

Theater employees will be required to wear masks.

Moviegoers may only be encouraged to wear them.

AMC said it was looking into high-tech vacuums, “electrostatic sprayers” and upgraded ventilation systems.

Clorox may serve as a cleanliness adviser.

“We are confident we are taking the necessary steps on a broad array of fronts,” Adam Aron, AMC’s chief executive, said.

Theater owners are desperate to start selling tickets again. Kansas-based AMC said Tuesday that it lost $2.18 billion in its latest quarter, compared with a loss of $130 mil-

lion a year earlier. Revenue totaled $942 million, a 22% decline. As of April 30, AMC had $718 million in cash, enough to stave off bankruptcy through the fall even if theaters remain closed.

“There will be significant pent-up demand,” Aron told analysts Tuesday, citing early ticket sales in Norway, where AMC theaters began to reopen last week. He said that 83% of available tickets had been sold and that concession sales were commensurate with a year ago. “Amazing but true,” he said.

Last week, AMC, which is controlled by China’s Dalian Wanda Group, said in a filing that “substantial doubt exists about our ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time” because of the disruption caused by the pandemic.

The sputtering U.S. economy could pose additional challenges. Moviegoing has been relatively recession-proof in recent decades, but this time could be different. The economic fallout of the pandemic has been severe, with tens of millions of people out of work.

“We are under no illusions,” Aron said. “The waters will be choppy. There may be unforeseen tosses and turns.”

Cinemark, a Texas-based chain that operates 6,132 screens in the United States and Latin America, recently reported a quarterly loss of about $59 million, compared with profit of $33 million a year earlier. Revenue totaled $544 million, a 24% decline. Cinemark has a cash balance of roughly $640 million.

Cinemark said it would begin reopening theaters in the United States on June 19, with the goal of having every location popping popcorn again by July 10.

“We will have a significant amount of promotion and welcome-back pricing,” Mark Zoradi, Cinemark’s chief executive, told analysts on a conference call, emphasizing “highly discounted” concessions.

Tennessee-based Regal Theaters, which operates cinemas in 42 states, has indicated that it would also reopen in July. Regal has been owned by Cineworld of Britain since 2018. Cineworld has not yet reported financial information for the spring period.

Theaters were already feeling pressured by streaming before the pandemic. Since theaters have been shut, some studios have released movies through video services. Last month, Universal vowed to make more films available without an exclusive theatrical run even when theaters reopen, prompting Aron to announce a boycott of Universal films.

“With this proposed action to go to the home and theaters simultaneously, Universal is breaking the business model and dealings between our two companies,” he said in a letter to the studio’s chairwoman, Donna Langley.

His tone was more measured Tuesday. “We are in active negotiations with Universal, but no movies made by Universal Studios are currently on our docket,” Aron said.

“We will see how it all shakes out.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

23

The challenges of pandemic dental care

By JANE E. BRODY

O

n March 20, when Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York ordered nonessential businesses closed, a colorful sign appeared in the window of my dentist’s office. It reads, “We are still here for you! Call our office if you are having dental pain or an emergency.”

Like so many others, Dr. Edward Lee, a general dentist, and his brother and partner, Dr. Richard Lee, an orthodontist, have been unable to serve their non-urgent patients during the COVID-enforced closures put in place to flatten the soaring curve of the pandemic in New York. In addition to their young families, they support an office staff of 13.

“We had to furlough all but two members of the staff, leaving the rest to depend on unemployment insurance, or there wouldn’t be a business for them to return to when we could reopen,” Edward Lee told me.

His main frustration: “Every stage of dental care has a level of urgency. Problems that were put off can flare up. If patients are in pain, it’s already too late. Yet while podiatry offices were allowed to remain open, people were told it’s OK not to see the dentist right now.”

While certain issues can be discussed with dentists over the phone and remedies recommended, dental care is generally less amenable to telehealth visits than regular medical care.

Patients like me needing routine or nonurgent care, like a semiannual cleaning or a crown to complete an implant procedure, have had to wait until restrictions were lifted for my dentist to provide the upclose-and-personal care I require.

In the meantime, like many other dentists, the Lees have upgraded their already high-end dental equipment and mapped out enhanced safety practices that they expect to maintain indefinitely.

“COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon, and these measures can help protect us and our patients from anything else that might come along in the future,” Lee said. “We have to behave as if this virus will always exist. This is the new normal.”

Actually, even without the additional protective measures these dentists have installed after the pandemic struck New York

Even without the additional protective measures dentists have installed after the pandemic struck New York with force, the risk to patients in their immaculate facility would have been minimal. with force, the risk to me in their immaculate facility would have been minimal. In a properly maintained dental office, practitioners are at higher risk of infection than patients.

“We always did a lot with respect to personal protective equipment and keeping the office clean, and now we’re tweaking what we already did to be even safer,” Lee said. After every patient, all surfaces in the treatment room are wiped down with a chemical that kills viruses within one minute. To clean instruments, a top-of-the-line autoclave is used that first sucks all the air and liquid out of instruments and then sterilizes them with high heat and pressure before drying them completely to minimize the risk of recontamination.

On May 20, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued updated guidelines for dentists preparing to resume nonemergency dental care that include recommendations for treating those with COVID-19 as well as those without the virus. Such strategies are important because no test is 100% accurate. There have been many false negatives for COVID-19, so even if I tested negative the day before coming to the office, it would not guarantee that I don’t have the virus.

Dental procedures are especially

challenging because many involve the use of high-pressure sprays of water and air that could disperse virus-containing aerosols from a patient into the treatment room.

Lee knows people worry about aerosols, which is why the office has installed high efficiency particulate air filtration to keep the air cleansed and moving. The dentists are now also using a special device to control aerosols that are unavoidable during dental procedures. For practitioner protection against aerosols, the dental hygienists now wear face shields when cleaning teeth, as will the dentists under certain circumstances.

