Kentucky Kernel: October 12, 2020

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Monday, October 12, 2020 est. 1892 | Independent since 1971 www.kykernel.com @kykernel @kentuckykernel

FROM THE STAGE TO THE SCREEN

UK acoUstiKats take a cappella performances to TikTok | PAGE 6

sports

news

analysis

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Roark looks back

Can’t stop the beat

Mid-term checkpoint

Monday, October 12, 2020

sports

‘Meant to be’: Remembering the UK victory that snapped UT’s winning streak

By Barkley Truax sports@kykernel.com

The University of Kentucky football team will travel to Knoxville this weekend for another chance at taking down the University of Tennessee volunteers, a team UK has not beaten since 2017.

But the last win before that 2017 victory was even more special - it snapped a 26-year losing streak, and it happened at the hands of an unusual quarterback.

Matt Roark played many roles as a Kentucky Wildcat, including a special teams captain and wide receiver, but what many Wildcat fans remember most is his stint at quarterback during the game against UT in 2011.

Roark came to Kentucky in the fall of 2008 after being recruited out of high school, where he had played quarterback. That position is where he started his freshmen year, before switching to wide receiver.

Where he excelled, though, was on special teams.

“That was where I impacted the team the most, I was a leader there – on the field, in the meetings,” Roark said. “That was my role. My role was to get everybody pumped up and excited about flying down there, running into somebody full speed even when

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you didn’t want to.”

His greatest skill?

Blocking field goals and PAT attempts, Roark said.

“Since day one of my freshman year, first game ever playing against Louisville, they put me in to block a field goal and I blocked it,” said Roark.

“Ever since then I was on field goal block, blocking kicks about six or seven times after that.”

Roark began to see more action on the field in his junior and senior seasons on the offensive side of the ball as a receiver.

But injuries plagued the Kentucky quarterback lineup late in the 2011 season.

The game prior to Tennessee was a matchup against Georgia.

Then-quarterback Morgan Newton went down with an injury, so Maxwell Smith came into the game for UK. But Smith, too, was injured, by a tackle in the fourth quarter that wrenched his right shoulder.

With the Tennessee team coming to Lexington in the last week of the season, Kentucky was in a tough spot and looking to notch a fifth win.

“At that point, us as players thought that Maxwell would be able to recover and go into the game against Tennessee,” Roark said. But behind the scenes, the training and coaching

staff deemed Smith unable to come back in time for the game.

Coaching staff approached Roark the Monday before the Tennessee game about playing quarterback. At first, he figured he would play intermittently as wildcat offense, just a few plays here and there.

When the first team offense was called on practice at Tuesday, Roark was placed behind the center.

“I was like ‘what? The whole time?’ And that was when I found out. It was on the field,” Roark said.

“I wasn’t nervous, I was more excited, like, let’s go. What else do we have to lose?” Roark said of the opportunity.

Kentucky was sitting with a 4-6 record, and with only one game remaining, Kentucky’s hope for a bowl game was gone. The only thing to focus on was Tennessee, led by quarterback Tyler Bray.

Roark hadn’t played quarterback for over three years at that point. He had only been a college quarterback for two months before he was switched to wide receiver. Luckily, he had run wildcat offense at practice in previous years, so he had at least some experience.

“At the end of the day, that’s what I was my whole life. It was second nature to

STAFF FILE PHOTO Kentucky Wildcats quarterback Matt Roark (3) is interviewed after the University of Kentucky football game against Tennessee on November 26, 2011. Uk won the game 10-7, snapping a 26-year losing streak.

me, the most comfortable I was in my whole career offensively,” Roark said The game against Tennessee was played on a cold November afternoon in Lexington. Before the game Roark warmed up as a receiver, gloves and all, in an effort to keep Tennessee guessing.

“It took them at least a quarter and a half before they could make adjustments and catch on to it a little bit,” Roark said.

Kentucky went into halftime with a 3-0 lead courtesy of a 24-yard field goal from Craig McIntosh in the first quarter.

Blocking up front allowed the Wildcats to rush for 202 yards overall on the ground. The line allowed Roark to rush for 124 yards, averaging over five yards per carry.

“I was just out there winging it, wheeling and dealing. Whatever came to my mind,” Roark said.

Kentucky ran many misdirection plays featuring Roark and running back CoShik Williams, who had 21 and 24 carries respectively. Williams scored the only touchdown of the day for Kentucky, a six-yard rush into the end zone followed by an extra-point attempt from McIntosh that put the Wildcats up 10-0.

