Concordiensis
T H E S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F U N I O N COLLEGE SINCE 1877 Thursday, October 8, 2020
Volume. CXLIX, Issue IV
concordiensis.com
Entrepreneurs of the Nott hosts Andrew Yang for Q&A discussion By Sydney Lewis News Editor
On October 1, 2020 Andrew Yang connected with Union College’s Entrepreneurs of the Nott (EON) Club for a Zoom call in regards to his involvement with entrepreneurship. Andrew Yang spoke with moderators Emma Lee ’21 and Steven Crouch ’21 on how entrepreneurship has affected his life and what childhood was like growing up in the Schenectady area. According to their official website, Yang founded Venture for America in 2011 as a fellowship program for college graduates who want to follow their dreams in startup and entrepreneurship. According to the E-Board of EON, it’s “simply a place
where people can solve problems in whatever capacity they desire. Here are some of the things we focus on.” They focus on campus-wide collaboration and exposing the student body to an entrepreneurial mindset. When speaking on organizing the event Lee says, “Student Activities reached out to their contracting middle agents and got a quote for the event and from there we met as a group to work out the details of what a virtual event with Andrew Yang would look like.” There were several steps to be taken after this. Lee further elaborated, “After compiling a list of possible questions, a date and time, we submitted an offer to Andrew Yang and his team. We received a confirmation a week and a half before the actual event and met multiple times
to iron out any creases in the planning and ensure we were ready to go on game day.” Although the conversation was centered around his entrepreneurial conquests, his political career was inevitably mentioned several times within conversation. He mentioned that he would enjoy running for office again if it is the most sensible way to advance his goals. Lee said on political matters, “It was more challenging to integrate audience questions concerning politics in a thoughtful and non-controversial matter than it was to ask any political questions which had been thought out and approved of by Andrew before the event.”
Yang was asked, “Have your thoughts on medicare changed since COVID-19?” He responded by saying that he has always been in favor of universal healthcare and thinks that citizens have been forced to make tragic decisions for loved ones during the pandemic because of the cost of healthcare in our country. He is interested in how artificial intelligence could be more incorporated into healthcare systems. When speaking on Yang’s character Lee said, “Andrew has the fantastic characteristic of being authentically himself in every single interaction he has, and how he fielded questions during the
EON Club hosts Andrew Yang for Q&A
zoom Q+A is exactly how he is in all of the interviews I have heard with him and even on the debate stage.” Yang mentioned the difficulties of growing up as one of the only asian students in his grade. He had skipped a grade and found it difficult to fit in at times. As middle school transitioned into highschool and then college this feeling became less and less, but the alienated feeling is one that he will never forget. In regards to entrepreneurship he mentioned the quote, “Quitting is an underrated skill” which made an interesting point for the audience to mull over. He has overcome Courtesy of EON See Yang on page 2
Two new COVID-19 cases on campus, 32 quarantined By Akriti Dhasmana Editor-in-Chief
After seven days of no new cases, Union College COVID-19 Dashboard reported that 2 students have tested positive for coronavirus since Thursday, October 1. The COVID-19 Dashboard has also been updated to reflect that 32 students have now been placed under quarantine, as of writing this article. This is the highest number of students to have been placed in quarantine under suspicion of exposure to the virus since Union reopened for the
Fall term. The two new cases bring the total number of positive cases so far at Union to 10, with nine students and one faculty/staff member having tested positive since the beginning of this school year. According to the Dashboard, there are only two cases currently “active” at Union. College spokesperson Phil Wajda confirmed that the two students have now been placed under isolation. According to Union’s website, the college policy dictates that if a student tests positive or is required to quarantine then the student must either arrange to be picked up by a parent immediately to isolate or quar-
antine at home, or coordinate with Health Services to quarantine in Union’s designated space. Wajda mentioned that some of the 36 students are quarantining in Union’s designated space off-campus while others chose to go back home. Contact tracing was completed by the Schenectady County Department of Health (DOH) and individuals determined by the DOH to have come in close contact with the individuals that tested positive were quickly identified, according to Wajda. Explaining the sudden jump in quarantined students, Wajda said, “Our first cases were when the majority of students
were in their initial quarantine, now that classes have started and students are interacting with each other more, there are more opportunities for close contacts. As a result, the number of students in quarantine rose significantly.” According to a recent survey of more than 1,600 American colleges and universities carried out by the New York Times there have been at least 130,000 cases on college campuses since the pandemic began. Most of the cases have been announced since students returned to campus for the fall term. Another New York Times review of 203 “college town” counties
where students comprise at least 10 percent of the population reported that almost half of the surveyed counties experienced their worst weeks of the pandemic as students returned in August, and about half of those were experiencing peak infections this month. “Union’s isolation and quarantine protocols, developed in partnership with the DOH, are critical to managing the disease on campus. In addition, we want to remind all in our campus community to continue to follow our health and safety protocols,” Wajda said.