enterprise THE DAVIS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2020
Yolo County remains in red tier BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer
terms of making sure that students are getting the information they need when they need it,” said Darla Cooper, RP Group’s executive director. “The extra piece of that now in the COVID environment is, are you doing that virtually?” So far, the pandemic doesn’t seem to have dampened transfer rates: More than 62,000 new transfer students entered California State University this fall, up 4,000 from last year. Nationwide, the number of students transferring from a community college to a four-year college or university grew by about 3%, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. But the coronavirus and the shift to online learning have made it more challenging for
Yolo County was allowed to remain in the red tier on Tuesday even as other counties, including Sacramento, moved back to purple on the state’s blueprint for reopening the economy. That means restaurants, gyms, places of worship and other businesses will be able to continue indoor operations locally for at least the next two weeks. The state’s calculations put the average daily new COVID-19 case rate for Yolo County for the week ending Oct. 31 at 6.7 cases per 100,000 residents, under the threshold of 7 required to remain in the red tier. The county’s online COVID-19 dashboard had reported a higher number of cases during that week, but those numbers are sometimes changed after the fact, including when a case is incorrectly attributed to Yolo County. But while the county avoided a return to purple this week and the subsequent impact on local businesses, the threat remains, with positive cases trending upward. “While we are not moving into the purple tier this week, we are seeing an uptick in the number of cases reported each day,” said the county’s health officer, Dr. Aimee Sisson. “Staying in red does not mean we can let down our guard,” she added. “To protect our community, residents need to continue to wear masks, keep their distance, wash their hands and only gather outdoors in small groups with distancing and masks.”
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Transfer student Kaylin Tran isn’t spending as much time on campus at UCLA as she thought. CALMATTERS PHOTO
Campus dreams deferred Ready for ‘real’ college experience, transfer students see hopes dashed BY OMAR RASHAD CalMatters Kaylin Tran imagined her first year at UCLA after transferring from Pasadena City College as kind of like a coming of age movie: She’d join clubs, make lifelong friends and pore over books in the university’s iconic library. Instead, thanks to the pandemic, she’s sitting in front of a computer screen in her family’s San Gabriel home, paying $14,000 a year for tuition instead of $1,600. “It definitely gives you a disconnect from the actual college experience, because it’s basically like, you’ve been at home for the
past two years at community college,” Tran said. “Nothing feels any different.” The limitations of online education are frustrating for many California college students, but they’re especially so for the tens of thousands who transferred from community colleges to four-year universities this year. With key social elements of a university experience missing since most classes have moved online, new transfer students fear they won’t be able to make meaningful in-person connections with peers and professors — part of the reason they wanted to transfer in the first place. State lawmakers have pushed
colleges and universities to make it easier for students to transfer in from community colleges. It’s a way to open up educational opportunities for more Californians at a time when both the University of California and California State University turn away thousands of qualified freshmen applicants each year. But barriers remain. Students are often prevented from transferring because they lack information about financial aid and navigating coursework and degree requirements, according to a survey of 800 community college students released in May by RP Group, a nonprofit research organization that studies California’s community colleges. “If we could imagine a world where COVID never happened, (colleges) still had work to do in
UCD alum Alex Lee elected to Assembly Youngest member in chamber since 1938 BY CALEB HAMPTON Enterprise staff writer UC Davis alumnus Alex Lee was elected last week to the California Assembly, where he will represent Assembly District 25, which encompasses San Jose, Santa Clara and Fremont. Lee’s election brings with it a slew of firsts. He will be the first state legislator to represent Generation Z, the first openly bisexual lawmaker in California, the youngest state legislator since 1938, and the youngest Asian American legislator in state history. Lee’s parents, who are now divorced, immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong. He graduated from Milpitas High School in 2013. The 25-year-old Democrat lives in San Jose with
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his mother, a registered nurse, and sleeps in his childhood bedroom. Until recently, he was working part-time for an app-based delivery service. According to news reports, he plans to continue living in San Jose and commute by train to Sacramento. “All of this combined will make me an effective advocate,” Lee told The Los Angeles Times last week. “This isn’t abstract for me. I don’t have to try to understand what it’s like for people who struggle to pay their bills or with housing insecurity, that’s something I live with.” Though just in his midtwenties, Lee will arrive in the State Assembly having already held elected office. From 2016 to 2017, he served as the student body president at UC Davis. He graduated in 2017 with degrees in communications and political science. Since then, Lee has worked as a
SEE LEE, PAGE A3
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Business Focus B6 Forum . . . . . . . .B2 Obituary . . . . . . A3 Classifieds . . . .B3 Green Page . . . A6 The Wary I . . . . A2 Comics . . . . . . .B4 The Hub . . . . . .B1 Weather . . . . . .B5
Elections staffer tests positive for COVID-19 BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer
COURTESY PHOTO
Newly elected Alex Lee, 25, will be the youngest member of the California Assembly since before World War II.
WEATHER Th Thursday: Late showers. La
A staff member in the Yolo County Elections Office tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. The individual had minimal interaction with poll workers but did work with other elections staff and some election observers, the county announced in a press release on Tuesday. “There was limited exposure to voter assistance centers or Yolo County residents and voters,” the release said. “The county’s contact tracing team will be working to ensure that those that were in close contact are notified.” The office has been adhering to social distancing guidelines and disinfecting protocols, the county said, and all staff and visitors have been required to wear face coverings.
Since learning of the positive case, however, the elections office has taken additional steps, including: ■ Temporarily limiting staff within the office to critical infrastructure to continue the elections canvass. ■ Scheduling deep cleaning for impacted facilities. ■ Communicating consistently with Yolo County Public Health. ■ Launching contact tracing investigations. ■ Sending home all staff who are deemed to have been in close contact with the exposed staff member to selfquarantine and providing testing information. ■ Authorizing staff who are deemed noncritical infrastructure to telework for the time being.
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