Nov. 11, 2020

Nov. 11, 2020 | thewichitan.com |Real Students. Real Stories. | Vol. 85 No. 6

BIDEN

MEDIA: Pg 4

WINS THE PRESIDENCY

'The Mandalorian' is more than just Baby Yoda.

ELECTIONS: Pg 6-7

After a weeklong process of projections following Election Day, most major media have now projected COLUMN: Pg 2 Joe Biden will be elected President of the United States of America. Mustangs weigh in.

The brutal history of Thanksgiving.

COVID TESTING SITE: Pg 11

SATIRE: Pg 5

New free COVID-19 testing site in Wichita County. Squeakers Bite'em declared president!

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

@WichitanOnline

LOCAL ELECTIONS: Pg 8

Let’s look at the results of the local TX elections.

@wichitanonline

@TheWichitan

Nov. 11, 2020 Campus Voices | Media | Satire | Elections | Campus Police | COVID Testing | Spring Break

2 E DI TO R I A L

Electoral College Explained

F

ollowing the confusion of the recent U.S. presidential election, it is important to understand how exactly the Electoral College works.

The electoral college is currently made up of 538 presidential electors, who vote on the president and vice president in December.

The number of electors each state receives is the same as the number of the state’s congressmen, which is based upon population. All states elect their electors based off of the popular vote in the state. If the popular vote is in favor of a candidate, the state will select an elector that has pledged to vote for that presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate. The only abnormalities are Maine and Nebraska, which split their electoral votes between congressional districts within the state, with each district getting one vote.

On semi-rare occasion, this has lead to faithless electors who vote for someone who did not win the popular vote in that state or district. For example, in the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump lost two electoral votes and Hillary Clinton lost five electoral votes to third-party candidates due to faithless electors. However, faithless electors have not significantly swayed the election since 1836 when a vice presidential candidate died after Election Day but before the electoral college convened. After the candidate passed, the electors who had pledged to vote for him, gave their votes to his opponent and third-party candidates.

32 states have fines and penalties against faithless electors.

CAMPUS VOICES

WHEN WILL WE TEACH THE REAL, BRUTAL HISTORY BEHIND THANKSGIVING?

G

rowing up in America, we are taught about Thanksgiving as a holiday to remember the peaceful gathering of pilgrims and Native AmeriDallas cans. In elementary school, I Wabbington remember my teacher giving the students a coloring sheet with a cartoon pilgrim hugging a Native and telling the class our Thanksgiving experiences. Schools teach us about one story on Thanksgiving which is just a candy-coated version of what really happened: the real story about bloodshed and colonists converting Natives to their version of a “real” American. Thanksgiving has nothing to do with Native Americans and all about a story of supposed unity created by old men with the need to dominate and take over the land.

“. . . a candy-coated version of that really happened: the real story about bloodshed . . .”

Many Native Americans don’t celebrate Thanksgiving because of the genocide and whitewashing of their ancestors by colonists and I absolutely agree. Some celebrate the holiday but in their own way which celebrates their heritage. I love this way of celebrating Thanksgiving because of the connection to their ancestors whose heritage was almost taken away completely. Being a Native American in a predominantly white family can leave some mixed feelings because we’re celebrating a holiday made up by white colonists. However, I cannot blame my family or millions of other families in the country, because this is the fairy tale we were

told, that it’s a day of family and coming together with loved ones. I am not saying I’m against this unity, but I am against the story behind it.

“. . . the connection to their ancestors whose heritage was almost taken away completely . . .”

Most American children will be raised to the story of pilgrims and Natives gathering to eat dinner in harmony, but the reality is the “story” is the first official mention of Thanksgiving was following the colonist massacring the Pequot tribe. Over a hundred years later when George Washington tried starting the Thanksgiving holiday, the celebration called for giving thanks and prayer, not a celebration of unity among Natives and colonists.

Many stories contribute to the creation of Thanksgiving, but none of them mention the

@wichitanonline

ISSUE STAFF: Sandra Cruz, Dallas Wabbington, Khirstia Sheffield,

Emily Beaman, Elizabeth Mahan, Brian Lang, Bridget Reilly, Niko McWilliams, A.J. Rubio, Joseph Nelson

ADVISOR: Jonathon Quam

So when will schools start teaching the real story about Thanksgiving? I’m not sure, but I do know it will take many teachers and scholars to educate others on what really happened on Thanksgiving. There was definitely no thanks given to the Natives, but maybe by raising awareness and proper education, Indigenous people will be recognized properly.

GRAPHIC BY SANDRA CRUZ | THE WICHITAN

DESIGN EDITOR: Omar Combie Vol. 85 | No. 6

“. . . none of them mention the massacres and land-grabbing against the Natives.”

False Thanksgiving feast painting illustrating the pilgrims feasting with Natives.