The story of the game, however, wasn’t Roark’s gutsy performance on less See VICTORY on page 3

LOOKING BACK, MOVING FORWARD UK REQUIRING FLU SHOTS FOR STUDENTS ON CAMPUS UK announced on Thursday, Oct. 8, that it would require all students coming to campus to receive a flu shot this year.

This is the first time the university has mandated a vaccination; in the announcement, president Eli Capilouto said the initiative would help with efforts to battle the coronavirus. Some medical experts have used the term “twindemic” to describe the potential devastation of a bad flu season on top of the pandemic. UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said students who need exceptions - such as those with allergies to flu shots - should contact the Disability Resource Center for accommodations. According to the email, faculty and staff will be “strong-

ly encouraged” to get the flu shot.

Students can go to any of four on campus locations for their flu shot. Students can also get vaccinated at Kroger pharmacies using a voucher available on UK’s flu shot page. Students who have already gotten a flu shot must upload documentation to the portal on the flu shot page.

Students should bring their student ID and insurance card to their appointment.

Students who don’t have insurance will receive the flu shot for free.

The deadline for students to get their flu shot is Nov. 1.

UK POLICE REPORT BICYCLE THEFTS Last week the UK police department published a notice of repeated bicycle thefts

Monday, October 12, 2020

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CONTACT on campus. According to the email sent to students, UKPD identified a pattern among bicycle thefts in the last two months.

“Our investigations have found that the people committing these thefts are choosing bicycles that are simply unsecured or are secured using braided cable or chain style bicycle locks,” the notice said. 55 bicycles were stolen on campus in the last two months, 21 in the Woodland Glen Complex.

The email said UKPD is bringing charges against four suspects and is looking for information on other incidents. Regardless, students should take precautions to secure their bicycles. UKPD recommends registering bikes with UK Transportation Services and using “U locks” of solid metal.

Editor-in-chief: Natalie Parks editor@kykernel.com Managing editor: Michael Clubb editor@kykernel.com News/features editor: Lauren Campbell news@kykernel.com Asst. news editors: Haley Blackburn Emily Girard Sports editor: Braden Ramsey sports@kykernel.com Opinions editor: Sarah Michels opinions@kykernel.com Asst. Opinions editor: Gillian Stawiszynski

VICTORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

than a week’s notice, but the defense. They gave up one touchdown, and then only in the fourth quarter.

“The defense was phenomenal, led by Danny Trevathan and the rest of those guys. It just wasn’t possible for us to lose, especially with the way the defense is playing,” Roark said. “That was probably the best the defense played in the last two years of my career.”

The win wouldn’t have been possible without the blocking defensive and offensive lines enabling the Roark and Williams.

“Everybody wanted to win.

We couldn’t lose,” Roark said.

“We caught breaks, we had momentum and it was just meant to be.”

The win marked Kentucky’s first victory over Tennessee in 26 years.

“For me, it was ironic, the first day on campus I played quarterback and my last day on campus I played quarterback

and never in between,” Roark said.

The significance of the win was personal for Roark, whose father Ray Gover was a member of the last team to beat Tennessee in 1984. 26 years later, Roark would live up to that legacy by leading Kentucky to its streak-ending win.

After that final game Roark became a local celebrity in Lexington.

“The next six months of my life was nuts; people coming up to me, doing autograph signings and everything,” Roark said.

Every year, Roark gets text and social messages remembering his contributions to the Kentucky program. Even when talking to his old teammates, people always remember Roark for what he did for the Kentucky program. Not only for his role in snapping what was, at the time, the longest losing streak in the country, but for how he stepped up when his number was called.

“Even now, when I see a Tennessee fan and I think about

it, it always tickles me for the rest of my life,” Roark said. “I remember it like it was yesterday.”

Today, Roark lives in Phoenix, Arizona with family. Like

many former Wildcats, Roark still bleeds blue.

“Kentucky is still on my license plate, I’ve still got my flag at home so it’s not going anywhere,” Roark said.

Photo editor: Tori Rogers Designers: Mya LaClair Ryder Noah From Social media manager: Sarah Simon-Patches KENTUCKY KERNEL OFFICES 340 McVey Hall University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40506

On the cover: MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF Senior vocal performance major Ben Boutell is filmed by doctoral candidate Will Chandler for a TikTok during an acoUstiKats practice on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.

STAFF FILE PHOTO Kentucky Wildcats quarterback Matt Roark (3) pitches the ball to running back Raymond Sanders (4) during the second half of the University of Kentucky football game against Tennessee at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington on November 26, 2011. UK won the game 10-7.

