04152020

Volume 138, Issue 28 Wednesday, April 15, 2020 utdailybeacon.com @utkdailybeacon

How the City of Knoxville is supporting the vulnerable homeless population during the pandemic DANIEL DASSOW Staff Writer

Last week, Gov. Bill Lee issued an order for all Tennesseans to stay at home in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. For millions of residents, this order was a necessary nuisance like many others ordered across the nation, and while it threatens finances, it might at least herald an opportunity to finally fix the leaking bathtub drain or spend time with family.

But for the thousands of homeless people in the state, the order is a simple impossibility, and it highlights the compounding disadvantages of being without shelter in a time of shelter-in-place orders.

The Helen Ross McNabb Center, a notfor-profit provider of behavioral health care, is one of many resources in the Knoxville area for homeless individuals. Such centers are becoming more vital for those made more vulnerable to sickness by the absence of a permanent residency.

Jessica Carlton, the military and homeless programs services coordinator for the McNabb Center, says that the homeless population of Knoxville is experiencing isolation to a higher degree than those who have homes and family networks to which they can turn to in a stressful time.

“Individuals experiencing homelessness in our community are already vulnerable and at higher risk for complications related

Courtesy of Matt Collamer, Unsplash

to the pandemic,” Carlton said. “Many individuals experiencing homelessness are also very socially isolated, and the homeless provider is often the only source of social support the individual can access during this time of increased anxiety.”

Carlton notes that one of the largest unseen impacts of the virus on the homeless community is how difficult it has made the process of applying for housing, stranding many homeless individuals without the opportunity to even submit an application.

Photo IDs, birth certificates and social security cards are all necessary materials for a housing application, but now these can only be accessed online and require an address for delivery. Homeless individuals are not even able to access the internet through their local library, as they usually do. And with their operating hours severely limited, food pantries are not able to provide for the community as they normally would.

In order to help those without an address in this time when no one is leaving theirs, the City of Knoxville announced last week that it would be partnering with the Metro Drug Coalition to convert their West 5th Avenue building into a shelter for homeless people showing symptoms of coronavirus.

The new shelter, called “The Guest House,” can house up to 18 homeless individuals who have shown symptoms for coronavirus and have been tested. It began operations Monday and will be managed by the Volunteer Ministry Center on a two-

Michael Bloodworth, Daily Beacon

month budget of $95,000 provided by the city government.

As for individual attempts to help the homeless community of Knoxville at this time, Michael Dunthorn, the homeless program coordinator for the City of Knoxville, suggests that the work is best left to the ministries and agencies who are dedicated to serving the at-risk population. The best thing for any of us to do, he says, is to find ways to support various organizations in the work they are already doing.

“Ask what is needed before making a plan or taking action,” Dunthorn said. “It has always been true that the best way to help is to ask the agencies and organizations that do this work every day what is needed, and then to provide money, time or material goods to them to help meet those specific needs.”

In fact, the worst thing to do during a pandemic, Dunthorn says, is to attempt to actively help the homeless and simultaneously risk spreading sickness.

“Working together to fill the gaps is

always less wasteful and more effective than taking action without really knowing what’s actually needed most,” Dunthorn said. “In the current situation this has become critical. Gathering up donations or preparing food and then driving down somewhere to distribute it can actually put everyone at risk by creating large, disorganized gatherings of people close together where they are more likely to transmit the COVID-19 virus.”

The good news amid the financial and social rubble of the coronavirus is that numerous organizations in Knoxville, such as Knoxville Area Transit, Knoxville Area Rescue Mission and United Way, are continuing to provide their essential services to the homeless community at a time when it is most needed.

The best the rest of us can do is help support them with our time and — perhaps more importantly — our money and try not to get in the way or spread the virus further than it is already reaching.

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The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, April 15, 2020

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How the shortened offseason affects Tennessee RYAN SCHUMPERT Sports Editor

Collegiate football programs are in a unique place that they’ve never been. Due to the coronavirus, the college football offseason is on hold.

Recruiting is dead, but more importantly in the short term, players are away from campus and not working as a team. Spring practices around the country have already been canceled, and who knows how long it’ll be until teams return to their perspective campuses.

This will likely make all teams worse whenever play begins, but some teams will be hurt worse than others.

Let’s take a look where the missed time really hurts Tennessee, and where they’re at a good spot with compared to their opponents.

Where the shortened offseason hurts Tennessee: Tennessee’s lack of strength and conditioning coach With players away from campus and their everyday workouts it’s important for them to have a clear leader setting new workouts for them daily, especially considering the unconventional ways the coronavirus is making people workout due to the closure of gyms.

This is why the departure of strength coach Craig Fitzgerald was a huge blow for Tennessee this spring. Fitzgerald was one of the best strength coaches in the nation, and Pruitt had kept Fitzgerald in Knoxville despite both Maryland, his alma mater, and Alabama pursuing him the past two off seasons.

In the end, the Vols wouldn’t lose one of the nation’s highest paid strength coaches to another college but to the NFL as Fitzgerald travels back home to work for the New York Giants.

The timing of his departure almost forces Tennessee to promote from within, which Pruitt is expected to do. It would be too difficult to bring in a coach the players don’t know and force him to work without knowing his players.

This is especially important as all schools will be looking to hit the ground running in strength and conditioning if players are allowed to return to campuses this summer. That would be too difficult to do with a new coach installing new workouts.

Unproven receivers Another challenge for Tennessee in the shortened offseason is the Vols dependence on unproven wide receivers.

Josh Palmer is the Vols only receiver to catch five or more passes a season ago, but the Florida native will be expected to step into the number one receiver role this season.

The Vols aren’t without talent at receiver but it is all talent that’s proven little.

Ramel Keyton will be expected to play a big

File / Daily Beacon

role in the offense during his sophomore season after catching just four passes a year ago.

Georgia transfer DeAngelo Gibbs turned heads on the practice field while ineligible a year ago.

Tennessee signed one of the strongest receiver groups in the country, and the Vols need at least one of four stars Jalil Hyatt, Malachi Wideman or Jimmy Calloway to make an impact as a freshman.

All of Tennessee’s unproven playmakers are going to miss valuable routes on air and sevenon-seven work that they’d normally get in during the summer.

These receivers need to build continuity and trust with Jarrett Guarantano and the rest of the Vols’ quarterback room quickly if Tennessee’s offense wants to hit the ground running in the fall.

Where Tennessee comes out ahead because of the shortened offseason Returning coordinators For the first time since 2015, Tennessee will return both its offense and defensive coordinator in 2020.

It comes at a perfect time with the shortened offseason. Tennessee’s coaching staff won’t have to worry about implementing new systems over zoom and should be able to hit the ground running in fall practice.

The second year in Jim Chaney’s offense should be beneficial for the Vols’ offensive line as well as Jarrett Guarantano.

Tennessee’s defense made a huge jump last season in the second year of Jeremy Pruitt’s system, and the Vols are hoping to build on even more of that in defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley’s second year in Knoxville.

Some of Tennessee’s conference foes won’t be as lucky as the Vols with returning coordinators as Georgia brought in a new offensive coordinator in Todd Monken while South Carolina pegged Mike Bobo as its new offensive coordinator.

Arkansas and Vanderbilt, Tennessee 2020 opponents, also had changes at coordinator spots this offseason.

It’s not the end all be all but having both of its coordinators return is a plus for Tennessee.

Returning quarterback

This is both good and bad for Tennessee, depending on how you look at it. For the fans clamoring for freshman Harrison Bailey this is bad news. The Marietta standout didn’t have spring practice to get work in and learn the playbook.

This will make it nearly impossible for him to unseat redshirt-senior Jarrett Guarantano before the start of the season. Having a returning, fifth year senior starting quarterback is a plus for Tennessee.

Guarantano should have a good grasp of the offense already and should have built some chemistry with the receivers, if the unproven ones, in the last year.

This is a disadvantage for opponents Georgia and Arkansas who brought in transfer quarterbacks this offseason and now have a shortened time to learn and implement the new offense.

