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2 | Thursday, June 4 2020
NEWS Task Force
Family
of Student Development Dennis Negron, the task force will review all the feedback, make a final decision within the next week, and release an official document with new procedures and changes, which is expected to be released on June 10. The official document will list new policies, safety and health regulations and describe what the Fall 2020 semester will look like in terms of campus life and social distancing rules. “For academics, we’re asking ourselves what we have to do to make sure that classes can be held safely,” Negron said. “... In residence halls, we’re looking at what we need to do to make sure that students living in the residence hall are safe. We’re looking at how we’re going to run Saturday night student association programs, intramurals, and Gym Masters.” Additional considerations the task force is evaluating include things such as enrollment numbers, handling legalities, hosting convocations, earning worship credits and the possibility of making classes a hybrid between online and in-person. According to Negron, an example of managing large classes to practice social distancing could be having students attend in-person class once a week by signing-up for which session they will be attending, and then meeting online for the rest of the week. In regards to enrollment and the legalities of returning to a changed campus amidst the coronavirus, Negron says there is a task force designated to look into all the legalities, as well as one that is focused on enrollment management and the financial implications that could result. “We have a group that’s looking into the legalities. If a student comes to school here and gets the coronavirus on our campus, what are the legalities of that? We’re looking at everything,” Negron said. The enrollment management task force is taking into consideration the current enrollment numbers, the projected enrollment for the 2020-2021 school year and what those numbers might mean for areas such as residence life and finances. Numbers for incoming freshmen are currently better than last year’s numbers, according to Negron. However, transfer student numbers are lagging. “If there is a silver lining here, last year our transfer student numbers lagged from the previous year, yet still turned out okay once the semester began,” Negron said. “Retention of former students, though, will be key; but those numbers I have not received yet.” Students, parents and faculty can expect to receive a document via email on June 10 that will entail new policies and procedures, as well as the plan for what the 2020 fall semester will look like.
coughing. “When the baby got sick, that's when my fear really tightened up,” Fuentes said. “When my mother-in-law and my husband got sick, I was scared, and I was worried. But I didn't cry. But when my son got sick, I cried.” The family went to the hospital. Doctors tested them for the flu and strep throat, but Fuentes knew that it was something else. On March 27, their results arrived and confirmed Fuentes’ fear: It was COVID-19; and all of this happened in less than a week. Once the first symptoms began showing, the family started social distancing among themselves. They all wore masks inside the house and
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kept a distance from each other. Fuentes’ mother-in-law stayed inside her room, only coming out to pick up the food Fuentes would leave by her door. When Fuentes’ husband started feeling ill, he pitched a tent behind their house and remained there for the following weeks. Though Fuentes tried to isolate as much as possible and disinfect everything she touched, she could not leave her five sons alone. “That was hard because, for the most part, I felt like I was by myself,” Fuentes said. “Having to take care of my mother-inlaw, having to take care of my husband, having to take care of the kids— all on top of me not feeling well, either — it was definitely a struggle.” A few days after receiving their test results, her second oldest got sick, too. From that
It's not about me or you. It's much bigger than that. In the following days, symptoms would come and go, until mid-April when they completely stopped. Fevers left, coughing ceased and Fuente’s fatigue disappeared. Her husband took down the tent and moved back into the house. Her children were finally able to play together again, and her moth-
er-in-law joined them for dinner once more. It had been a bit over three weeks since the family received the positive results, and finally things were feeling normal again. Still, Fuentes says her family is still following stay-at-home orders and only going out when necessary. To her, such precautions are the best solution right now. “I know that nothing lasts forever, whether it's good or bad. But [COVID-19] is very real, and I want people to take it seriously,” Fuentes said. “It's not about me or you. It's much bigger than that. It's about others. How would you feel if your carelessness was the reason someone else got sick?”