The Lees are also taking further steps to protect both their workers and the workers’ families from COVID-19. All employees wear masks, gloves and gowns, and at the end of the workday, these are left at the office and cleaned.

Still, these dentists are among many others worried about the risks to patients who postponed dental care during imposed COVID lockdowns. A patient who in January may have had a cavity that could have been addressed with a simple filling may now have a much larger area of decay that requires a more costly and involved root canal or even removal of the tooth and an implant.

Patients who had had a tooth pulled and were ready to get an implant when the pandemic struck and dental offices closed could have lost enough bone during the delay to impair the success of implant surgery. Or if, as in my case, the implant was already in place, but the usual months of healing had passed and the patient was awaiting placement of a crown, the surrounding teeth could have shifted toward the empty space, leaving insufficient room for the false tooth.

I now understand why a friend’s dental surgeon advised him to have an implant done while COVID-19 infections peaked in New York City. The procedure, my friend said, was done with extraordinary attention to safety, and all went well.

A treatment delay during the dental lockdown is potentially even more serious for those with moderate or severe periodontal disease, which afflicts 1 in 20 adults aged 20 to 64.

Gum infections cause body-wide inflammation that raises the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes, both of which in turn increase the risk of acquiring a life-threatening coronavirus infection. In fact, inflammation alone is a risk factor for developing COVID-19.

For young orthodontic patients, Lee said, “timing is everything. More aggressive treatment may be needed if treatment is postponed. Pediatric patients could age out of treatment and may need surgery in the future as an adult,” he said.

He added, “Personally, I was comfortable with opening up in early May but waited until the governor gave his OK. We deal with infection control on a routine basis. This is nothing new for us.”

Both in the dentist’s office and elsewhere, there is another important safety issue that concerns everyone, especially people who already had COVID-19 and recovered and those who are tested and shown to have antibodies to this coronavirus. Neither a prior infection nor the presence of antibodies guarantees protection against a new COVID infection. It is not yet known how many antibodies are needed to prevent it, how potent the antibodies have to be or how long their protection may last. These are the same as-yet unanswered concerns surrounding the effectiveness of any future vaccine.

24

Thursday, June 11, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

This NASA mission may cause an artificial meteor shower

By JONATHAN O’CALLAGHAN

I

f all goes to plan, in September 2022 a NASA spacecraft, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission, or DART, will slam into a space rock with the equivalent energy of 3 tons of TNT. The goal is to nudge the orbit of its target object ever so slightly, a practice run to see if we could divert an asteroid from a catastrophic impact with our planet in the future.

The impact on that asteroid could produce the first meteor shower ever to result from human activities in space, according to a paper published this year in The Planetary Science Journal. Observing the shower could let scientists on Earth study the composition of near-Earth asteroids. But this cloud of debris would also mark a small irony for a space mission that has a goal of helping to protect our planet.

If this small shower of space rocks reaches our planet, it will create a minuscule amount of peril for orbiting satellites. Although the risk is tiny, the study’s author says, anticipating the effects of the spacecraft’s operations could establish a template for future space missions to minimize their effect on Earth and the commons of space through which it travels.

NASA plans to launch the 1,100-pound DART spacecraft in 2021. Its target is Didymos, a pair of near-Earth asteroids that travel around the sun together. DART is aiming for the smaller of the two, affectionately named Didymoon, which measures about 535 feet across and orbits the larger asteroid. The force of the impact is expected to change Didymoon’s 11.92-hour orbit by about four minutes, a big enough change for telescopes on Earth to detect. If it succeeds, the mission might help confirm that humanity’s best defense against a rogue asteroid is to bump it into another orbit away from Earth.

Didymos makes passes of our planet at a minimum of 4 million miles — or 16 times the Earth-moon distance — approximately every 20 years. Its next close pass is scheduled for Oct. 4, 2022, at a distance of about 6.6 million miles, just after DART is scheduled to impact Sept. 30, making observations from Earth easier.

The impact is expected to produce between 22,000 and

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In a photo provided by NASA, an artist’s concept of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft, which, if all goes well, will slam into a space rock and knock it into a different orbit.

220,000 pounds of centimeter-sized debris.

“There’s a fair amount of material that will be ejected,” said Paul Wiegert, the paper’s author and an astronomy professor at the University of Western Ontario.

Most of the wreckage should be ejected at less than about 2,000 mph and will follow the orbit of the asteroid, with no chance of reaching Earth for thousands of years. If some of the debris reaches more than about 13,000 mph, which will depend on the structure of the asteroid and the angle of impact, it could make the relatively short jump to Earth in as little as 15 to 30 days.

The amount of material that could reach Earth is modest; Wiegert estimates perhaps a few grams, resulting in only “a few to 10” meteors visible in our night sky over a few days.

But that could be enough to learn more about the composition of the asteroid as the meteors disintegrate.

“When they burn out, they emit some light,” said Audrey Bouvier, a planetary scientist from the University of Bayreuth in Germany. And by analyzing the spectrum of that light, Bouvier says, it is possible to “establish which elements were present.”

The prospect that any of this debris will damage Earthorbiting satellites is negligible. Tom Statler, the program scientist for DART at NASA, says the team’s own analysis shows there is “no significant debris hazard.”

But however remote the risks from the DART mission, Wiegert and other astronomers suggest that it will set an important precedent.

Aaron Boley, a planetary astronomer at the University of British Columbia, notes this would be the first time human activity on an asteroid ejects debris that reaches Earth.

“Space is big, but what we do in space can affect us,” he said.

Future human activities in space, such as near-Earth asteroid mining and further planetary defense testing, could shed more material that arrives in Earth’s orbit. That means the DART mission might be an opportunity to consider how human activities in deep space affect life on and around Earth.

“There’s an opportunity here for a clear demonstration of astro-environmental stewardship,” Boley said.