Tennessee will also take on new starting quarterbacks against Alabama, Oklahoma and Missouri, but the expected starters aren’t new to the program.

On the other side of it, Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina all return starting quarterbacks.

Experience in the line of scrimmage It’s often said that games are won on the line of scrimmage in the SEC, and the Vols know what they have there on both sides of the ball.

The offensive line returns all five starters including leaders Brandon Kennedy and Trey Smith. Georgia transfer Cade Mays should compete with Jerome Carvin for the right guard spot, and K’Rojhn Calbert and Darnell Wright will battle for the right tackle spot.

There is depth and competition on Tennessee’s offensive line, and if someone doesn’t come back to campus in shape, the Vols should have options to replace them. This should also help Tennessee find its best five and build continuity across the line early in fall camp.

Along the defensive line Tennessee returns every major contributor from a year ago while adding Emmit Gooden and Omari Thomas. The Vols have depth on the defensive line but need guys to separate and make the next step this season.

The shortened offseason could provide the perfect chance to do that.

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Wednesday, April 15, 2020 • The Daily Beacon

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Caitlyn Jordan / Daily Beacon

Celebrating 150 years: How college football has carved out a niche in America RYAN CREWS Sports Editor Based on simple logic, college football should not be as big as it is in the United States. There is a league of professionals who play the same sport for a living, providing a higher level of play for fans of the game to watch. So why has college football been able to carve out such a large niche for itself within the American sports market?

For one, the academic side of universities tend to understand the benefits that a good football program can provide to the institution as a whole. Another explanation is that college football benefits from strong regional foundations, so successful branding by high-level teams have played a major part in expanding the reach of college football.

All of these explanations are enhanced by the unique value of traditions and the resulting emotional attachments to the sport.

College football has long held a unique connection with higher education not found in professional sports. The two have a symbiotic relationship, both entities supporting one another.

Ron Briley notes in his paper “The Rise of Gridiron University: Higher Education’s Uneasy Alliance with Big-Time Football” that in the early twentieth century, both football and academics were going through their own individual periods of struggle.

Football had suffered multiple casualties of players due to the brutal style of play in that time. Academics had gotten away from their prior calling of focusing on fostering within their students “morality, discipline and character;” academics had become too focused instead on research and gaining the respect of other academics.

This increased focus on advanced research in a specific field resulted in alienating universities from the general public. It was believed by some that football, if changed to focus more on the physical and mental skill of the game, could serve the mission to produce well-rounded students and at the same time benefit academics by bridging the gap between universities and the

public, by attracting potential students and potential funders for the university.

On a lot of campuses, especially in the Southeast, the football program is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a school. The benefit of a football team on the rest of the university is noted in a 2018 article by Forbes, concerning the University of Alabama since the arrival of football head coach Nick Saban in 2007.

In 2007, Alabama had 25,850 students, and by 2017, it had grown to 38,563. In 2014, the university had more out-of-state students than in-state for the first time in history, and by 2017, in-state students were down to 41%. This all coincided with Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide team winning national championships in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017, as well as being a national semifinalist twice and winning its conference six times in those years.

What those numbers show is that as the football team succeeded, the university’s national brand was enhanced, which brings in out-ofstate students, who pay a higher tuition, which in turn raises university revenue. This is similar for other universities who play football, who can spread their brand around the country through the sport.

The organization of college football into conferences has benefited the sport and its success.

In “Establishing Proper ‘Athletic Relations:’ the Nascent SEC and the Formation of College Athletic Conferences,” Ryan Swanson discusses how conferences played a major role in the early days of college football.

Quantifying this regional focus, Swanson notes that in newspapers written between 1905 and 1940, one can find seven times more mentions of Missouri Valley and the precursors of the Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences than the governing body of college athletics, the NCAA. College football is unique from professional sports because of its emphasis on regions, which results in alliances between fanbases that can often be uncommon.

In professional sports, fans typically don’t support a team in their own team’s division, because divisions in professional sports are largely

arbitrarily drawn and decided. In college football, conferences have mostly been formed for cultural fits between schools as well as other, smaller factors. The conference and regional bond, especially in the Southeast, has created even larger communities of fans who are often able to engage in more light-hearted rivalries.

Also, with team rankings being such an important part of success, and rankings relying on conference strength, fans have come to rely on fellow conference members. This gives fans a rooted interest in games not featuring their preferred team, which altogether helps foster conference pride, viewership, increased attraction to the sport and further success of college football.

College football teams at the top levels of the sports all share a common feature: strong brands. Schools can be recognized by the simplest of logos, including Tennessee’s “Power T,” Georgia’s oval “G,” Clemson’s “Tiger Paw,” and Texas’ “Longhorn,” to name a few.

Timothy B. Kellison discusses the importance of brand to a college football team. “In sport,” Kellison writes, “researchers have argued one of the most defining components of a brand is the team logo.” Different schools have made strong efforts to protect their brand from being distorted, mainly concerning how high schools and middle schools have a history of using the logo of a university for their own purposes.

When comparing Kellison’s article to data provided in a book called “Speak American Too,” by marketing expert Paul Jankoski, some of the strictest universities when it comes to brand protection are Florida and Texas, which ranked 6th and 1st respectively in 2013 college football revenues. These schools are widely known for a history of maintaining strong brands. This can be through logos, as previously mentioned, but can also something as simple as color and uniforms.

Two of the more well-known football schools, the Tennessee Volunteers and Texas Longhorns, are known for their respective shades of orange; “UT Orange” and “Burnt Orange,” respectively.

The Alabama Crimson Tide and Penn State Nittany Lions are known for their simple uniforms,

wearing white pants and a team-colored helmet every game, with colored jerseys at home and white jerseys on the road.

Many other schools have also worn the same uniforms for many years with little change.

Keeping a traditional uniform design creates a strong brand identity for those schools alongside their logos. It seems those schools which protect and promote their entire brand are the programs that succeed most in college football.

The final and crowning explanation for college football’s success is its traditions. Traditions are what makes college football great. There are a lot of things in college football that don’t make any sense, but they continue, a lot of the time simply because they’re tradition.

Tennessee has a blue tick hound as a mascot, despite being called the Volunteers. LSU’s mascot, Mike the Tiger, gets fed meat in the shape of the logo of the Tigers’ opponent that week.

Texas A&M has a dog cemetery for past mascots which includes — and this is completely serious — a scoreboard so that the deceased dogs can always see the score.

Matthew G. Interis and Naomi J. Taylor researched the monetary value of the tradition of ringing cowbells at Mississippi State football games. They found that the per game net value ranged anywhere from $671,000 to $1,193,000, based on polling from ticketholders. Those figures show the power of something as simple as everyone ringing a bell. It’s a shared experience that college football fans partake in, which adds a layer of entertainment to attending a game that can’t be replicated.

Other examples of shared traditions include Tennessee fans singing along together to “Rocky Top” in Neyland Stadium, or Ole Miss fans tailgating together in The Grove in their finest attire. Jankoski writes in his book that, for some fans, college football becomes more about “personal identity and hometown pride” than about the actual game.

College football becomes a part of its fans, and the emotional connection they have to it gets passed down to the succeeding generations.

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The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Catchings talks about her Hall of Fame induction RYAN CREWS Sports Editor

Saturday, it was announced that former Lady Vol Tamika Catchings earned induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of its 2020 class.

Catchings, is currently the general manager of the Indiana Fever after a 15-year career with the team, and is the second member associated with the Lady Vols program to earn induction after legendary head coach Pat Summitt.

Catchings was both national champion in college and WNBA champion in the pros, as well as winning four gold medals for the USA. On Sunday, she spoke to members of the Indiana, Tennessee and national media. Here are some the highlights.

Catchings’ opening statement regarding her induction “Super excited, obviously. Yesterday was a whirlwind with everything happening. I woke up sweating and nervous, even though I knew the news on Friday.