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JACK WEAVER I STAFF The Wildcat Marching Band practices on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, at the Football Practice Field in Lexington, Kentucky ahead of the first home football game of the season at Kroger Field.

JACK WEAVER I STAFF A trumpet player practices with the Wildcat Marching Band on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, at the Football Practice Field in Lexington, Kentucky ahead of the first home football game of the season at Kroger Field.

CAN’T STOP THE BEAT A MARCH-LESS MARCHING BAND CARRIES ON

By Natalie Parks news@kykernel.com

Gratitude. That’s the prevailing emotion among members of the University of Kentucky’s Wildcat Marching Band; gratitude that they get to play, perform and gather in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m just glad to be out there doing it. I’m still in marching band,” said Cessna Langford, a UK senior and squad leader in the marching band. “I’m still getting the opportunity to see my friends and play my clarinet which I know some people aren’t even getting that opportunity.”

Many colleges and high schools chose not to have marching bands this year. Early on in the season, even members of the UK band were unsure about how much they would be allowed to do.

“Every single day was like we don’t know what’s going to happen, we don’t know if we’re going to be canceled or not,” said Rebecca Rieck, a sophomore mechanical engineering major who is also a part of the band’s color guard.

Band camp began a week before classes started, but the band didn’t know until a couple weeks into the semester if they would be allowed at football games at all, according to drum major Madi Rabe.

Rabe, a senior, mentally prepared herself to have a diminished experience.

“When COVID started this past semester, I kind of knew that all of this was going to happen, so I was going into it knowing that we probably wouldn’t be doing all the performances that we normally,” Rabe said. And indeed,

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the SEC ruled that bands would be sidelined – limited to the stands for football games, and unable to march on the field.

Even the size of the band had to change to accommodate social distancing in the stadium.

“We are only allowed the same section we are normally allowed every year, so we are splitting the band into four,” Rabe said.

Only 80 members and two drum majors are allowed on game days out of the band’s roughly 215 people.

“It’s still enough to create a good energetic performance for the fans, so that’s all that matters,” said Jessie Pennington, a junior clarinet player.

Each band member is assigned one home game to attend and there is a lottery system to fill leftover spots. Rabe said the smaller number makes performing more stressful because everyone has to be on and paying attention all the time; and, as a drum major, she only has one other person to rely on to watch the field for song cues.

Pennington already had her turn playing at a football game this year; she was assigned the home opener against Ole Miss. She said the experience was fun and different.

“It kind of reminded me of why we’re all here,” Pennington said of the game. Getting to see the band’s performance on the Jumbotron was a highlight for her.

Because the marching could not march their halftime show during the actual game, UK Athletics their show – an 8-minute Beatles medley – to play on screens around the stadium instead.

“We were all excited to see us on the big screen. We’ve

never really been able to see us perform as the audience sees us before,” Pennington said.

Rabe said recording the show gave everyone in band a goal to work towards.

“People seemed to be a little unmotivated just cause like what were we working towards? If we’re not going to be playing on the field at these games what’s the point?”

Rabe said. “But then when we got closer to the recording last week, people started to step it up and you could tell that people were more mentally in the game and they were excited. Especially now that we know we’re having football games, everyone’s a lot more into it.”

Not getting the same number of performances and not being able to travel has dampened the spirits of the marching band some.

“Keeping morale up is a lot harder, I think, just seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Langford said. But band members are, now more than ever, grateful for the social aspects of band.

“If I lost marching band, I wouldn’t see anybody,” Rieck said. Because she has online classes, marching band is the only time she gets to leave her apartment and interact with friends.

“COVID made it difficult and a little scary, but I couldn’t abandon it,” Rieck said of band, which has been a part of her life for years.

Other members said band was a similar social lifeline, especially for freshmen who are still getting adjusted to campus.

“I feel like it’s harder for freshmen because you hav-

Monday, October 12, 2020 haven’t gotten to gather in your sections, you haven’t gotten to really know people,” Langford said, adding that this limited version is all they’ve gotten as a college marching band experience.

Rabe said that the band has encouraged Zoom sessions for sections to get to know each other; connection is easier in sections, Rieck said, than across different groups.

“I think we’ve done pretty well with that,” Rabe said.

“Freshmen have been able to make new friends like they Dalys Bishop, a senior trumpet player and animal scitheir behavior and still socialize.

“Typically we wouldn’t worry about it, we’d all be joking around with each other, people would be throwing a football or frisbee or something like that,” Bishop said; they still do, only now they sanitize equipment and social distance.