Boley suggests that changes to the DART mission could avert debris reaching Earth in that 15- to 30-day time frame and set a precedent for future asteroid activities. According to Wiegert’s calculations, if the impact occurs outside of a window one week before or after the asteroid’s closest approach with Earth on Oct. 4, no material would cross the planet’s path this quickly.

“If it’s the case that launching it two weeks later or earlier does not have any additional operational effect on the mission, then it would be worth it to set the precedent,” Boley said.

Statler, however, says that the timing of the impact is “dictated by orbital dynamics and communication with Earth” and that the planned impact date would also allow for optimal viewing by ground-based observatories, so it would not be feasible to reschedule it.

While DART poses no meaningful risk, Wiegert says future asteroid missions should take the debris issue into account, just as missions closer to Earth need to better plan for space junk they leave in orbit. “It’s the first of a possibly large number of meteoroid streams we might create in the solar system that could become a hazard,” he said.

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NEGRÓN SANTANA, LA SUCESIÓN DE ANGEL compuesta por todos los NEGRÓN MARRERO demandados; la JOHN Y LA SUCESIÓN DE DOE Y JANE DOE ENGRACIA SANTANA Demandados APONTE compuesta CIVILNUM: NJ20I9CV00011. por sus herederos: SOBRE: DOMINIO CONTRAHECTOR JOSÉ NEGRÓN DICTORIO. EDICTO. ESTASANTANA; RITA NEGRÓN DOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. SANTANA. IDA IRIS UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASONEGRÓN SANTANA, CIADO DE P.R. ERNESTO LUIS NEGRON A: ERNESTO LUIS SANTANA; NELIDA NEGRÓN SANTANA; NEGRÓN SANTANA; LA MARÍA ELENA NEGRON SUCESIÓN DE ANGEL ORTIZ, CARLOS RUBEN NEGRÓN SANTANA NEGRÓN ORTIZ, ANGEL compuesta por sus RAFAEL GUTIERREZ herederos, ELSIE MIRIAM NEGRÓN; IRIS EDUARDA NEGRON ORTIZ, ANGEL GUTIERREZ NEGRÓN, NEGRÓN ORTIZ; MARÍA Y JARMINA RAMÍREZ ELENA NEGRON ORTIZ, JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE, CARLOS RUBEN CUALQUIER PERSONA NEGRON ORTIZ Y LUIS IGNORADA A QUIEN ALBERTO NEGRÓN PUEDA PERJUDICAR ORTIZ; LA SUCESIÓN LA INSCRIPCIÓN DE OSCAR NEGRÓN SOLICITADA O A SANTANA, compuesta CUALQUIER PERSONA por sus herederos: QUE TENGA INTERÉS NORMA IRIS NEGRÓN O DERECHO REAL EN RIVERA; JOSÉ ANTONIO DICHO BIEN INMUEBLE NEGRÓN RIVERA, LUIS Y QUE PUEDA SER ANGEL NEGRÓN RIVERA, PERJUDICADA POR CARMEN SOCORRO DICHA INSCRIPCIÓN NEGRÓN RIVERA Y JOSÉ Por la presente se les notifica RAÚL NEGRON RIVERA; que la parte demandante ha LA SUCESIÓN DE MARÍA presentado en este Tribunal una acción para que el Tribunal ESTHER NEGRÓN Ordene inscribir a su nombre SANTANA, compuesta por como titular registral, la prosus herederos: MARÍA piedad que se describe como NATASHA GUTIERREZ sigue y que es una segregación de la finca número Seis Mil NEGRÓN; ANGEL Cuatrocientos Setenta y Uno RAFAEL GUTIERREZ (6,471): “RUSTICA: PARCELA NEGRÓN; CARMEN RITA NUMERO TRES (3): Predio GUTIERREZ NEGRÓN, de terreno radicado en el Barrio Cedro Abajo del término E IRIS EDUARDA municipal de Naranjito, Puerto GUTIERREZ NEGRÓN, Rico con una cabida superficial LA SUCESIÓN DE PILAR de SEIS MIL OCHOCIENTOS UNO PUNTO SETENTA Y SEIS NEGRÓN SANTANA, MIL DOSCIENTOS TREINTA Y compuesta por sus METROS CUADRADOS herederos: JOSÉ LUIS UNO (6,801.76231 me) equivalenRODRÍGUEZ NEGRÓN Y te a UNO PUNTO SETENTA A N A B E L RODRÍGUEZ Y TRES MIL CINCUENTA Y NEGRÓN, LA SUCESIÓN CINCO CUERDAS (1.73055 DE LUIS OSCAR NEGRÓN cdas); en lindes por el NORTE y ESTE, con Parcela NumeRIVERA, compuesta por ro Dos SEGREGADA, por el JARMINA RAMIREZ, SUR, con la carretera municipal existente, y por el OESTE, y La SUCESIÓN DE con el remanente de la finca EUSEBIA RIVERA Que el predio antes ALICEA, compuesta por principal”. descrito es una segregación de NORMA IRIS NEGRÓN la finca inscrita a nombre de la RIVERA; LUIS ANGEL Sucesión de Angel Negrón MaLEGAL NOTICE

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Thursday, June 11, 2020 rrero, número Seis M i l Cuatrocientos Setenta y Uno (6,471), inscrita al Folio Ochenta y Dos (82), Tomo Noventa y Tres (93) de Naranjito, Catastro Número Cuarenta y Dos guión Ciento Sesenta y Ocho guión Cero Cero Cero guión Cero Cero Tres guión Cero Ocho (42-168000-003-08). Se le notifica además a toda persona que tenga algún derecho real sobre el inmueble anteriormente descrito o cualquier persona ignorada que pueda ser perjudicada por esta inscripción y en general a todo el que tuviere motivo para oponerse, que comparezca a alegar cualquier derecho que tuviere en un término de veinte (20) días, a partir de la fecha de publicación del último edicto, excluyendo el día de su publicación, presentando su alegación a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr. salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal. Representa a la parte demandante, el abogado cuyo nombre y dirección se consigna de inmediato: LCDO. HECTOR M. MARRERO MARRERO 95 CALLE GEORGETTI, SUITE 1 APARTADO POSTAL 283 NARANJITO, PUERTO RICO 00719 TELÉFONO: 787-869-0806 EMAIL: marreroh@gmail.com En Bayamón, Puerto Rico a 21 de febrero de 2020. LCDA. LAURA I SANTA SANCHEZ, Secretaria Regional. Verónica Rivera Rodriguez, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal I. ***

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LJBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDlCIAL DE MAYAGUEZ.