But still, it was kind of surreal. Really excited just about the opportunity to be a part of this class and to be inducted with this class. It’s truly an honor. I’m blessed; I’m excited. There’s just so many feelings that go through my mind. But I think one the big things…when you think about being a little girl, I never really imagined that this would be something I would be able to achieve,” Catchings stated. “But a lot of it was just because I didn’t really know what the Naismith Hall of Fame was and my goal was to be like my father and

play basketball (professionally) … and before (the WNBA) having the opportunity to go to the University of Tennessee and play underneath the best coach ever, Pat Summitt and some of the great-greats who have played at the University of Tennessee. Truly, just an honor … I’m blessed.”

Her expectations versus the reality of being inducted into the NMBHoF “I did not expect it. Obviously, the announcement for the finalists came out in December and just being able to be a part of that and being one of those nominees is great. … The last couple of mouths it just kind of been ‘Alright, looking forward to the Final Four … and then I got the call on Friday. I was driving, because I just had to get outside. I didn’t get out of my car; I was just driving around. They said 3 (p.m.) to 5 (p.m.) I would find out. And so, I was like they’re gonna call at 4:55 (p.m.), I need to get all of this angst out.

And then she called, it was probably 3:15 (p.m.) … I started to scream and take my hands off and then I said ‘Oh shoot! I’m driving,”Catchings is quoted as saying.

Her greatest accomplishment “You know, my greatest accomplishment honestly doesn’t have to do with basketball. I would say my greatest accomplishment would be the Catch the Stars Foundation and being able to impact so many people. One thing you find out and one thing I’ve found out in the time being off the court is a lot of these kids, they have had the opportunity to watch me play. So what we have done through the foundation ,and the kids we have impacted, we always talk about ‘paying it forward’, those are

Courtesy of Eric Trainer

the kids who because of the foundation, because of the platform basketball gave me, and the platform that my faith and God have given me, has given me a platform has allowed me to reach even more kids,” Catchings discussed.

How her time at Tennessee prepared her for post-graduation life “My time in Knoxville was huge...that first year was hard, just really trying to figure out if this was the right decision for me, being this far away from my home and for a moment I was almost like ‘Alright, come pick me up.’ But, I think the things I learned about myself, things I learned about just being in an elite program helped me,” Catchings stated. “I think I’ve always worked hard, but seeing Chamique (Holdsclaw) work hard, seeing Kellie Jolly work hard, Kellie Harper now, seeing the way they worked, knowing the history … I just learned a different style in terms of work ethic and working with elite athletes like that … and then you factor in everything else we had to do (off the court).”

Her advice for current Lady Vols players “The reality is, not everyone makes to the WNBA and more so, not everyone wants to be in the WNBA, so the advice I really push to focus on is while you are in college, take advantage of the resources you have. Cause when you leave, no matter where you go, it’s so different than college.

And I’m a true testament to this, because when you go through college I asked myself this question, ‘Out of the whole week seven days, how much time do you have where you actually have to make a decision for yourself?’ And, let’s look at one day, ‘how much time in a day do have de-

cisions you make for yourself?’ So I think really being able to take advantage of the opportunities, the people who want to help you as players and the people who want to help you as what you’re getting your degree in, is something that is very valuable.

Eric Berry, Cordarrelle Patterson named to NFL All-Decade team STAFF REPORT

The NFL league office announced its 2010s All-Decade Team on Monday. VFLs Eric Berry and Cordarrelle Patterson were both selected to the prestigious list by a 48-member committee from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Berry was one of three safeties chosen, and his story is an inspiring one.

The Georgia native played at an elite level in all three seasons of his collegiate career, winning the 2009 Jim Thorpe award for best defensive back and 2008 SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Berry was named first-team All-SEC and a

unanimous All-American in both the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

His college play was impressive enough for the Kansas City Chiefs to take him with the fifth overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft.

Just as he did in college, Berry wasted no time getting to work. He went to three Pro Bowls in his first four seasons, garnering the honor of All-Pro in 2013.

It was in December of 2014 that adversity struck. Berry was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After going through a hard off-season of chemotherapy, he was declared cancer-free and found his way back on the field in 2015. His hard work and courage would pay off as it earned him the 2015 NFL Comeback Player of the Year award.

Berry went to two more Pro Bowls and was named All-Pro in both 2015 and 2016.

He ended the decade with 440 tackles, 14 interceptions and 50 pass deflections.

Patterson was one of only two return specialists named to the All-Decade Team alongside Devin Hester. Although he only spent one season on Rocky Top, his combination of speed and size will forever be etched in the minds of the Volunteer faithful.

After breaking Tennessee’s single-season record with 1,858 all-purpose yards, Patterson was named first-team All-SEC in 2012. The Minnesota Vikings selected him with the 29th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.

Although his return skills were elite,

Patterson ended up a journeyman in the NFL, playing for four different teams over the course of the decade. His jersey may have switched multiple times, but his production never wavered as he was selected to the Pro-Bowl in 2013, 2016 and 2019 and was named first-team All-Pro in those same three seasons.

Patterson finished the decade with 24 touchdowns, 1,955 receiving yards and 6,110 return yards. His presence as an elite returner was solidified in his rookie season when he set the NFL record for longest kick return at 109 yards. He was also a member of the 2018 Patriots team that won Super Bowl LIII.

CITY NEWS

Wednesday, April 15, 2020 • The Daily Beacon

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How has the coronavirus pandemic affected SEC student journalists, newsrooms?

GABRIELA SZYMANOWSKA Editor-in-Chief

Being in charge of any company is never easy — there are plenty of ups and downs, daily challenges to conquer, bridges to gap, better communication tactics to figure out and more.

Leading a newspaper with a staff of 20 or more other students while juggling a full class load, other part-time jobs and a personal life can be twice as hard.

But having to suddenly find a new balance: learning how to manage people in different time zones, focusing on only digital content, all while dealing with classes moving online and attempting to stay on top of classwork is even harder.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, student journalists are facing new realities which they never expected to encounter. Many student leaders are finding new ways of interacting and reporting all in an attempt to properly and adequately document what is happening in their communities.

In addition to the work student reporters are doing, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Associated Collegiate Press announced on Monday, April 23 that they’d be hosting a free weekly awards program for students covering the COVID-19 pandemic. The CCC Awards, short for “College Coronavirus Coverage,” is to support and honor students for their work during this time.

In an attempt to capture exactly what’s happening within the now empty walls of student newsrooms across the SEC, the Daily Beacon reached out to several other student newspapers in an attempt to seek their perspectives on the impact the pandemic has had on them.

The Red and Black, University of Georgia; Twitter: @redandblack As with almost every student news outlet, the Red and Black has forgone printing their paper and switched to a complete digital format.

Managing Editor of UGA’s the Red and Black and junior in journalism Henry Queen said that they may be creating a special edition to submit to their archive since the paper is a record keeper of UGA’s history.

The Red and Black news section is trying to be innovative with covering the pandemic, creating content like a map of the hospitals in the region to go with a story about how many counties the hospitals serve.

The Red and Black, similar to the Daily Beacon, is also trying to have a certain amount of stories go out daily so as to provide a variety of articles.

“I think we have to not only inform, enlighten the public and frankly a lot of them are ei-

Courtesy of The Red & Black’s Facebook page

Courtesy of The Daily Gamecock Facebook

Courtesy of The Daily Mississippian’s Twitter

ther bored or have a reduced said she is grateful for role at their job and so they’re the relationships she hungry for news,” Queen said. built before having to “It’s obvious enough to almost leave campus and reeverybody that news is imporport remotely. tant and that student journal“Having those reists are doing just as good of a lationships now is job, if not better job, then the more important than local stations or newspapers. ever,” Slowey said.