“The reason we do get to keep playing and performing is because we are taking the precautions,” Bishop said, so they want to make sure to follow the rules.

Among the precautions the band has taken are bell covers to limit the spread of air specially designed masks with slits for instruments.

“Those tend to go up my nose and blocks basically my only airway, and it creates a lot more moisture in there,” Bishop said. “Our mouthpieces slide of our faces a lot under the thing and it takes more time to get your horn up to play.”

But that’s the price to be paid for a chance to play. Rabe said the drill – or physical marching arrangement - is more spread out as well to allow for distancing. Positioning

does not change much for color guard. we’re spinning poms in the stands, we’re six feet apart anyway,” Rieck said.

Unlike previous years, the band has not practiced indoors, Langford said, and there is no practice when it rains. They used to go under the overhang when it rained, Rieck said, but there’s not space to distance under there and they cannot play with wet masks.

Still, there are some silver linings to the altered band season. Because they only get to perform at one home “I think it’s going to be strange, but I do get the opportunity to go not as a band member,” said Langford, who plans to attend at least one game with her parents, season ticket holders who are always seated next to the band.

“I have literally never been to a football game other than with band,” Bishop said. She got the chance to do so for the Ole Miss game, seeing herself on the Jumbotron Bishop couldn’t escape the band completely; she showed up to the gates at the same time as the band, which she said was strange.

“They’re all waving at me, and I feel like when our alumni would come to games and we’d see them and wave at them and talk to them. It made it a little more real that I’m a senior and I’ll be leaving soon,” Bishop said.

For seniors, the altered band season is a bittersweet opportunity. Rabe said it was sad to wait her whole college career for her senior season, which is supposed to be the best season, only to be limited in performances.

bands across the country aren’t even doing that is awesome,” Rabe said.

Bishop said COVID-19 ruined her senior experience a bit, stating that they can’t do senior night the way they usually do.

“I’m perfectly happy that I’ll probably be here for another year because it gives me another chance to basically redo my senior year,” Bishop said.

“Yes I still get to be in band and we still get to perform and everything, but it’s not the same as it would be,” Bishop explained.

Younger band members can hope that things are back to normal by the time they graduate so they can have a men who have not known anything different.

“I look at it as, I’m a junior right now, and next year everyone is going to be making up for the past year so my senior year is going to be really really good because everyone will be real excited to get back into it, so I’m ford said.

Even though game days this year are restricted, the altered circumstances of the pandemic have also given the band a new opportunity: pop-up performances.

Essentially miniature pep rallies, the pop-up performances have been a way for the band to showcase themselves on campus. So far they’ve performed three times, including an Oct. 2 performance outside of William T. Young Library that was attended by over a hundred students, community members and families.

See BAND on page 3

fact that we still get to get together and play when a lot of

JACK WEAVER I STAFF Madi Rabe, drum major, leads the Wildcat Marching Band during an afternoon practice on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, at the Football Practice Field in Lexington, Kentucky ahead of the first home football game of the season at Kroger Field.

NATALIE PARKS I STAFF UK students, community members and the families of band, cheer and dance team members gather on the lawn of William T. Young to watch a pop-up performance on Friday, October 2, 2020 on the UK campus in Lexington, Kentucky.

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news

UK acoUstiKats take a cappella performances to TikTok

By Lauren Campbell news@kykernel.com

AcoUstiKats, UK’s premier male a cappella group, has grown into a viral account on the video-sharing social network TikTok, a platform that has given them the opportunity to virtually perform during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ben Boutell, acoUstiKats’ social media manager, came up with the idea for the group to join TikTok while the group was at an a cappella competition in Febvideo, the acoUstiKats copied the “Fli Fla Flo” video trend.

“We were all at our hotel room hanging out, and I said, ‘Why don’t we try this call and response TikTok?’ We tried it and it worked out, so we decided to record it,” said Boutell.

That video gained almost 7 million views and thousands of comments.

Eight months later, acoUstiKats’ TikTok account has over 171,00 followers and over two million likes on the platform.

The acoUstiKats dedicate at least 30 minutes a week to creating TikToks; while some of the recordings are done spontaneously, others are arranged and crafted with a variety of different voice parts. Some take place at events like DanceBlue or basketball games.

“Normally, an hour or two before a rehearsal, I’ll sit down at my computer and I’ll mess around with some ideas. I’ll record each part with my own voice onto

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Logic, and from there I’m able to teach the guys the arrangement I’ve come up with,” said Boutell. “I’ll sing it and they’ll sing it back to me. It’s super quick.”

Even with multiple takes, the recording process for TikTok is pretty quick because each video is less than a minute long.

