The Vista November 17, 2020

Page 1

the

Volume 118, Issue 12 v

VISTA “Our Words, Your Voice.”

vistanews1903 @thevista1903 @thevista1903 The Vista ucentralmedia.com Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Second vaccine shows promise

INSIDE

Sarah Hite Editor-in-Chief

Winter Sports Begin

UCO winter sports are back in action. The men’s and women’s basketball teams prepare for play, See Pg. 6-7

Editorial: Graduation

Kiel Kondrick, the Vista’s managing editor, discusses graduating during a global pandemic. See Pg.5

In what is expected to be the biggest vaccination campaign in U.S. history, Moderna said Monday its COVID-19 vaccine is proving highly effective in a major trial. The company said its vaccine appears to be 94.5% effective, according to preliminary data from Moderna’s ongoing study. The Associated Press reported on the study Monday. A week ago, competitor Pfizer Inc. announced its own vaccine appeared similarly effective — news that puts both companies on track to seek permission within weeks for emergency use in the United States, the AP reported. These announcements come as the globe races for a vaccine to combat a virus that is now killing more than 8,000 people a day worldwide. As of Monday, there are over 11 million positive cases and almost 250,000 deaths in the U.S. and more than 54 million positive cases and 1 million deaths worldwide, according to John Hopkins.

In this July 27, 2020, file photo, nurse Kathe Olmstead prepares a shot that is part of a possible COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., in Binghamton, N.Y. Moderna said Monday, Nov. 16, 2020, its COVID-19 shot provides strong protection against the coronavirus that’s surging in the U.S. and around the world. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)

If the FDA allows emergency use of Moderna’s or Pfizer’s candidate, there will be limited, rationed supplies before the end of the year. Both vaccines require people to get two shots, several weeks apart. U.S. officials said they hope to have about 20 million Moder-

na doses and another 20 million doses of the vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech to use in late December, according to AP. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the hope is that Continued on Pg. 4

Students are seeking change in grading

Ice Storm Cleanup Cleanup of debris from the recent ice storm in Oklahoma is still underway nearly two weeks later. See Pg.6-7

Students on UCO’s campus play large form jenga on a table outside the University Nigh building. Somes students have begun petitioning for the univeristy to allow a pass/no pass grading option for the fall semester. (Cici Simon/The Vista)

Amanda Siew

Contributing Writer

Around Campus Events are happening all over campus this week! ! See Pg. 2

Students at the University of Central Oklahoma are calling on university leadership to implement a pass/no pass grading option for the fall semester, but Academic Affairs is showing reluctance to adjust. Sophomore Jessica Addai and senior Katelyn Sargeant co-authored a petition on Change.org addressed to UCO President Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar on Wednesday. As of Monday morning, the petition had gathered over 1,150 signatures. The petition highlighted several

struggles, including coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, power outages and the shift to alternative learning methods, and calls for the university to “accommodate this semester’s academic disruption.” “All the semester changes and breaks being taken away is not normal either, and trying to pass it off as normal with normal grading is very harmful,” Jessica said. “It ignores our struggles and intersectional identities on campus. “Everything is not OK right now, and it feels like we’re kind of sinking.” In a statement released to UCentral

News Monday, the Division of Academic Affairs said that they will be following the normal grading process for the semester. “After thoughtful consideration, we believe we have implemented instruction for the Fall 2020 semester in a manner that has carefully permitted students to perform at a level of their choosing,” said Charlotte Simmons and Gary Steward, co-interim vice presidents for Academic Affairs. “While our community continues to grapple with COVID-19, we are confident in the traditional letter grade system as indicators of student course performance.” The petition achieved over 700 signatures within the first 24 hours. Several petition supporters left comments as to why they signed the petition. One supporter, Taylor Beshears, commented: “As a college freshman the back and forth between zoom and in person classes has been crazy and hard to keep up with. Adjusting to college is hard enough so I believe this would help tremendously.” Continued on Pg. 3


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.