But as I mentioned before, it’s “I’m able to build this important to think long term trust and relationabout the effect, in general, and ship with someone we can report as it happens the who it is kind of hard long term effects that will come to do right now over Courtesy of Rachel Friedman, Editor-inFile / Daily Beacon Chief of the Vanderbilt Hustler about.” the phone and over Queen pointed out how now Zoom. So, having Editor Gabriela Miranda won an award through is also an important time to document historithese relationships beforehand was really imthe SPJ’s CCC Awards for a project she worked cally all that is happening, so future generaportant and really key for me.” on about the impact the coronavirus has had on tions can look back and see how hard the Red The obstacle of sources not getting back international students. and Black worked to ensure coverage. right away hasn’t stopped Slowey’s staff from “Keep doing your job because it’s so imporHaving been present in the community trying their best to answer questions the stutant to chronicle what’s been going on, what since 1893, the Red and Black can be seen as an dents, parents, alumni and the whole comwill go on, what has gone on,” Queen said. essential institution in the public record keepmunity are wondering. And while they may not ing of what happens in UGA’s history. have all the answers, they are asking the quesThe Daily Gamecock, University of South Car“While this pandemic has affected, you tions and working towards producing quality olina; Twitter: @thegamecock know, I would guess not only our bottom line, content.

While The Daily Gamecock is no longer but other newspapers’ bottom line, we are still Which Slowey said quality rather than printing their weekly Monday papers, the Uniworking hard to bring people the news they quantity is what she and her team are focusing versity of South Carolina community still gets need and so I would hope that people would on and what other student newspapers should a newsletter in their inboxes with a rundown of come and support us so that we can continue focus on too. top stories. However, the majority of the Daily our jobs of informing people and perhaps even “I think quality over quantity is really imGamecock’s efforts has been focused on social entertaining people and giving them the inforportant. You don’t want to lose the skills you media and the quality of stories rather than mation they need,” Queen said. have and the momentum you had when you quantity.

Queen also explained that while the staff were at school, like in-person,” Slowey said. “I Editor-in-Chief and junior in economics doesn’t hold Wednesday meetings to make the think really taking it back and looking at it as Erin Slowey said that the student newspaper paper, they do still meet on Sundays, Tuesdays a good opportunity to really learn and grow is has been getting a lot more engagement with and Thursdays to go over the budget at their really important, but then again, quality over the community. regular time. quantity is the biggest thing.”

“What we told our people was to just like try Some challenges that Queen said the staff During these stressful times, Slowey said to get what you can,” Slowey said. “We would faces but are overcoming include visually trythat while it is hard because her staff likes to like to get content up daily, but for us we kind ing to make sure every article has some type plan ahead and speculate about what the fuof spread out the content that was more everof graphic or courtesy image, connecting with ture holds, they’re trying to focus on being in green. So for example, for our last print product sources remotely and stepping up into that the moment. Especially as each day changes, we had some evergreen content, so we’re kind leadership position. But even with the chalSlowey said she is trying to be proactive and of like dispersing it throughout the week and lenges, the work being produced now can be pay attention to when she or her staff need to obviously things happen. We’re still covering used to show future employers what they are take a step back for mental health reasons. events that are happening via Zoom so we have all capable of doing. those coming up.”

And through the challenges there are also STORY CONTINUED ON PG. 6 While the cancellation of in-person classes moments that are rewarding. Queen highmay have come as a bit of a surprise, Slowey lighted how the Red and Black’s Campus News

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CITY NEWS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, April 15, 2020

STORY CONTINUED FROM PG. 5 Overall, Slowey said that when looking back on this whole situation, student journalists should reflect on the accomplishment of still producing quality content for each university community.

“I think it is an accomplishment for anyone in itself to still be producing content right now and to be producing good quality journalism,” Slowey said. “So it’s not a particular story or a particular photo or particular design that I think is going to stand out from this time, it’s going to be how we managed as a team, as leaders to still produce really good content and still inform our readers.”

The Daily Mississippian, University of Mississippi; Twitter: @thedm_news When the Daily Mississippian staff revamped their website over the summer, they could have never predicted how handy it would become.

When news that their university was going to be moving to online classes over spring break, the University of Mississippi student newspaper decided to stop printing three days a week and moved everything online.

Editor-in-Chief and senior studying journalism Daniel Payne explained how over the past summer, he and his managing editor had worked to redesign the Daily Mississippian’s website. With COVID-19 forcing everything online, Payne was thankful for all the work put into the site.

“We had a big push to go digital first all year, but this almost forced it,” Payne said. “We redesigned the website and so now we’re thankful for all that work we’ve done now that it’s our only way to, you know, report and get information out.”

Information which is still vital to the community surrounding the university even without students on campus, but who are still paying attention to what’s going on. While for the most part the content is about updates about the coronavirus, sometimes there are hopeful stories mixed in.

“The phrase that we keep putting out and we’ve been doing this all year — ‘we’ve been trying to’ — is value added, like what’s the value that we can add to the community,” Payne said. “And sometimes that means telling a really hopeful story about this, I don’t even know what you would call it, like a soup brigade where it’s this whole group of families and they make these large batches of soup. Then give it out to people in the community.”

Each student journalist has had to change how their day-to-day operations flow. For Payne who has been with the paper for four years, his routine as Editor-in-Chief changes daily, much like it did before the outbreak.

However, it’s all shifted to virtual reality.

He starts his days going over his emails and any urgent texts, before moving onto classes and classwork. Then it’s back to communicat-

ing to ensure content is going up. In addition, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Payne and his staff hold budget meetings over Zoom.

The biggest change is his surrounding of not being able to see everyone in the office, so there is a rather increase in communicating over texts, emails and the mobile workspace Slack.

Now more than ever, Payne said that all the lessons and knowledge of journalism are accumulating at this time. And while it may be challenging for newsrooms to transition into a new way of working remotely, local journalism is really important as people are still curious what’s happening locally.

“And while national media does give us some of that information it can’t report on everything in specific communities especially,” Payne said. “So, in a time when local journalism is really in a crisis I would say, student reporters are able to fill that gap.”

“So to see students that are not only having to change their lives, change their class routines and schedules, and give up their senior years and what they wanted their senior year to be and to still report, I mean it’s really, really amazing,” Payne added. “I am inspired by people on my staff and people at other publications around the country.”

The Vanderbilt Hustler, Vanderbilt University; Twitter: @VandyHustler While Vanderbilt’s Hustler may not be sending out Digest emails with a compilation of articles for the community to read through on Mondays, Editor-in-Chief and junior Rachel Friedman is still working with her staff to put out content.

Friedman explained that reporting remotely has been a challenge as far as coordinating and editing, but her staff is pushing through to cover what’s important to the Vanderbilt community.

And while some sections, like their Life sec-

tion which focuses on arts and entertainment, aren’t as active the Hustler’s staff is coming together.

“Obviously, we are doing important coverage, like we’re doing obviously extensive corona coverage which is what people care about right now,” Friedman said. “So we’ve kind of put all our eggs in one basket so to speak, and a bunch of editors from different sections are coming together to help with the news stuff, because they’re so overloaded.”

And there is some good coming from the situation with articles on the website doing well and having the opportunity to grow from the experience.

The Hustler has had several articles which were picked up by major news outlets, Friedman mentioned, including one article receiving almost 90,000 views and breaking stories locally that other outlets don’t have access to.

“So getting to be a part of that like you have work and reporting that’s read by so many people is really impactful and a really rewarding and satisfying experience,” Friedman said.

“So that’s definitely been a positive for our staff, just like our work is important. I’m not the only one on the Hustler to feel that way, so we’re grateful for that opportunity to play an important role in providing information to the community.”

And the community has definitely noticed their work, with Friedman saying that parents and other news outlets reaching out to show their support.

“I know I’ve heard from a lot of parents and even other outlets being like we really appreciate the coverage that you’re doing, like you’re doing a great job, it’s really important to keep this up,” Friedman said. “If we’re not doing it then no one else knows what’s going on among students right now because we’re not together.”

The Daily Beacon, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Twitter: @UTKDailyBeacon The Daily Beacon, the editorially independent student newspaper of the University of Tennessee Knoxville, has also shifted to a greater digital focus in the midst of the outbreak.