“We normally do at least four takes because I like to have options to choose from, and they’re not that long - less than a minute, so it doesn’t take that long,” said Boutell. “But there are points where we cut takes and redo things, but that’s what the delete button is for.”

The group is meeting twice-aweek in-person as safely as possible, singing six feet apart and wearing masks.

“We’ve been meeting on Monday and Wednesdays for an hour and a half, socially distanced with masks. We’ll meet for 30 minutes inside, leave for 30 minutes to let the air in the room ventilate, and then come back for 30 minutes,” Boutell said. “Sometimes we’ll rehearse outside.”

Due to COVID-19, the group has limited opportunities for in-person performances this year, so they dedicate rehearsal time to trying new ideas and different ways to perform, including virtually.

“My favorite part of the rehearsal process is when we get to do the TikToks. Essentially it’s a chance for us to perform again,” Boutell said.

Their online presence has not only given the acoUstiKats an extended fanbase, but also brought

MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF Sophomore media arts and studies major Ty Odom practices his part for a TikTok during an acoUstiKats practice on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.

new life to the group.

Boutell said the pandemic has been really tough for the group because they are gig-based, but that their following on the app gives them something to push for.

“We normally have two gigs a week signing at events around campus, and it’s been hard to not have that. In rehearsals we haven’t had much to work towards

but having this platform on Tiken us a chance to do something and keep pushing,” Boutell said.

AcoUstiKats member Ethan Mooney said he enjoys making the TikToks. Mooney also said he thinks the platform is a way for the UK community to see acoUstiKats members on an individual level.

“TikTok is a more viral platform that’s more predicated on a brand Kats fully embraces,” Mooney said. “We pride ourselves on creating engaging, professional performances singing live, but TikTok allows us to showcase the wealth of humor and personality in the group that people don’t otherwise get to see:

Monday, October 12, 2020

MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF Junior music education major Larkin Gensheimer practices his part in a song during an acoUstiKats practice on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020.

singing jingles, improvising, and generally goofing off in our rehearsal process. People have always been fans of the acoUstiKats as a group but now they get a peek at each member as individual musicians.”

Boutell can attest to this experience; now that students are back on campus, he is getting recognized in real life from his appearances on the acoUstiKats’ TikTok account.

“A lot of people have come up to me and said, ‘Hey, I recognize you, you’re the guy

BAND CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

Bishop said the performances have gotten larger each time. The Oct. 2 performance was in conjunction with both the dance and cheer teams, a partnership that Pennington said was really nice. The cheer team came to practice with the band on Shivley Field, something she couldn’t recall being done before.

“It was really cool having them rehearse with us because we got to see their part of the performance which we never really get to pay attention to,” Pennington said, adding that she thinks having to cope with such difficult circumstances together has helped the two groups feel more connected.

The cheer team and dance team are allowed to perform on game days, though in a different capacity and format than previous years. Langford acknowledged that all of the performers are lucky to get a chance to perform while still wishing things could be the same as previous years.

“Football is football, that’s the moneymaker, the marching band isn’t bringing in a lot of revenue. I get it, it is what it is. Do I wish I could be out there for every game?

Yes. Do I understand? Yes,” Langford said.

The pop-up performances also give the families of bad members an opportunity to see a live performance; since entry to Kroger Field is limited, not many parents are able to attend games and watch in-person, especially since band members only get one game.

from the Kats’ TikTok,’ and I’m kind of embarrassed, but also flattered, and I’m like, ‘Yes, that’s me’,” Boutell said.

In addition to creating TikToks, the acoUstiKats plan to use their time away from live performances to record an album.

“Our plan is to get it out by January, but we don’t want to be held down to that timeline, but we are shooting for the January, February, March area,” Boutell said.

Mooney, who is heading the album project, said many

of the members have used their quarantine to learn record engineering skills that will be helpful to this project.

“Coming back to school, it only seemed fitting to use the skills we gained during the quarantine to maximize Kats’ momentum as the pandemic unfolds,” said Mooney.

“We’re currently in the process of health-consciously tracking each individual member of Kats and imbuing each track on the album with the style and flavor of our live sound.”

AcoUstiKats plans to grow their social media presence to YouTube when the album comes out by recording music videos for the album songs.

“With social media and nowadays it’s always a hit-or-miss, there’s a lot of good things that happen with it as well as bad, but I’m very thankful my group has been given this platform to be able to perform again while COVID is going on,” Boutell said.

Keep up with the acoUstiKats on TikTok @ukacoustikats.