PR RECOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT JV, LLC DEMANDANTE vs.

JACQUELINE PEREZ TORRES H/N/C MARIKAO COFFEE & BEANS, JAVIER RIVERA PEREZ & LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

DEMANDADOS CIVIL NUM: MZ2019CV01473.

SALA: 205. SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO Y EJECUCION DE GRAVAMEN MOBILIARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: JACQUELINE PEREZ TORRES H/N/C MARIKAO COFFEE & BEANS, POR SI Y EN

staredictos@thesanjuandailystar.com

25

REPRESENTACION DE ORIENTAL BANK; LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BANCO SANTANDER DE GANANCIALES - Plaza PUERTO RICO COMO del Mercado Kiosk #8, SUCESOR EN DERECHO 75 Calle Pablo Casals DE SANTANDER Mayagüez, Puerto Rico MORTGAGE; 00682 DORAL MORTGAGE A: JAVIER RIVERA CORPORATION T/C/C PEREZ, POR SI Y EN DORAL MORTGAGE, REPRESENTACION DE LLC., POR CONDUCTO LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE DE SU AGENTE GANANCIALES RESIDENTE CT - Plaza del Mercado CORPORATION Kiosko # 8, 75 Calle Pablo SYSTEM; FEDERAL Casals Mayagüez, Puerto DEPOSIT INSURANCE Rico 00682.

CORPORATION (FDIC) POR LA PRESENTE se le COMO SÍNDICO DE emplaza y requiere para que DORAL BANK; LA conteste la demanda dentro de SUCESIÓN DE ISMAEL los treinta (30) días siguientes RODRÍGUEZ VÁZQUEZ a la publicacion de este Edicto.

Usted deberá presentar su aleCOMPUESTA POR gación responsiva a traves del FULANO DE TAL, Sistema Unificado de Manejo y POSIBLE HEREDERO Administracion de Casos (SUDESCONOCIDO, LA MAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente direc- SUCESIÓN DE MARTHA cion electrónica: https://unired. ELENA CARO SEGARRA ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se COMPUESTA POR represente por derecho propio, MENGANO DE TAL, en cuyo caso deberá presentar POSIBLE HEREDERO su alegación responsiva en la secretaria del tribunal. Si usted DESCONOCIDO, LA deja de presentar su alegación SUCESIÓN DE GENTAY responsiva dentro del referido RODRÍGUEZ CARO termino, el tribunal podrá dicCOMPUESTA POR tar sentencia en rebeldía en SUTANEJO DE TAL, su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o POSIBLE HEREDERO cualquier otro sin más citarle ni DESCONOCIDO; SUTANO oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discrecion, lo en- Y PERENCEJO DE TAL, tiende procedente. El sistema POSIBLES TENEDORES SUMAC notificará copia al aboDESCONOCIDOS DEL gado de la parte demandante, PAGARÉ el Lcdo. José F. Aguilar Vélez cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787} 993-3731 a la direccion: jose. aguilar@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law. com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, hoy día 23 de enero de 2020. En Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, el 23 de enero de 2020. Lic. Norma G. Santana Irizarry, Sec Regional II. Jazmin Sanabria Torres, Sec Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN GERMÁN.

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

PARTE DEMANDANTE VS.

CHASE MANHATTAN BANK N.A. POR CONDUCTO DE SU SUCESOR EN DERECHO ORIENTAL BANK & TRUST T/C/C

(787) 743-3346

de Pagaré Extraviado por la vía judicial. El 28 de agosto de 1985, Ismael Rodríguez Vázquez y su esposa Elena Caro Segarra constituyeron hipoteca en San Juan, Puerto Rico, conforme a la Escritura núm. 8 autorizada por el notario Ramón A. Cacho en garantía de un pagaré por la suma de $33,400.00 a favor de Chase Manhattan Bank N.A o a su orden, con intereses al 10.50% anual y vencedero el 1 de septiembre de 2015, sobre la siguiente propiedad: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número 2 del bloque B del plano de inscripción de la Urbanización Vale Verde Development situada en el Barrio Maresua de San Germán, con una cabida superficial de 303.752 metros cuadrados. Colinda por el: NORTE en un área de servicios comunales; por el SUR, con la calle A de la urbanización, en una distancia de 0.462 metros mas 0.049 metros y 0.868 metros; por el ESTE, con el solar número 3 del bloque B, distancia de 20.188 metros; y por el OESTE, en una distancia de 23.077 metros. La propiedad y la escritura de hipoteca constan inscritas al folio 184 de tomo 407 de San Germán, Finca 13479. Registro de la Propiedad de San Germán. Inscripción primera. La parte demandada deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, PARTE DEMANDADA en cuyo caso deberá presentar CIVIL NÚM. SG2020CV00031 su alegación responsiva en la (307). SOBRE: CANCELA- secretaría del Tribunal. Se le CIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRA- advierte que, si no contesta la VIADO POR LA VÍA JUDICIAL. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS E.E.U.U. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

demanda, radicando el original de la contestación en este Tribunal y enviando copia de la contestación a la abogada de la parte demandante, Lcda. Belma Alonso García, cuya dirección es: PO Box 3922, Guaynabo PR 00970-3922, Teléfono y Fax: (787) 789-1826, correo electrónico: oficinabelmaalonso@gmail.com, dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, excluyéndose el día de la publicación, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará Sentencia en su contra, concediendo el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal, hoy 4 de JUNIO de 2020, en San Germán, Puerto Rico. LIC. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA REGIONAL II. LYDIA SANTIAGO, SEC AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I.