While the Beacon staff decided to forgo printing a physical paper once a week on Wednesdays right before spring break, the Beacon is still producing a digital version of the paper that can be found on the website. In addition, while most content is geared towards coronavirus coverage, the Beacon staff are still moving forward with content for the April special issue: Climate Change and Crisis.

Over the course of the month, stories focused around the topic of climate change are being released weekly. However, on Wednesday, April 22 the main special digital issue of the paper will be released, to hopefully be printed at a later date.

As some content has been cut down since there are no more events to cover both on campus, off campus and in the sports realm, the staff of the Beacon have been able to continue to produce stories each day.

The coronavirus pandemic has highly encouraged the transition into a more digital mindset, something the Beacon has been working on for the past couple of year. More emphasis has been placed on engagement through social media.

Although this is an unfortunate situation, as student reporters the staff of the Daily Beacon have already had practice in conducting interviews over the phone, working somewhat remotely and communicating over different platforms. This time is geared at really honing in on those skillsets which in the future will be an essential tool no matter which field students go into.

CITY NEWS

Wednesday, April 15, 2020 • The Daily Beacon

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Courtesy of Iñigo De la Maza, Pexels

6 building blocks for healthy nutrition BEN WINIGER Staff Writer

Nutrition is a touchy subject for a good reason. We’ve eaten stuff our whole lives, and it leads to personal habits and expectations about how folks should get their daily nutritional needs. Healthy eating is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, but what works for one may not work for another.

As such, I won’t recommend one be-all, end-all form of nutrition. There’s no one way to eat healthy.

Instead, here are a few foundational ways to improve your overall nutrition and health. You can use these as building blocks for an amazing eating plan.

Calculate your caloric needs Unfortunately, we can’t eat everything we want if we want to remain healthy. There’s a certain number of calories we burn each day depending on our activity level.

However, that number is typically a lot higher than expected. There’s a lot of ways to calculate calories — I personally recommend this calorie calculator — but the average sedentary 20 year old burns around 2200 calories each day.

A pound of weight loss equals about 3500 calories. If you’re plan is to lose weight, a healthy goal is around a pound each week, that’s about a 500 to 1000 calorie deficit each day depending on the calories burnt.

Create this deficit through nutrition, not exercise. Exercise should supplement your nutrition habits, ensuring that your body can perform well using the energy it has. It shouldn’t be used to purposefully exhaust that energy.

After calculating your total caloric intake, calculate where those calories will come from.

You want to account for all your basic needs — proteins, fats, carbs, vitamins and so on.

It’ll all be a bit overwhelming at first, so take it slow. Gradually decrease or increase your caloric intake. Write down your nutritional needs step by step. It’ll take time, but you’ll get there eventually.

Take it slow and in stride. You’ll be a nutritional champ.

Eat whole foods Calories aren’t American — they’re not all are created equal. The “eat big get big, eat small get small” attitude is unhealthy. It can lead to bad habits and even eating disorders.

When planning your nutrition, try to avoid artificial, processed calories. Examples of processed foods are canned meats, microwave dinners, store bought chips/crackers and deli meats.

Replace these calories with whole foods.

These are foods in their natural state — fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, non-canned meats and tree nuts. These foods fill you up more and keep you full for longer.

Not all artificial foods are bad, though. Protein shakes and vitamin supplements are great ways to take in essential nutrients. Canned vegetables are great for long-term storage and

easy access, most only have sodium additives so that they last longer.

For the most part, however, you want to avoid processed foods in favor of natural foods.

Stay hydrated It’s no good to eat healthy if you don’t drink healthy. Hydration is a simple concept, but one that a lot of us have been mislead about due to blatant misinformation from drink marketing teams.

Water hydrates you. Sugary drinks, fruit juices, protein shakes, coffee, tea and any other beverages dehydrate you.

These drinks have a water base, but also have additives like sugar and sodium that actively absorb the much-needed hydration.

That doesn’t mean you can’t ever drink them — though soda and fruit juice generally detract from your health due to an absurd amount of sugar — you should always balance this with an equal or greater intake of water.

Buy a cheap water bottle, or save a plastic one you’ve already used. Keep drinking water, and you’ll both feel and perform better.

Avoid deficiency diets (or any diet, really) Good nutrition isn’t a fad that you follow for a few months and forget about once you look the way you want. We’re playing the long game — we want to be healthy forever.

Good nutrition is a habit and lifestyle choice that you follow throughout your entire life.

Nowadays, you hear about a lot of diets based around depriving your body of basic nutrition. You may hear that avoiding carbs will

give you more energy or that cutting all fats will reduce body fat.

These diets are complete hokum. You will lose weight if the calories you eat are fewer than the calories you use each day and gain weight if the calories you eat are higher, not if you cut out so many carbs or fats or drink this special bottle of weight loss juice.

Unless you’re cutting artificial calories out of your diet — like refined sugar and processed meats — there’s no good in cutting out entire food groups.

In fact, most diets are bad in the end. They’re unhealthy because they encourage an unhealthy relationship with food.

The word ‘diet’ implies a temporary change to eating habits that’ll eventually end. Diets vilify certain eating habits — eating a lot of fat, eating too many carbs, eating too few carbs.

Diets encourage you to look at food as the enemy, as something you must fight against to stay healthy and look the way you want. This is unhealthy and untenable. It can even lead to eating disorders and serious body image issues.

That being said, if you follow a diet like keto or body for life and you’re certain you can maintain that diet throughout your lifetime, then by all means continue.

Otherwise, just stop.

Find and eat healthy foods that you enjoy Now, take deep breath and look at your eating habits. Note your unhealthy habits and the foods you eat too much/too few of and make a plan to compensate using whole foods and doctor recommended vitamin supplements.

You don’t have to force yourself to eat salad 24/7. Explore whole foods. Find vegetables, fruits, nuts and meats that you enjoy. Plan around these foods and keep exploring. Find healthy foods that you like.

I, for instance, love sweet potatoes and couscous. They’re great carbs that I can cook in multiple ways. I think they taste amazing, but you might not. You may prefer brown rice, which I personally despise. That’s okay. Find what works for you.

In fact, you don’t have to completely cut yourself off from unhealthy food. As long as you limit your pizzas, your doughnuts, your sweets and your cheat meals and don’t eat them every day, you can still treat yourself.

However, if you find healthy food that you genuinely like, every meal will feel like a cheat meal because you’re not depriving yourself of good food.

Don’t discourage yourself You’re trying to eat healthy for your entire life, but sometimes you have bad day. Some days you’ll eat too much, some days too little.

Some days you’ll go overboard. This is okay.

We all have bad days. It comes with the territory. Keep your head up. As long as you keep making real effort to be healthy, you’ll make it.

If you have a bad day, acknowledge that you can start again tomorrow. You can do it.

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OPINIONS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Dare to Share: Nap like a pro

ALYSSA WOODARD Columnist

Recently there has been a large push for people to stay in their homes as much as possible so that the spread of COVID-19 will decrease, which has led many Americans to enter self-isolation or quarantine with members of their household.

The same can be said for my family. As of today, my family has been on a loose quarantine since the week of March 16,

which means that I haven’t left my home in about three weeks.

As a self-proclaimed homebody, I can say that I’ve been enjoying this extended excuse to not leave the comfort of my home. This also means that I can turn down invitations to hang out outside of my home without seeming rude.

For anyone who is still trying to organize plans with other people outside of your respective homes, please do us all a favor and stop immediately. I mean seriously, how selfish can one possibly be?

I understand that not everyone wants to stay in their homes and lounge around while being completely comfortable. For some reason unbeknownst to myself, people actually enjoy going out to public spaces filled with more than seven people.

If you identify with the latter statement, I have created the perfect things for you to occupy your time during this seemingly never-ending quarantine.

As an expert homebody, whose selfisolating habits preceded the coronavirus pandemic, I feel that I am well qualified to help keep you entertained during this

time.