Rieck’s grandmother, parents and boyfriend’s family were able to attend the pep rally on oct. 2 even with short notice.

“That’s probably the only time my grandmother could see me perform this year,” Rieck said. “My parents as well.”

Donna Goodrich, Julie Ernst and Kelly Gritton all have sons in the UK marching band who were in band together at Dunbar High School. They have been to all of the popup performances.

“This is our only way to get together with band family and see our kids do what they love to do,” said Donna Goodrich. The trio of moms agreed that marching band has been huge for their sons this year as a way to socialize and be invovled on campus.

Students said the pep rallies make this year more normal. “It adds a sense of community. You’re like ‘oh, I’m at a university, not just taking classes online’,” said freshman Raegan Persful.

Pennington said the pop-up performances are a reminder of why they do what they do since it gives the band an opportunity to make people feel good.

“I think it’s actually given us more attention and more advertisement to the community. It kind of distracts them from all that’s going in, which is really cool,” Pennington said.

Bishop also noted the positive impact the band can have on the community. She described an interaction she witnessed at the Ole Miss game. A game attendee arrived

In their first video, the acoUstiKats recreated the “fli fla flo” trend. Their other popular videos include a TikTok taken on stage at DanceBlue and an a cappella Red Robin jingle.

at the same time as Bishop and the band, and when she saw the band said “there is a band, she’s going to be so happy!”

That same mindset, of being happy to have a band at all, is echoed by the marching band themselves.

“We’re here now, when so many people can’t be, and the fact that we do have that is something to be grateful for,” Rabe said.

NATALIE PARKS | STAFF Members of the University of Kentucky WIldcat Marching Band prepare for a stand tune to start during a pep rally performance on the lawn of William T. Young Library on October 2, 2020.

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analysis

Checkpoint: What does a reopened semester look like at mid-term?

By Natalie Parks news@kykernel.com

This week marks the halfway point of the semester, with eight weeks of an unprecedented semester in the books. Prior to UK reopening, college towns around the country braced for an influx of COVID-19 cases brought in by out-of-town students and perpetuated by poor social distancing. In August, that idea was born out by data from the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. Upon students’ return, cases in Lexington increased. The highest weekly total among UK students occurred after two weeks of classes, a predictable spike born out by incubation periods. Another predictable spike came two weeks after Derby Day and Labor Day, tying the earlier record of 371 weekly cases. However, cases dropped in the first two weeks of October, which was somewhat of a surprise considering the rash of parties that occurred as football season began. Thus far in October, the average of new daily cases among UK students is 18, according to data from LFCHD. The number of total cases among UK students has plateaued for the moment, though daily cases continue to see small bumps every 14 days.

UK is without question the main contributor among colleges in Lexington; UK students account for 91 percent of all college cases, with the other four colleges included in the health department’s reports totaling 228 cases altogether, compared to UK’s 2,808 cases (1,977 this semester). As of Oct. 10, UK student cases since Aug. 17 equaled 21 percent of all of Lexington’s cases since March. Daily new cases among UK students average 37 percent of new Lexington cases according to data from the last month.

However, the rate of infection is slowing slightly. It took 23 days for UK to accumulate its first 1,000 student cases of the semester, a milestone the university hit on

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Sept. 23. It took at least another 30 days to hit the 2,000 case-mark, which will likely occur on Oct. 12.

UK AND LEXINGTON

Gov. Andy Beshear said at his briefing on Sept. 24 that university cases must count as part of community spread because college students interact with the community through places such as restaurants and bars.

“If UK stays open and continues to have those amount of cases, it could potentially keep it red, and then you’ve got FCPS saying, ‘wait, we need a community spread that is low enough to where our kids can go to school’,” Beshear said. “That is a real issue.”

Beshear said he talked to both Lexington mayor Linda Gorton and the superintendent of FCPS about the issue.

“This also makes us rise up, elevate our thinking that it’s more than just the institution or institutions we serve,

One of the big questions heading into the semester was how a college population would impact a city’s attempts to control coronavirus. And although university reopenings are an economic boon to college towns, the data shows that UK students contributed significantly to case increases for the surrounding community.

September was a record month for COVID-19 cases in Lexington and Fayette County, with 2,808 cases accumulating over the 30-day period.

Cases among UK students contributed greatly to the high totals; 1,286 cases among UK students were reported

by LFCHD in September, which equates to 46 percent of the city’s September total.

With such high totals for the city and UK, Lexington spent much of the month in the critical red zone, according to the state Department of Public Health. That red zone rating triggers certain restrictions, such as no in-person learning for public schools.