Senate Leadership Scholarship Committee to choose from top candidates Bailey DuBose Staff Writer The application process for the Student Association (SA) Senate Leadership Scholarship opened up to eligible student leaders across the Southern Adventist University campus earlier this year. At a Senate meeting on March 4, 2020, Natasya Panjaitan and Rodny Aquino presented a proposal for additional funding for the scholarship, according to the Senate minutes. According to Panjaitan and Aquino’s presentation, there are three steps included in selecting two recipients. First, the SA Scholarship Board reviews all the applications. Next, the Financial Appeals Committee verifies the eligibility of the candidates. And, lastly, the recipients are awarded. The SA Scholarship Board
is made up of Kenny Turpen, Mark Galvez, Luis Moreno, Dennis Negron, Kari Shultz, Xenia Figueroa and Natasya Panjaitan. According to the presentation, the scholarship had $1,000 from an endowment fund, and leaders were seeking a matching donation of $1,000 from the Senate to provide two $1,000 scholarships.
The committee that was responsible for the voting of this scholarship has met and is awaiting for Student Finance to verify the eligibility of the candidates that we have suggested “This scholarship was created a few years back by SA through Advancement. The funds are
actually from an endowment fund that was established through different businesses donating towards this fund, one of the largest contributors being Papa John’s,” Panjaitan said. “The funds in the endowment fund are invested in different avenues and have a profit. That amount is what's going towards the scholarship fund. Essentially, the scholarship fund is sustainable year by year.” With the $1,000 Senate donation passed for the Leadership Scholarship at the March 4 meeting, two recipients were chosen based on certain criteria. According to the scholarship flyer that was posted on social media and sent to students via email, there were several requirements for those who applied. Those requirements included holding junior or
senior class standing, having a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or above, occupying a leadership position (excluding SA officers) and submitting a onepage essay answering the question, “How has your leadership experience at Southern shaped you into the person you are today?” The original due date for applying was March 23 but was extended to March 30 due to COVID-19, according to Senator Abby Hansen. “We do have top candidates for the scholarship recipients,” Panjaitan said. “The committee who was responsible for the voting of this scholarship has met and is awaiting for Student Finance to verify the eligibility of the candidates that we have suggested.”
Southern’s Enactus team places second in national competition Paola Mora Zepeda Editor-in-Chief For the third year in a row, the Southern Enactus team has placed second in itsl eague of the Enactus United States National Exposition. Unlike previous times, this year’s competition took place online due to COVID-19. The Enactus United States National Exposition took place from May 6 to May 14. More than 40 chapters from various universities across the country joined the competition, which was originally supposed to take place in Kansas City, Missouri. In the new online format,
each team had to present a 12-minute video showcasing the progress of its projects as well as an annual report documenting the total expenses, revenues, reach number and more. The Southern Enactus team had been working on four different projects this school year: Now Eye See, Higher TechMinded Ladies (HTML), Grow Create Share, Integrate Chattanooga and Bring It. Enactus president and recent accounting graduate, James Brown, said transitioning online meant having to refocus some projects and strategies.
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moment, the 11-year-old spent all day in the backyard, only coming inside the house to shower and sleep. Friends in the area helped Fuentes buy and deliver groceries to her door. But even then, she and her family remained strictly at home, avoiding contact with anyone outside to refrain from contaminating others.
The 2019-2020 Enactus team. Photo courtesy of James Brown.
“We continued to have our weekly discussions through Zoom,” Brown said. “We tried to focus on wrapping up our projects and mainly finding ways to help local businesses in the area, or even individuals who might be struggling because of the coronavirus.” Besides preparing for the competition, the Enactus team also started laying groundwork for the next school year, according to Brown. “Everyone [on the team] stayed really engaged in the work,” said Michelle Doucoumos, Enactus advisor. “We didn't
lose anyone after the break. Everyone still did their part and put in the time to prepare for the competition and next year.” Incoming Enactus president Ashley Blake says the new team will be focusing on COVID-19 relief efforts. “Enactus has started a summer intern position, ... which will help us to further advance our planning and get a head start on the school year,” Blake said. “We have a lot of investigative work to do. We want Enactus to be at the forefront of helping our community next school year!”