One of the many things that you may take for granted because of the speed of everyday life is quality nap time. I’m not talking about a 15-minute nap between classes or even an unplanned hour-long nap. What I’m referring to is borderline comatose type sleep—sleep that seems so unrealistically good that you wake up worried that something must be wrong because of the amount of sleep you’re getting.

The perfect way to start these naps always begins with a semi-entertaining TV show. I recommend something that is fairly easy to follow, like “NCIS” or “911.”

These shows are so predictable yet thrilling that you don’t have to know character plotlines to be able to binge-watch them.

After you spend about an hour watching these marathons, you’ll soon start to feel exhausted after not doing anything at all.

Now is a good time to get out of bed and get a quick snack—an orange or a pack of crackers should do the trick.

You’re going to want something that’s good enough to make you feel like you just ate but not make you feel bloated. The most important part is that you take said snack back to your bed and eat it under your covers.

After eating the snack and snuggling back in for yet another predictable episode, you will notice that you keep dozing off at an alarming rate. From here make sure to turn the volume down so that it’s not loud enough to disturb your sleep, yet not so low that you can hear the outside world.

This is the perfect set up that any Homebody has perfected over years of avoiding group social settings, after-class meetups and even potential dates. Don’t be alarmed if you aren’t able to nap for a long period of time.

If you keep practicing soon you too can be as lazy as a homebody on a weeknight who has an 11-page essay due the next morning.

Alyssa Woodard is a freshman in exploratory studies. She can be reached at alydwood@vols.utk.edu.

Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.

Enviro-Mental: The EPA deregulates, the world suffers

EMMA HEINS Columnist

All throughout the coronavirus pandemic, people have been searching for good news. Websites, YouTube channel, and TV shows have been created specifically for providing people with good news and some form of solace amidst the pandemonium and sadness that bears down on people confined to their homes and those who have found themselves recently unemployed and with no idea how to proceed.

Some of that news has been about people singing from balconies, and I know I’ve been entertained by the stories of habitats being restored since people have been re-

moved from their environments. Two of my favorite of these stories are about the San Antonio Riverwalk and the Venice Canals clearing up without their normal foot and boat traffic from tourists, if you want to check them out yourself.

But all of that came to a crashing halt last week when the Environmental Protection Agency announced that they have suspended all enforcement and monitoring of industrial pollution indefinitely because of the coronavirus. According to the EPA press release, companies are still expected to hold themselves to their normal standards, but they will not be punished for breaking them.

Personally, I find this infuriating. What was played as an easing of restrictions in an effort to keep people home and lessen obligations at work for federal employees is a poor cover up for any excuse the federal government has to roll back any environmental protection they can. We’ve endured four years of the slow rollback of any piece of legislation up for renewal, pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement and a cycle of upper EPA administration coming and going from coal lobbying organizations and the fossil fuel industry.

The only stability and consistency in the EPA in the last four years has been that their top leadership rejects the science of climate change and is staunchly anti-EPA

regulation.

Kids, I wish I could make this up.

Corporations are the major polluters globally, even with strict restrictions.

Most people involved in businesses that are high polluters like power companies or are in oil production would tell you that environmental regulations are a damper on their production and they lose millions of dollars a year in revenue from taxes and fines. I find it hard to believe that when given the opportunity to skirt around environmental regulations that these major corporations would simply choose to continue to follow rules that they have spent billions of dollars lobbying against over the years.

There’s no way to really predict what this will look like in the future because we don’t know how companies are going to react, but I think we can expect a sharp downturn in water quality and air quality around major manufacturing plants and cities that rely mostly on industrial operations. Not that it would ever be a good time to loosen regulations, but I find it especially disheartening that air quality will likely be so drastically affected in the middle of this global pandemic—particularly because COVID-19 is a respiratory illness and tends to be worse in people with pre-existing lung conditions or long term exposure to airborne chemicals and pollu-

tion.

I hope realizing that connection reminds people of the reasons we have the EPA, the Clean Air Act and even modern environmentalism in the first place. Lawmakers didn’t sit around and try to come up with a new way to be a nuisance to corporations when they wrote these laws. The polluting actions of corporations and industries are harming the health of Americans and people all over the world, and loosening these restrictions in the middle of this pandemic is entirely counterproductive and will prove to be more detrimental than we know. In the coming years, we should be focusing on helping the healthcare system and economy recover, not helping the environment recover from damage that would have been avoided if we just left things alone.

Emma Heins is a senior majoring in environmental studies. She can be reached at eheins@vols.utk.edu.

Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.

CAMPUS NEWS // CLIMATE CHANGE

Wednesday, April 15, 2020 • The Daily Beacon

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The environmental, economic repercussions of fast fashion CAROLINE JORDAN Managing Editor

The phrase, “reduce, reuse and recycle” has been advertised in the past for plastics and cans, but it further extends to high-end runway fashion, as well as the clothes college students wear in their daily lives.

Social Impact Coordinator at the UT Free Store, Leah McCord, will begin her second year serving through AmeriCorps VISTA this fall. She recruits volunteers, manages student workers for the Free store, runs the store popups and manages the social media accounts.

Her duties also include collecting data and advocating for the Free Store to have a permanent location on campus so it can function weekly rather than sporadically as it is now.

“We start with the principle that so much of what goes into the landfill is perfectly good material, it’s just unwanted by the person who has it at the time. We want to stop those materials from being wasted,” McCord said. “A socially sustainable plan, like the Free Store, recognizes that there are others in our community who need things and cannot access them, due to resources or transportation or other factors.”

Michelle Childs, professor in Retail and Consumer Sciences, talks about fast fashion differently in two classes she teaches: she approaches it from a business side in her Retail Management and Business of Fashion course Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

and from an environmental/sustainable perspective in the course entitled “Global Retailing and Sourcing.” Childs has been a faculty member at UT since 2015.

“Fast fashion really describes the life cycle of items and that items match fashion trends.

It pertains to college campuses because college students oftentimes don’t have a ton of disposable income, in this case – students want to be trendy but may not want to spend that much money on fashion products,” Childs said.

McCord’s position focuses on the intersection of sustainability and social justice, emphasizing connection with the community and meeting them where they are.

“We are connected to all the support resources on campus, and we want students to know they can come to us about food insecurity, housing insecurity, mental health needs or just someone to talk to. Sustainability is about community as much as it is the planet,” McCord said.

One of McCord’s goals for the store is to collect items like clothing, household goods, sport equipment, kitchenware, books and school supplies to make them available for whoever needs them on campus.

“We don’t ask anyone to justify their need.

We just request that they only take items that they think they will actually use and that they consider ways to reduce the impact of that item’s disposal in the future. They can send things back to us, give them to others, or dispose of them responsibly,” McCord said.

Furthermore, she wants to create a circular

economy to reduce the amount of items unnecessarily produced and the waste footprint created by practices like fast fashion.

Because fast fashion is a quick business — sometimes going from runway to consumer in as little as four weeks — the items are considered disposable, as they are only made to last about 10 wears, according to Childs.

“After this time, either the quality of the garment is gone or the item has gone out of fashion,” Childs said.

According to McCord, “fast fashion is driven by ever changing fads and lower quality items.

College is expensive, and a $5 shirt seems like a really great deal at first, but it is designed to last only a short amount of time. There are also endless events that give away t-shirts that no one wears again. It creates a lot of clothing waste on campuses.”

For students on college campuses, fast fashion is essential to expressing their individuality and exploring issues of identity.

“College might be the first time they can experiment with how they present themselves through their clothing. This is important and something we always want to be mindful of. … College is a time of figuring out who you are and clothes are a big part of that,” McCord said.

Fashion itself has an enormous environmental impact. In addition to many fast fashion brands having poor labor conditions and low pay for vulnerable workers, “It takes 713 gallons of water to make ONE cotton t-shirt, the equivalent to 2.5 years of drinking water for an individual. The manufacturing process as a

whole is very polluting, from energy inputs to toxic dyes,” McCord said.

Similarly, Childs adds that these items are not meant to last and often end up in landfills.