Fayette County Public Schools were thus very concerned that cases among UK students would prevent K - 12 students from going back to school.

Debate had previously surfaced over whether or not university cases should be considered when making decisions on a community level; no college has implemented a “bubble” type reopening, but the exact level of mingling between students and community members is unknown and, without strict surveillance, difficult to quantify.

According to the midterm report published by UK, only 5.5 percent of the close contact exposures reported to the UK Health Corps were not members of the UK community. Close contact is defined by the university as 15 or more minutes in maskless, close proximity to someone Data from the Lexington-Fayette County health department. who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Monday, October 12, 2020 it’s the communities around us that can be impacted,” Beshear said.

Beshear had previously stated that UK’s factors for triggering a shutdown were unsuitable, since critical care capacity and hospital preparedness are not commonly necessary for college-aged people who contract COVID-19.

One concern from the city was off-campus partying, whic led to a joint Lexington police/UK police patrolon weekends. UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said the university has 84 cases of student misconduct tagged as “off-campus” and “gathering.”

“One of the issues we’ve had early on with reports was the lack of complete information – such as addresses or names of participants in an event – so it wasn’t always easy to move the incident onto a more formal hearing,” Blanton said.

UK has issued five interim suspensions for student conduct this semester, Blanton said, which is a suspenion awaiting a disciplinary hearing.

WAS REOPENING STREET?

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ONE-WAY

When UNC-Chapel Hill shut down just a couple of weeks after reopening, it seemed like the proverbial domino signaling the downfall of the pandemic semester dream.

Colleges continued to welcome students back anyway, and as time went on the likelihood of similar shutdowns decreased. This determination to stay open was aided by epidemiological experts, who warned that sending students home after any period of time on campus would cause a surge of cases as students brought the virus back to their hometowns.

On NBC’s TODAY show, Dr. Anthony Fauci called such a dispersal the “worst thing” colleges could do.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the nation’s coronavirus response coordinator, gave a similar warning to governors in a September conference call.

“Sending these individuals back home in their asymptomatic state to spread the virus in their hometown or among their vulnerable households could really re-create what we experienced over the June time frame in the South,” Birx said, according to NBC. These warnings, which came a few weeks after most colleges reopened, became further fuel to the idea that, now that colleges had reopened, the best option was to remain open. But it’s important to note that sending college students home was always going to be a problem, whether or not universities shut down because of an outbreak.

Coming to one city and then leaving to go back home is the foundational structure of the college semester; students are eventually going to go home, and the question of how best to manage that transition should have been a priority from the start — not a potentially disastrous prospect that scientists and universities suddenly found themselves faced with a few weeks into the semester. The timing of this concern lends itself to the interpretation that colleges are using this dispersal fear to remain open, regardless of safety on campus.

Data from the Lexington-Fayette County health department.

As the semester progresses, a shutdown at UK becomes increasingly unlikely, not least because the university is reluctant to commit to a threshold for such an action. However, at this point the benefits of a shutdown are minimal, excluding a catastrophic outbreak on campus.

A multitude of factors contribute to this diminishing-returns phenomenon. For starters, the actual student population would not be greatly reduced if campus were to shut down. According to UK spokesperson Jay Blanton, only around 6,500 students live on campus. 25,339 students are coming to campus this semester, meaning that around 19,000 students live off campus, likely in apartments. Even if UK were to pivot to fully online learning, these students would most likely remain in Lexington because they are tied to their leases and possibly jobs. Also, remote learning does not necessitate de-densification of campus; students might be allowed to remain in their dorms even in the case of a shutdown.

A move to only online classes would likely not lead to a significant increase in cases anyway, since students are — for the most part — following social distancing protocols, including wearing masks, in classrooms.

Transmission of COVID-19 is happening far less in the classroom than it is happening at any kind of gathering — even small ones — or in apartments, dorms, or through everyday contact at restaurants, jobs and with relatives.

Those exposures would continue regardless of a campus shutdown or move to remote learning.

A shutdown of the campus and subsequent move to remote learning might trigger a loss of the community measures sponsored by UK, including free and voluntary testing for students and contact tracing. At least with the campus open, cases of COVID-19 among students are being reported and tracked in one county, a public health benefit that would be reduced if students were scattered around again. All students have access to testing, isola-

tion spaces and campus Wi-Fi, all of which help bridge the economic gap that emerged during online learning in the spring.

