The Runner 2-24-21

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California State University, Bakersfield

February 24, 2021

Vol. 47, No. 2

CSUB becomes COVID testing site By Rosa Salazar Assistant News Editor CSU Bakersfield held a Chat with the Chief where `Runners were able to learn about the University Police Department, ask questions and be updated on campus resources. CSUB Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety, Marty Williamson, said the main motive of the talks was to reach out to the campus community. “The main purpose is just to be able to reach out to the campus community and allow the campus community to ask questions, offer thoughts, concerns, ideas; anything with campus safety,” Williamson said. COVID testing at the CSUB main campus was also discussed by Gonzales. Gonzalez said that CSUB will have testing every other Tuesday in the Stock-

dale room. Appointments are from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Gonzalez also demonstrated how to book a COVID test appointment through the CSUB website. Students wishing to get tested can click where it says alerts at the top of the website. From there students can view the upcoming testing dates available and book an appointment. The UPD representatives stressed the availability of mental health resources provided by the university. “It’s really important to include our campus partners as much as possible when we’re dealing with something like with mental health,” Gonzalez said. Gonzalez provided a list of on-campus resources when dealing with mental health including Behavioral Assessment Intervention and Response Team (BART), the Counseling Center, and the Employ-

ee Assistance Program (EAP). One community member asked about the availability of parking permits. “They should be mailed out, we’re hoping within two weeks, but until you get your permit, please put your receipt on your dash and that will suffice until the permit is received,” Williamson answered. The campus community also asked questions during the meeting. One of the questions was read by Hilda Moreno-Zuniga, Police Community Service Specialist. “I am a middle school teacher and pre covid, our school had a school resource officer; many of my students express negative feelings of having an officer at our school, what tips would you suggest for having conversations with students and helping them see officers in a positive manner,” Moreno-Zuniga

said. “There’s a lot of negativity and going out about law enforcement, and you know what, I’ll be honest, law enforcement hasn’t always portrayed itself as a professional, you know, ethical, in a sense,” Wiliamson said. “Individuals, we’ve seen it, it’s on video and stuff and I’ll tell you some of those people are just nothing more than criminals and they deserve to be prosecuted.” Williamson added that there are many factors that officers have to deal with and the UPD is a unique role. “Our role is there to support the educational process, certainly we’re there as law enforcement officers, absolutely, we can’t get away from that,” Williamson said. Williamson said he hopes to break down the barriers that exist between students and those in uniform.

Plans for fall semester are on the way By Rosa Salazar Assistant News Editor Vernon Harper, VP of Academic Affairs, provided updates CSU Bakersfield’s fall 2021 semester. Harper said the plan is projection based on the public health tiers in which Kern County will reside come this fall. In terms of instruction, Harper said there will be four different models of instruction that will be offered including face to face, asynchronous, synchronous, and a new mode called flex attendance. Flex attendance would allow a portion of students to be face to face and the rest would be on Zoom simultaneously. “What the pandemic has done is really impressed upon us as administrators

and leaders is that we need to build flexible and nimble environments that accommodate both the safety and educational needs of students and that is what we are in fact building,” Harper said. CSU Bakersfield Associated Students Inc. held their weekly board meeting on Feb. 12 via Zoom. The first agenda of the meeting was the Academic Senate meeting Report given by Charles C.Y. Lam, a member of the Senate. Lam said that the senate had committee reports that stated many professors wanted for students to use resources on campus. “There are lots of faculty who would like to see that even though the classes are conducted virtually, will like to see the possibility of a testing center avail-

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The event, free and open to the public, can be accessed on the CSUB website. CSUB will also have a paint night open to students on Feb. 25. On Feb. 18 there will be a Brown Bag Discussion titled; Black Superheroes: A Tribute to Chadwick Boseman at noon. Later that same day via Instagram Live, there will be an event called Expression Nights where Runners can participate in an open mic and show off their form of expression whether it be art, dancing, singing or anything else. CSUB President Zelezney, announced that all CSUB students will benefit from the CARES ACT funding and she said that funds will be distributed through BankMobile by

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the middle of March. The Office of Student Involvement and the SCR will hold a meeting on Feb. 17 to discuss the possibility of CSUB e-sports involvement. Vanessa Chicaiza, ASI President, said she received an email from a student who is concerned about the anticipated return of in-person instruction. Chicaiza said she understands that returning to school is a major concern for many students. The Center for Career Education and Community Engagement at CSUB will be hosting virtual information sessions for students interested in employment in companies including Kohls, Target, Amazon and more. Those interested can register online for the particular session to receive a

Zoom invitation. More information can be found under the event tab under the handshake website. According to Claudia Catota, Chief Diversity Officer at CSUB, starting next week students will be able to select their pronouns on PeopleSoft; the pronouns and their preferred names will appear on the class roster. “By respecting an individual’s pronouns, we recognize their sense of self and and affirm the humanities of all members of our community specifically our transgendered, gendered non conforming, non-binary, gender questioning and other gender diverse members of our campus community,” Catota said.

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able on campus for final exams,” Lam said. Lam also mentioned that the senate will further discuss the topic and express their recommendations to the senate. Next was the Campus Programming Report updated by Afaf Aldhulay, Campus Programming Coordinator. Aldhulay said this week is the last week of Black Mental Wholeness Week. Amanda Seales, actress, podcaster, rapper, singer, songwriter, comedian, DJ, poet, activist, presenter and media personality, will do a Q and A via Zoom on Feb. 17. “Invite your friends, its open to the whole campus community and it’s going to be a night for laughs cuz I think we all need that,” Aldhulay said.


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