“Also, items are very inexpensive, so people end up adding too many pieces to their wardrobe that they may not be able to wear,” Childs said. “Since they are high fashion items, pieces may go out of style very quickly, which also adds to waste.”

Burning unsold items is another practice of fashion companies, as well as sending multiple tons of unwanted clothes to markets in thirdworld countries, which disrupts local trade customs and gives the job of disposal to vulnerable populations.

To remedy the environmental and economic impacts of fast fashion, Childs encourages students to think carefully about what they buy and to rely on certain items when looking for new clothes.

“Focus on adding items to your wardrobe that are high quality and will last longer. In this case, you can focus on the staple items (basic black dress, blazer, denim) that can match with other items in your wardrobe,” Childs said.

Fast fashion practices affect everyday thought processes about clothing, making the option to buy a cheap article of clothing more appealing, especially for college students.

As spring cleaning commences and piles of unworn clothing take over the chair in your room, keep in mind the repercussions of buying trendy clothes versus rethinking and refurbishing what you already own.

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CAMPUS NEWS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, April 15, 2020

How the uncertain future of DACA has the potential to affect college students ALEXANDRA DEMARCO Campus News Editor GABRIELA SZYMANOWSKA Editor-in-Chief America is a country comprised of citizens of many nationalities, languages and places of origin. There is no official language in the United States, and the country has historically been perceived as a “melting pot” and, often times, a place of refuge.

America’s past reputation has lead to a great deal of immigration, both legal and undocumented, into the country. About half of the undocumented immigrants in America enter the country by crossing the borders undetected, and the other half remain in the country after overstaying their visas.

As a result, undocumented immigration has remained at the forefront of American political debate and has been particularly prevalent since the 2016 election of President Donald Trump. The conservative Trump administration has professed its intentions to limit immigration, both processed and undocumented.

Trump has particularly vocalized his views about undocumented immigration, stating his plans to build a physical wall — which he has done to an extent — at the Mexican-American border to halt undocumented immigrants from entering the country.

The presence of a more conservative federal government under Trump calls into question the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. According to UT anthropology professor De Ann Pendry, who has extensively studied DACA, Mexico and Central America, DACA was launched in 2012 as a Department of Homeland Security memorandum, although there is a typical misconception that it was created as an executive order from President Barack Obama.

DACA essentially allows certain undocumented immigrants to receive deferred action for deportation, although there are several requirements for joining the DACA program.

The applicant must have arrived in the United States before they were 16 years old; been enrolled in school, completed high school, completed a GED or been honorably discharged from the Coast Guard or armed forces; been no older than 31 as of June 15, 2012; demonstrated continuous residence in the U.S. from June 15, 2007 to June 15, 2012; entered the U.S. undocumented or remained in the country without a viable visa before June 15, 2012; been present in the U.S. on June 15, 2012; when applying for DACA. not been convicted of a felony or more than three misdemeanors and not posed a threat to national security or public safety.

Enrollment in the program must be renewed every two years with a $495 renewal fee. Those in the program are able to obtain a temporary work permit and apply for a driver’s license.

However, DACA recipients are not eligible to

apply for permanent visas or to apply to hold a Green Card as a lawful permanent resident, although some exceptions to this do exist for DACA recipients married to U.S. citizens. Lawful permanent residency is necessary for applying for citizenship.

About 800,000 young people obtained DACA membership, with 8,000 of them being in Tennessee.

Currently, new DACA applications are not being accepted after the Trump administration decided in September 2017 to terminate the program. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a case about the situation, and a decision is expected this year.

Backlash against DACA has been visible in the states as well. The Supreme Court recently heard a case from several states, led by Texas, that called into question the legality of the DACA program. A decision on the case has not yet been released.

College can be a complicated experience for DACA recipients. Twenty states in the U.S. and Washington, D.C., offer in-state college tuition for undocumented students. Tennessee is not one of these states, although legislation has been proposed in the past to make it such.

Therefore, DACA recipients and other undocumented students in Tennessee are required to pay out-of-state tuition to attend public universities in the state, such as the University of Tennessee. This, coupled with the fact that certain schools such as nearby Maryville College offer scholarships to undocumented students, makes it unlikely that many DACA recipients are attending UT, Pendry stated.

She added that she has known of certain undocumented students who were forced to leave college because they could not afford it. And because DACA recipients cannot apply for any federal scholarships or loans, they cannot access financial aid or assistance that is available to most students.

Sophomore student Samuel Carrera Miranda is a DACA recipient from Hendersonville. Born in Guatemala, Miranda has lived in Tennessee for 19 years. DACA first became an important part of Miranda’s life when he was learning to drive and wanted to obtain a permit at age 15.

Miranda has experienced a great deal of turbulence in his journey to pursuing an affordable education. Miranda was accepted to UT’s prestigious College of Architecture and Design, but was unsure if he would be able to attend due to the fact that as a DACA recipient, he was required to pay out-of-state tuition. Because the architecture program is five years long, he would be required to pay around a quarter of a million dollars to complete his college education.

He explained his determination to attend UT. “My parents didn’t have the money for it, and I’m really driven, and when I have a dream or a goal I will pursue it, and I won’t let ... the

Polly Murphy and Jim Sessions hold a sign in support of immigrants and refugees.

Annie Tieu / The Daily Beacon challenges stop me,” Miranda said.

At the time of his acceptance, Miranda was interning for architect Chad Williams, who had been helping Miranda prepare his application and was thrilled when he was accepted. When Williams learned that Miranda was unsure if he would be able to attend, however, he took action and helped Miranda set up a meeting with U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, who attended Williams’ church.

Miranda then met with Blackburn and other Tennessee legislators to spread the word about the difficulties that DACA students face when trying to attend college.

Fortunately, through working with his lawyer, Miranda was accepted to the Equal Chance for Education program, which helps DACA students attend college for a discounted price.

Although the program does not usually work with UT, they made an exception for Miranda to attend the prestigious architectural program.

After arriving at college, Miranda was surprised to discover that he had been offered instate tuition for his first semester at UT. When he approached OneStop about how he was able to qualify for the tuition, they were surprised at the situation and revoked his in-state tuition, setting him back with thousands of dollars of unanticipated fees. Now, Miranda avoids OneStop “at all costs.”

Miranda approached his lawyer about the situation, and over winter break of his freshman year, he was introduced to developer Steve Turner of Dollar General. Turner decided to support Miranda in his educational journey and now pays for his college tuition.

Now, as a Vol, Miranda is very grateful to be a student at UT. “I take it as a form of an opportunity. I write all of the notes, I’m there all in class, and I’m not there just because I need to, because they’re taking attendance, but it’s mainly because I’m really fascinated [with] what I’m learning, and it has to do with my major,” Miranda said.

In his nearly two years at UT, Miranda has worked to spread the word about the importance of DACA. He is an activist with the student organization Students for Migrant Justice, and he has also met with UT administrators about the subject.

Miranda is currently trying to arrange a meeting with Chancellor Donde Plowman to discuss the 250-R program that is implemented at the University of Memphis. The program allows any students, including DACA recipients, within a 250 mile radius of UM who are not eligible for in-state tuition or a Border County waiver to attend the school for a reduced price, and Miranda is hoping to see that program implemented at UT. Miranda is not the only UT student whose life has been touched by the trials and tribulations of DACA. UT junior Luis Mata immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 2000 with his mom when he was just five years old and has lived in Knoxville ever since. He is a former DACA recipient and joined the program after overstaying his U.S. visa. Like Miranda, he was introduced fully to the complications of DACA and undocumented immigration when he wanted to obtain a learning permit and attend driver’s education.

In high school, Mata discovered that he was ineligible to join the Tennessee Promise program, which provides two free years of community college, due to his status as a DACA recipient after already attending several meetings about the program.

As someone who had always dreamed of attending college and would be a first generation college student, this realization was quite difficult.

“Going to the university was — or like going to college, seeking postsecondary education — it was always a dream of mine. ... I was really determined to accomplish,” Mata said.