LEGAL NOTICE ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE GUAYAMA.

MARIA TERESA BERNIER GONZALEZ, MARCELINO VILLARONGA CAPO DEMANDANTE V.

DORAL MORTGAGE CORPORATION y/o FULANO DE TAL, tenedor desconocido o parte con interés

DEMANDADO CIVIL NO. GM2020CV00268.

SOBRE: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS EL ESTADO LIBRE

San Juan

Queda usted notificado que en este Tribunal se ha radicado Demanda sobre Cancelación

DE

POR LA PRESENTE, se le notifica a usted que ha sido radicada en esta Secretaria del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, Puerto Rico, la demanda de epígrafe.

Se le emplaza y requiere para que notifique al Lcda. Gwendolyn Moyer Alma, cuya dirección es: Vistas del Bosque 216 Calle Real, Bayamón, Puerto Rico 00956 Teléfono: 787-638-5870.

Abogado de la parte demandante, copia de la Contestación a la Demanda, dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación final de este Edicto, y su envio a su dirección postal de récord, si dejare de hacerlo podrá dictarse contra usted Sentencia en Rebeldía en contra suya, concediendo el remedio solicitado en la demanda.

Sin más citarle ni oírle. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal” EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el Sello del Tribunal, hoy 5 de JUNIO de 2020.

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26

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

US Soccer reconsiders its national anthem policy

By ANDREW DAS

U

.S. Soccer’s board of directors met Tuesday to discuss rescinding a policy that requires players and staff members to “stand respectfully” for the national anthem, joining FIFA, the NFL and other sports organizations that are reconsidering their stance on the right of athletes to peacefully protest, even when they are on the field.

The board’s discussion took place on a conference call arranged by U.S. Soccer’s new president, Cindy Parlow Cone, who called it after several federation staff members raised the anthem policy in a federation-wide all-hands meeting last week. The prospect of repealing the rule has since gained the backing of the players associations representing the men’s and women’s national teams.

It was not clear if U.S. Soccer’s board would reach a decision Tuesday, or delay any vote, or announcement, until its regularly scheduled board meeting Friday.

Objections to the anthem policy are not new. Since its inception in March 2017 after a series of kneeling protests by star midfielder Megan Rapinoe, the rule had long been derided as unclear in its requirements, divisive among fans and unpopular with the players that were its target. But after protests about police violence in more than 600 U.S. cities in recent weeks raised questions about representation, unequal treatment and limits on expression in workplaces across the country — including inside a U.S. Soccer federation still recovering from its own culture crisis — overturning it took on a renewed urgency.

On Monday night, the players associations representing the men’s and women’s national teams, as well as the influential U.S. Soccer Athlete Council, joined the campaign. The lawyer for the men’s team called the policy “an ill-advised and insensitive political statement” and said the players he represents never had any intention of honoring it.

A statement from the women’s team went further, demanding that U.S. Soccer not only repeal the policy and acknowledge it was wrong when it was adopted but also issue “an apology to our black players and supporters.”

Megan Rapinoe kneeling before a game against the Netherlands in 2016.

U.S. Soccer’s conversations about abandoning the policy, which was most likely unenforceable against the senior national teams, were taking place amid similar backtracking by other leagues.

Last week, Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, released a video in which he pledged to support the players’ concerns and also their right to peacefully protest — a startling U-turn for a league that paid a multimillion-dollar settlement to settle claims that quarterback Colin Kaepernick was blackballed from the league after kneeling to protest police brutality during the national anthem.

The NBA has had an anthem rule on its books since 1981 that compels coaches, players and trainers “to be present, stand and line up in a dignified posture,” and the players have never pushed to have it changed. But numerous NBA players have taken part in recent protests, and six weeks before games are scheduled to resume it is not clear if there will be a renewed focus on the rule, or challenges to it. But the league appears willing to discuss it.

“As has been the case of the last se-

veral years, we will work in partnership with the players on important issues like this,” Mike Bass, an NBA spokesman, said Tuesday.

U.S. Soccer’s anthem policy was enacted in 2017, several months after Rapinoe silently dropped to one knee as it was played before several matches.

Rapinoe said she was acting in solidarity with Kaepernick and to amplify his concerns about racial injustice and police brutality. The protests by Kaepernick, Rapinoe and other athletes angered many, though, and almost immediately the discussion devolved into a debate about patriotism and respect for the flag instead of the underlying social issues Kaepernick had raised.

Rapinoe said: “I think that we need to look at all the things that we say the flag and the anthem mean and everybody that it represents and all the liberties and the freedoms that we want it to mean to everybody. And ask ourselves: Is it protecting everybody in the same way? Is it giving all the freedoms to everyone in the country the same way, or are there certain people that don’t feel

as protected as I do every day?”

Although Rapinoe first knelt at a National Women’s Soccer League match, her decision to continue to do so when she took the field for U.S. Soccer briefly led to her being dropped from the national team by the team’s coach, Jill Ellis. While Ellis expressed support for Rapinoe’s views, she labeled the kneeling an unwelcome “individual agenda” in a team environment.

Rapinoe’s teammate Carli Lloyd, who also said she respected Rapinoe’s opinions, called it a “distraction.”

U.S. Soccer approved the policy months later and outlined it to its members at its general meeting in March 2017. It read: “All persons representing a federation national team shall stand respectfully during the playing of the national anthems at any event in which the federation is represented.”