In the long run, staying open even as cases rise benefits the university because we are on a faster track to herd immunity. According to LFCHD, 2,208 UK students were reported as having had COVID-19 since March; 70 percent of those cases were reported since the beginning of the reopened fall semester on Aug. 17. Although the science is shaky on how long immunity lasts and epidemiologists differ on what the threshold for herd immunity is, at this point nearly 10 percent of UK students (nearly 3,000 out of 30,000) have had COVID-19, a greater percentage of the population than other demographics are seeing. This estimate does not include students from out of town who contracted COVID-19 over the summer and were included in the statistics for their local health department.

All of these relative benefits seem to reinforce the idea that reopening was a good idea; however, they only become benefits once a campus is open and infection spread is underway. Did colleges know this, and reopen knowing that once students were back no one could argue against keeping them on campus? We will never know.

We will never know if UK reopened solely for profit; despite repeated assurances that safety is the driving force behind the university’s decision, the fact remains that the CDC’s guidelines say that the safest format for any education is online. But now that we are here, all signs point to staying here. We have already stayed open with 400 to 500 active cases at a time; it is difficult to imagine a higher threshold that would trigger a shutdown. Campus shutdowns were the default mechanism in the spring, but even with cases rising in Kentucky and across the country a similar shutdown in the fall is increasingly unlikely.

fall 2020 | 9

Monday, October 12, 2020

sports

Kentucky football to seek second season win against Tennessee

By Barkley Truax sports@kykernel.com

Kentucky will travel to Knoxville this Saturday for a date against the Tennessee Volunteers.

The Wildcats picked up their first win of the season on Saturday against Mississippi State, 24-2, because of a stellar performance from the Kentucky defense. The defense recorded six interceptions and gave up no offensive points on Saturday.

Tennessee comes into the border battle off a 44-21 loss to Georgia. Volunteer quarterback Jarrett Guarantano had three fumbles, two of which were recovered by Georgia, and an interception.

That’s music to the ears of Kentucky’s defense, which thrived on turnovers to set up the Kentucky offense with good field position several times throughout the Mississippi State.

“When technique and opportunity meet, you’re going to have a chance to make plays,” Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said of the first season victory.

Executing defensively for Kentucky and exploiting any opportunity the opposing offense gives paved the way for the Wildcats to win last week. Saturday’s defensive redemption for Kentucky has let the offensive performance fly under the radar – that shouldn’t be the case.

Kentucky’s offense has been inconsistent early this season. While they were able to rush for 408 yards two weeks ago against Ole Miss, the Wildcats had 157 total offensive yards against Mississippi State.

Kentucky only rushed for 84 yards last week, their worst rushing performance of the season so far, and with only 73 yards through the air as well. After the strong their defensive performance last week, there’s more pressure on the Wildcat defense than ever.

Fortunately for UK’s run-first offense, Tennessee allowed Georgia to record 193 rushing yards. The Bulldogs won the ball game up front, inside the trenches, and it showed on the scoreboard.

Kentucky’s offensive line has to step up this weekend.

They gave up two sacks and six tackles for loss against Mississippi State and that won’t cut it against Tennessee.

The key to win for Kentucky is balance, something they haven’t had yet this season. If the defense can keep the Tennessee offense off the field and the offensive line plays like they did in the first two games of the season,

10 | kentucky kernel

MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF Kentucky Wildcats running back Christopher Rodriguez Jr. (24) tries to run through UT defenders during the Kentucky vs.

Tennessee football game on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019, at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky. UK lost 17-13.

Tennessee could be looking at an upset.

All the same for Kentucky, if the defense gives up long drives and Tennessee controls the time of possession – it could be a long afternoon for the Wildcats. With an offensive line as good as Tennessee’s, it could create some trouble for Kentucky’s front four on the defensive side of the ball.

Kentucky will look to defeat Tennessee for only the third time in 36 seasons; the last two wins happened in 2011 and 2017, respectively. The Volunteers won all 26 games between 1982 and 2011.

In their most recent match-up in 2019, Tennessee defeated the Wildcats 17-13 after the Volunteer defense stopped Lynn Bowden on 4th and goal at the 2-yard line with 1:17 left in the ball game.

Kentucky will play Tennessee inside Neyland Stadium this Saturday, Oct. 17 at noon on either ESPN, or on the SEC Network.

Monday, October 12, 2020

classifieds FOR RENT Great campus area properties for rent for August 2021.

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every hour. every day. kykernel.com fall 2020 | 11

Monday, October 12, 2020

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Don’t wait to vote!

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Vote early in-person Oct. 13

Nov. 2 Find your early voting location at kentuckyvotes.com Questions? Call or text 1-833-KYVOTES.

12 | kentucky kernel