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PUZZLES & GAMES

Wednesday, April 15, 2020 • The Daily Beacon

LOS ANGELES TIMES CROSSWORD • Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

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STORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 an immigration attorney he had applied to Because of the expensive price of college for DACA recipients and his concern about financially burdening his family, Mata was only able to afford to take one class a semester when he first began attending community college in 2014; he did this for five semesters. During this difficult time, Mata learned more about the struggles faced by many other immigrants through the Centro Hispano De East Tennessee.

But, one day, he received a call from his lawyer telling him that his immigration application that had been filed a decade earlier had finally been approved.

Through a program called a consular process, during which immigration applicants are required to return to their country of origin, Mata flew to Mexico for the first time in 17 years. After the process was complete, Mata returned to the United States as a legal permanent resident with a passion to advocate for immigration rights. He began reaching out to local immigration law firms and government officials to find out how he could aid other immigrants.

“I got back to the United States, and I had this fire in me that I continued to light each and every day. And that is being able to advocate for the most vulnerable, which is something that I always make it very clear,” Mata said.

“I’m passionate about doing everything that I possibly can to represent and not represent, but walk alongside those most vulnerable and underrepresented individuals and uplifting their voices, being able to just do anything for them.”

Serendipitously, Mata received a call from

work for when he was walking out of his interview to became a legal permanent resident, in a moment he calls “poetic.”

As an advocate for immigration, Mata co-founded the Students for Migrant Justice organization alongside sophomore Taylor Dempsey. SMJ is currently working on spreading information about DACA in particular.

Mata encourages those who wish to support immigrants and advocate for immigration reform to follow the organization’s Instagram page at @UTK_SMJ. Mata emphasized that his path does not represent the journey of all other DACA recipients. In fact, as aforementioned, DACA does not offer a direct pathway to legal permanent residence or citizenship. Mata’s application to DACA and application to become a legal permanent resident were separate entities.

Mata emphasized that in his personal journey, he has been extremely fortunate and credits a good deal of his success to his mom.

“She always did everything she could to make sure that everything was good at home.

There’s a quote that I love using and it’s, ‘Immigrant parents, with their wings cut, will still teach their children to fly.’ And I think that that is one of the greatest quotes when it comes to learning about immigration and learning about the overcoming of a person that you see from these families,” Mata said. “Because more often than not we focus on the individual, like for example, me right now, but we don’t focus on the struggles and challenges that our family overcame to give these opportunities to us.”

Pendry stated that if DACA is permanently abolished, the effects on its recipients, many of

whose stories are similar to those aforementioned, will be horrible.

“If DACA is eliminated, it will be devastating for the young people who qualified,” Pendry said.

Miranda expressed his concern over the possible permanent repeal of DACA, which would completely delay his future plans.

“I think it’s kind of scary if I’m being kind of honest, because it basically determines my future continuing on, and I really have enjoyed these past, I can say almost two years after the semester’s been over, but it’s been really amazing and like learning all of this,” Miranda said.

Like so many other college students whose education is dependent on their status as a DACA recipient, Miranda’s future and career are threatened by the possible elimination of the program.

He also added that he has explained DACA to many people who didn’t understand or know about the program, and he worries that people will not be educated about undocumented immigration if DACA is completely repealed and people like him are no longer able to attend college.

“I feel like if I’m not here, not a lot of people will be informed about it because a lot of the people here at UT didn’t know what DACA was,” Miranda said. “Even some of the professors, and they were shook about how students are in the DACA program, and they didn’t really think it was a big thing, so I feel if there’s not someone here informing people of what it is and how it affects, I feel like nothing would continue on, cause I think I’m one of the only DACA students here at UT.” In addition to legislation hoping to com-

pletely eliminate DACA, there is also discussion of raising the renewal fee from $495 to $765.

As Miranda explained, this would be difficult for DACA students; many of them can barely afford community college as it is and often have to work to help their families out with rent and food expenses.

To those who may question an immigrant’s right to be in America, Mata sends a message of equality and humanity for all.

“I belong here just as much as you do. ...

These are my rights, this is what I am. I’m a human being. Just like you are. And just having that divisive narrative is what is creating this tension, right? Seeing the people as the less, wanting to have this type of hierarchy within individuals,” Mata said. “I think that’s the issue right there. And they belong here, immigrant students are here to stay, and we’ll keep fighting for that to happen.”

Like Mata, Pendry emphasized the importance of recognizing humanity when discussing undocumented immigration.

“Also try to remember: No human being is illegal,” Pendry said. “The act of crossing the border without inspection or overstaying a temporary visa is a civil offense.”

Mata shared advice on how everyone can be more cognizant of the struggles faced by immigrants and be available as allies to the community.

“Stand in solidarity with your immigrant neighbors. ... You never know what their immigration status would be. You never know what they’re going through. And just being an advocate and ally for all of this is really all that I can emphasize right now,” Mata said.

UT advisors discuss course registration during coronavirus BEN WINIGER Staff Writer

Fall semester course registration will be open to all students by April 21. With the current coronavirus situation, it is easy to forget there are still classes planned after the year ends.

After all that’s gone on, students needn’t fear course registration. UT’s academic advisors are still here to help.

Kirsten Pitcock, UT’s coordinator for academic advising for the departments of English and history, spoke to the Beacon about course registration and how coronavirus has affected it.

Pitcock hopes that students planned ahead and already laid out their academic plan. However, she emphasized that UT advisors are still actively making appointments for those without one.

“For the regular semester, hopefully, they’ve already made a plan with their advisor.

If not, I don’t know anyone who’s not available for their students virtually,” Pitcock said

“We’ve still been able to meet with students to think about things.”

A student’s academic plan is their charter through the upcoming summer and fall semesters. It lists out the courses they need to take for graduation, as well as those they want to try out of sheer interest.

Merrill Walker, undergraduate advisor for the Haslam College of Business, pointed to the academic plan as the first thing students should look to while registering. She described it as an easy way to keep track of all of a student’s required classes.

“The first is to look at the academic plan you make with your advisor. We’ll rank the classes in order of importance,” Walker said. “So if there are classes you absolutely need to take in the fall, we’ll have marked that on your plan.”

However, required classes aren’t everything. There are multiple ways to build a course schedule around your personal interests and career goals. For that, Walker recommends exploring the course catalog for classes that peak personal interest.

“We already remind students to review the catalog and review course descriptions, especially for those requirements where you have

options,” Walker said. “That’s an opportunity to find something that’d be the best or most interesting course for you — based on your interests and what you see yourself doing after graduation.”

When registering for classes, an issue on many a student’s mind is how difficult each class will be.

However, Pitcock encourages students to not pass up “difficult classes,” as they may be a good way to explore more topics and find new interests. Those classes may also not be as hard as first appearances suggest.

“I don’t really believe in easy classes. I think there are classes that feel easier for some student than others, but that really depends on the student,” Pitcock said. “If I could go back, I wish I had explored things I hadn’t explored previously. I tended to be drawn to classes that felt more familiar, which is what a lot of my students do.”

The biggest hurdle that coronavirus has caused for registration is summer term registration. UT faculty haven’t finalized summer courses yet or how online courses will function.

Since summer courses are more intensive, with students doing in seven weeks what is

usually taught in three months, students may find these classes more difficult. Add online coursework into the mix, and the question becomes a lot more complicated. Synchronous classes, where students need to log into class every day, may lead to students taking unreasonably early or late classes depending on time zone.

Pitcock recommends talking to your advisor to create a plan, but also suggested talking to your summer course professors to avoid this.

“Faculty are still deciding what online classes will look like in the summer now that they have time to actually prepare for it,” Pitcock said. “You want to find out if a class is going to be synchronous or not, especially for students in different time zones. If there’s a time listed, you want to reach out to the instructor. I wouldn’t sign up just hoping it’s not synchronous.”

Freshman course registration will open on April 20 and 21. You can register for courses via your MyUTK account and schedule advising appointments through GradesFirst or by emailing your advisor.