Punishments for violating it were never made explicit — most likely because the teams had never agreed to them — and Rapinoe soon announced she would stop kneeling and returned to the fold. By last summer’s World Cup in France, her protest had evolved: While her teammates placed their hands over their hearts and sang along with the anthem before games, Rapinoe, the team’s most prominent player, stood silently with her arms at her sides.

The twist, according to the women’s national team players association, was that the policy had never been enforceable against players on U.S. Soccer’s senior national teams.

Becca Roux, the executive director of the women’s team’s players association, noted that each team operates under its own collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Soccer and that both agreements include procedures that must be followed in the event of any change in work rules or penalties for players who might violate them.

For this reason, Roux said Monday, the anthem policy “does not now and has never applied to U.S. women’s national team players.” The union, she added, “intends to continue to resist any efforts made by the federation to require players to abide by the ‘anthem policy’ in that we never agreed to the proposed implementation of the rule.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

27

A para-swimmer is using the gap year to dominate cycling

By MATHEW FUTTERMAN

R

oderick Sewell knows about making adjustments.

He was born without tibias, but his life changed when he got his first pair of prosthetic legs at 8 years old. As a child who loved sports, he played wheelchair basketball and ran track but found true love and major success in the pool.

Sewell made the U.S. national team in the 100-meter breaststroke for his classification at the 2017 world championships, competing against athletes with amputations or very limited use of some of their limbs.

Then, last year, a friend who saw Sewell’s prowess during the swimming and running portions of a relay triathlon suggested he try doing all three parts of the race, even though he had never operated a handcycle. Six months later, Sewell completed the mother of all Ironman courses — at the Ironman world championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii — in 16 hours 26 minutes. He was the first above-the-knee, double amputee to finish the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run.

The experience prompted a series of tantalizing thoughts: Given the increasing competitiveness of Paralympic swimming, might he have a better chance of making the U.S. team in cycling rather than in swimming? Could he win a medal in either sport? Better yet, might he be skilled enough to make both teams?

When the coronavirus pandemic caused the International Olympic Committee to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Games for a year, thousands of athletes who had been training for years had their lives disrupted.

For Sewell, pushing back the games had a significant benefit: He now had an extra year to prepare for a two-sport attempt at the Paralympics, something only a few athletes do each quadrennial. And he was fairly certain that training for each event, both of which rely on his core and upper body strength, would improve his chances.

Sewell left his home in Brooklyn, N.Y. on March 3 to move to Colorado for highaltitude training. He rented an apartment on Airbnb near the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

The first week, all was well. He’d wake up in the morning, eat and go train. Then the training center closed on March 18 and Colorado effectively shut down once stay-

Searching for a place to train during the pandemic, Roderick Sewell moved to Homestead, Fla., in May. Only the beaches nearby largely remained closed for swimming. “2020 has been an interesting year,” he said. “It’s definitely not going the way we thought it would be.” at-home orders went into effect on March 26.

He remained in Colorado through the end of March, but with infection rates rising in both Colorado Springs and, especially, at home in Brooklyn, Sewell went to Milwaukee to live with a friend for most of April. Then he headed to his aunt’s house in Homestead, Fla. He assumed that with beaches scheduled to reopen in early May he could swim 2 miles in the open water each day. But the beaches near his aunt’s house remained largely closed for swimming longer than he had anticipated. Unfamiliar with the roads, he didn’t feel all that comfortable training hard with his handcycle.

So Sewell has been running as many as 7 miles a day to maintain a base level of fitness and has kept his diet in check.

Carbs in the morning, a waffle, maybe, and fruit. Meat — chicken, lamb, goat, bison — and other proteins during the daytime. Then vegetables at night. Asparagus, broccoli, spinach, especially anything dark green because of the nutrients.

As New York began to reopen, Sewell started planning to move home. Then George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, protests and civil unrest erupted across the country, and training receded a little fur-

ther back in his mind.

“2020 has been an interesting year,” he said last week from Florida. “It’s definitely not going the way we thought it would be.”

Life rarely has for Sewell, who began swimming lessons when he was 10 because his mother feared that he would drown if he fell into the small pool at their apartment complex in San Diego.

Alan Voisard, who taught Sewell his first swim strokes and still coaches him, said Sewell struggled at first. But as Sewell grew — he now stands at 6-foot-1 on his prostheses — swimming became easier, and Voisard encouraged him to begin competing.

He will need to cut a few more seconds off his time in the 100-meter breaststroke to qualify for next year’s Paralympics. He finished in 1:35.58 at the World Para Swimming Championships in 2017.

Training purists would likely say that improving on that time will require more time in the pool, but Sewell believes working on his cycling will actually help. Voisard said Sewell had already hit his swim goal in training but, in competition, he has a tendency to get excited and churn his arms, rather than feel the water and fall into an optimal rhythm for elite swimmers.

“His tempo gets off, and he ends up sort of spinning his wheels,” Voisard said.

Yet that tendency to churn, hard, with an intensity that can match his fitness and strength, made Sewell an immediate success on a hand-powered cycle.

There is no triathlon event in the Paralympics for double above-the-knee amputees. But the kneeling handcycle, a less common pursuit than swimming, may be Sewell’s best chance for success, especially with chances to medal in two handcycling road races at the games.

Now Sewell just needs pools to reopen and to get to New York, where he feels comfortable cycling in Brooklyn, Central Park or over the George Washington Bridge to the New Jersey Palisades. He plans to return this month.

After several years of teaching swimming, Sewell wants to begin training to work as a personal financial adviser, in addition to honing his skills on the handcycle. The coming racing schedule, which has yet to be announced, will help him set his time goals and training regimen — one more series of adjustments in a life filled with them.

“I can see what needs to change and what I need to fix,” he said. “It’s all about becoming one with the bike.”

28

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

North Carolina speedway that packed stands despite virus ordered shut

By JERRY GARRETT

G

ov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina has ordered an auto racing track in a rural part of the state to close after it staged events with packed stands, despite restrictions on gatherings, and became a flashpoint in the discussion on safely restarting sports.

The governor’s order said Ace Speedway, 65 miles northwest of Raleigh, the state capital, must issue public notices that its races and all other events are canceled until further notice. The speedway’s next racing events had been scheduled for June 19.

As of early Tuesday afternoon, the speedway’s Facebook page had no future events listed. Emails and telephone calls to the speedway’s owners, Robert Turner and his son Jason, went unanswered.

Cooper had imposed a standing order banning outdoor, public gatherings of more than 25 people because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The speedway, whose owners said the track faced dire financial straits, nevertheless held its season opener May 23, with a near-capacity crowd at the 5,000-seat facility, and photos and videos of the lack of social distancing and few people wearing masks made the rounds on social media.

Cooper had promised consequences for the track and had sent the Alamance County sheriff, Terry Johnson, to tell the owners to shut down. In defiance of those

urgings, the speedway’s operators held another night of racing May 30.

The Turners closed the facility to most members of the news media that night, but photos surfaced showing another big crowd, without much evidence of obeying health precautions.

Saturday, the track put on another event but called it a “First Amendment demonstration.”

A sign posted at the front gate that evening read, “This Event is held in PEACEFUL Protest of Injustice & Inequality Everywhere. Ace Speedway.”

Cooper called the events “reckless and dangerous” to public health.

“People shouldn’t run a moneymaking operation that puts in danger not only their customers but people who come in contact with their customers,” Cooper said.

“This is a reckless decision being made by the owners, pulling people together in that way that can cause spread of the virus.”

Cooper’s order said Ace Speedway could not reopen until June 22 at the earliest and only then after its plan going forward is approved by the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.

Alamance County officials said enforcement of the governor’s order rested with the sheriff, who said he didn’t understand why Ace Speedway had been “singled out.” Johnson said he was aware of other racing facilities around the state that had held events during May without

repercussions.

NASCAR, with state approval, has held events but without fans in the stands. It has issued statements distancing itself from events at Ace, though the track has held NASCAR races in the past.

Mike Forde, a spokesman for NASCAR, said Tuesday afternoon that NASCAR would begin admitting fans to select events, starting with races Sunday in Homestead, Fla., and June 21 in Talladega, Ala. More details will be announced soon, Forde said, but fans will be screened before they enter and be required to wear masks and practice social distancing.

Ace Speedway’s prior events had coincided with a spike in locally reported coronavirus cases, although public health officials have made no correlation, and there could be other factors.

On its Facebook page, the county’s health department reported Monday it had 43 new cases since the day before, and it cited several contributing factors to account for the increase, including more testing and the lifting of restrictions to allow people to move about more. Each new case is expected to expose two to three others to the virus, it added.

“Several household clusters have been identified and are the result of individuals attending cookouts, parties and other gatherings,” the department said.

The county has not released information about any cases connected to the speedway.

Bubba Wallace wants NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag

By MARIA CRAMER

N

ASCAR began asking fans to stop bringing Confederate battle flags to races in 2015, after photos circulated online of the white man who killed nine black churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., posing with the flag.

But many in NASCAR’s predominantly white Southern fan base have ignored the request and brought the flag anyway, hoisting it atop campers and RVs on fields around racetracks.

On Monday, following days of nationwide protests calling for an end to racism and police brutality, Darrell Wallace Jr., the first black driver in 50 years to win one of NASCAR’s top three national touring series, called on NASCAR to ban the flags outright.

“No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race,” Wallace, who is known as Bubba, told Don Lemon of CNN. “So it starts with Confederate flags. Get them out of here. They have no place for them.”

On Tuesday, Wallace and his team, Richard Petty Motorsports, revealed a new black paint scheme for his No. 43 Chevrolet, with the slogan “#blacklivesmatter” over the rear wheels. On the hood, a black fist and a white fist clasp in a grip above the slogan “Compassion, Love, Understanding.”

The paint scheme was to make its debut Wednesday at the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.

“It’s true, black lives do matter,” Wallace said in a video

posted on the team’s Twitter account. “It’s not that we’re saying no other lives matter. We’re trying to say that black lives matter, too. If we put ‘T-O-O’ on the end, I think a lot more people would understand it. We want to be treated equally and not judged off our skin color.”

Wallace’s call for the Confederate battle flag to be banned at NASCAR events was among the latest pushes to have the flag removed from prominent display. State officials have faced growing pressure to take down Confederate statues and other monuments that many consider symbols of racism.

On Friday, the Marine Corps issued a statement that gave detailed instructions for how to remove and ban public displays of the Confederate battle flag at Marine installations.

In a more modest move, the Army has said it would consider renaming bases named for military leaders of the Confederacy.

NASCAR and the Confederate battle flag were once seen as entwined. The flag has been ubiquitous at places like Darlington Raceway near Florence, S.C., where the annual Southern 500 is held and where fans often showcased the emblem on baseball caps, coolers and T-shirts. But as NASCAR has tried to broaden its fan base and expand to other parts of the country, leaders and drivers have pushed for more diversity in the sport and tried to show solidarity with people of color.

NASCAR representatives did not immediately respond

to calls and emails seeking comment. On Sunday, at a race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, NASCAR’s president, Steve Phelps, delivered a message over the loudspeaker in which he urged fans and NASCAR drivers to recognize the pain black people and other people of color “have suffered in our country.”

“Our country is in pain and people are justifiably angry, demanding to be heard,” he said, as drivers and crew members lowered their heads, some of them wiping away tears or holding T-shirts that said “Black Lives Matter.” “It has taken far too long for us to hear their demands for change. Our sport must do better. Our country must do better.”

Wallace, who competed in Sunday’s race and wore a shirt that read “I Can’t Breathe/Black Lives Matter,” praised NASCAR leaders for those actions. His comments about the flag Monday followed a question from Lemon about what drivers and the organization should do now.

“My next step would be to get rid of all Confederate flags,” Wallace said.

He said that in the past he had not been bothered by the flag.

“I chase checkered flags,” he said.

But Wallace said that he had dived into the discussion around the emblem and that he understood why many were disturbed by the Confederate battle flag.

He said he would talk to NASCAR officials and encourage them to get rid of the flags at races and other events.

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Sudoku

29

How to Play:

Fill in the empty fields with the numbers from 1 through 9.

Sudoku Rules: Every row must contain the numbers from 1 through 9 Every column must contain the numbers from 1 through 9 Every 3x3 square must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Crossword

Answers on page 30

Wordsearch

GAMES

HOROSCOPE Aries

30

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, June 11, 2020

(Mar 21-April 20)

Are you eager to get out of bed in the morning? This zest for life turns you into a magnet for abundance in all forms. It’s a good thing you are so adept at multitasking. Whatever direction you turn, you’re met with a pleasing project. Your charisma is strong, attracting admirers from every corner. The secret to your allure is authenticity. Rather than going along with the crowd, you’re brave enough to state your own opinions, no matter how unusual.

Libra

(Sep 24-Oct 23)

Taking control of your destiny is a wonderful decision. Instead of going along with what’s familiar, reach for something that fills you with anticipation. This could include anything from becoming a professional artist, travelling the world in better times, or getting an advanced degree. When you feel tired, spend a few moments outdoors, even if the weather is poor. Filling your lungs with fresh air and feeling the wind on your face will clear the cobwebs that have accumulated.

If you can, go for a long walk.

Taurus

(April 21-May 21)

Scorpio

Gemini

(May 22-June 21)

Sagittarius

(Nov 23-Dec 21)

Cancer

(June 22-July 23)

Capricorn

(Dec 22-Jan 20)

Patience is one of your greatest virtues. Use it to help a person who is struggling to get better. Whether you’re preparing meals for an invalid or teaching a child how to tie their shoes, your efforts will pay off. Your capacity to remain cool, calm and collected, regardless of your circumstances, will pave the way to professional success. Be prepared to ask for more money than is initially suggested when offered a leadership position.

You’re worth every penny.

This is a wonderful time to promote your agenda. Your ability to get straight to the point, citing reliable facts and figures to bolster your proposal, yields immediate results. Get ready to move forward at the speed of light with a business or creative project. Be direct with someone who lacks the experience to do a good job. Offer to train them. Working with this novice will be rewarding for you both. You’ll appreciate your student’s willingness to grow and they’ll take pleasure in your sharp wit.

Powerful emotions will prompt you to make a personal transformation. You’re no longer willing to settle for second best.

Whether you decide to undergo a fitness regime, break a bad habit or plan to relocate to another part of the world is unimportant. You’re kind and charitable towards powerless people.

Finding ways to bring comfort to their lives fills you with satisfaction. Working with a religious or charitable organisation will help you shine light into dark corners of the world.

Leo

(July 24-Aug 23)

When faced with a crisis, you do not panic. Instead, you quickly identify the source of the problem and find a solution to it. A group is so impressed by your ability to turn lemons into lemonade that they’ll ask you to be their representative. You’re highly independent and seek to be on your own as much as possible. If you can manage to devote an hour a day to personal pleasure, you’ll become much more cooperative. Give yourself the gift of me’ time.

Virgo

(Aug 24-Sep 23)

Are you yearning to make order from chaos? Start with your own living space. Take time out of your busy schedule to clear the clutter from your living and work areas.

Getting rid of unwanted items will make room for things you desire. A colleague could benefit from a pep talk.

Go out of your way to praise them for all the hard work they’ve done on a difficult job. You’ll see them perk up like a plant after a drought.

(Oct 24-Nov 22)

Trust your intuition when it comes to your domestic life.

If you feel a powerful urge to buy a new mattress, plan a garden or upgrade your kitchen, go for it. Don’t worry about the details in the early stages; simply let your enthusiasm build. You are happiest when doing work that feels meaningful. If your current job doesn’t afford this kind of satisfaction, start volunteering. Donating time to an organisation you admire will give you a new lease on life.

A neighbour’s words of encouragement mean the world to you. Don’t let all this flattery go to your head. Part of your appeal is your devil may care attitude. Continue to be guided by instinct; it’s the best roadmap you have. It’s up to you to bring balance to an unfair situation. By appealing to the people in charge, you’ll convince them to create an environment that makes everybody feel welcome. Point out how much productivity soars when people at every level feel valued.

The desire for security informs everything you do. Getting a steady, lucrative job has become an increasing priority. If that means getting specialised training or working long hours, so be it. Once you land this position, open a savings account.

Finding a way of being of service to others is becoming increasingly important. Sharing your good fortune can be as simple as cleaning the cages at an animal shelter, preparing meals for the homeless or picking up some litter.

Aquarius

(Jan 21-Feb 19)

Pursuing your heart’s desire fills you with excitement.

You’re no longer willing to suppress your needs for the sake of the group. If anyone accuses you of being selfish, remain calm. There’s nothing wrong with championing your dreams. When you have the courage to listen to your heart, it’s easy to be kind and generous towards others. Truly miserable people are those who keep depriving themselves of the things that make them happy.

Pisces

(Feb 20-Mar 20)

Looking after a loved one brings tremendous emotional satisfaction. Although you have had to do many things from a safe distance, it feels good to make an ill relative more comfortable or prepare meals for a busy romantic partner.

When it comes to expressing affection, let instinct be your guide. Your compassionate attitude towards a misunderstood relative allows healing to occur. By expressing concern for this troublemaker’s wellbeing, you’ll help them to see how their behaviour is making others miserable.

Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 29

Thursday, June 11, 2020

31

CARTOONS

Herman

Speed Bump

Frank & Ernest

BC

Scary Gary

Wizard of Id

For Better or for Worse

The San Juan Daily Star

Ziggy