EDITORS: Amos Perkins, Stephanie Robledo

Midwestern State University Fain Fine Arts Bldg., Room D201 3410 Taft Blvd. | Wichita Falls, Texas 76308 (940) 397-4704 wichitan@msutexas.edu | thewichitan.com

massacres and land-grabbing against the Natives. Indigenous people were not even allowed to be citizens until 1924. They weren’t considered citizens of a country they resided in before colonists. If this doesn’t show how little the country cared about Indigenous people, I don’t know what will.

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The Wichitan welcomes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before intended publication. Letters should be brief (250 words or fewer) and without abusive language or personal attacks. Letters must be typed and signed by the writer and include a email address, telephone number and address.

Nov. 11, 2020 Campus Voices | Media | Satire | Elections | Campus Police | COVID Testing | Spring Break

3

CAMPUS VOICES

Journal of a student stuck in quarantine

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH MAHAN | THE WICHITAN

direct it toward. I laid in bed for the whole first day of quarantine and watched Gilmore Girls, a show I’ve already seen that brings me great comfort. As I watched the small fictional town crowd together and sit shoulder to shoulder for a town hall meeting, a thought crossed my mind for just an instant before I caught myself: why aren’t they wearing any masks? After that, I began to notice more and more luxuries in this old way of life that we just don’t have right now. Best friends hugged in the street.

People shook hands when they met for the first time. Old friends who haven’t seen each other in forever ran into each other at the supermarket and hugged without hesitation or fear of judgement, and there was no mask to cover up their smiles. The diner was full of life; all the tables were occupied, and genuine smiles were not hard to come by as people conversed over meals, free of fear of germs. Hopefully one day we get some of that back. Maybe one day we can laugh really hard with a group of friends without worrying in the back of our minds that one of us could get extremely ill from the interaction. Until that day comes, we just have to keep on doing our best and following all the guidelines, washing our hands, wearing the masks and quarantining if we have to.

Personally, I start my quarantine mornings by making my bed and doing a YouTube yoga class to prevent myself from laying in bed all day, and I end my days by yelling the lyrics to Sweet Caroline (among other upbeat, embarrassing songs) in the shower, because my roommates live all the way on the other side of the apartment, so why not? In between the yoga and the shower, I attempt to focus on

homework, but I frequently find myself gazing out of my first story window that faces a parking lot. I’ve found that rolling up the blinds and letting the sunshine in all day drastically improves my mood. It also increases productivity when I don’t get distracted by the cars pulling out of the parking spots in front of my window, coming and going freely as they choose. On Halloween night, my second night in quarantine, I heard the distant music echoing from Legacy courtyard and saw the occasional student with the purple sequined witch hat stroll by. Life happened around me while I sat around eating bad food, doing homework and watching Gilmore Girls.

Despite the loneliness and the incessant nagging of my conscience telling me that I am a failure if I am not productive while in quarantine, I know I have no right to be irritated by my situation. I am healthy, with absolutely no symptoms. I am only here because my university cares about its students enough to take extra preventative measures for those who may have been exposed. It should be comforting knowledge really that housing guidelines threaten to kick people out of housing if they don’t abide by quarantine rules. The reality is that it could be much worse for me.

My heart goes out to anyone who has tested positive. No matter how severe the case, I can’t imagine how scary it must be to be sick with this virus that we’ve heard about on the news for nine months now and be alone. My dad got COVID-19 over the summer, so my mom and I stayed (emotionally) by his side and quarantined in the same house as him. In college, you’re on your own. You can FaceTime with

English senior Elizabeth Mahan, starts off her days in quarantine with yoga, Nov. 10.

ELIZABETH MAHAN REPORTER

Quarantine Day 4, 10: 50 p.m. Nov. 2, 2020.

M

y roommates came in contact with a good friend and teammate who tested positive for COVID-19. I live in the Sunwatcher apartments, so we just share a kitchen and living room. I rarely ever see them, but here I am, quarantined until Nov. 11. When I first found out, I was bummed, but I couldn’t blame my roommates. They are perfectly nice people, and the friend that got COVID is perfectly nice too, so I had no person to be mad at.

It could happen to anyone.

I had anger at the situation but no one to

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH MAHAN | THE WICHITAN

English senior Elizabeth Mahan follows along with YouTube yoga videos, Nov. 10.

MY RULES OF QUARANTINE

1) I must make my bed every morning. In regular life, I am not a stickler for this (why make the bed if you’re just going to get back in it anyway right?), but in quarantine life, it makes me feel mentally stable.

2) I must do yoga every morning . With-

out the activity of walking to class and work all the time, my body needs something to do. Exercise creates endorphins, and endorphins make people happy, and happy people don’t kill their husbands, right? (I’m not insane. It’s a Legally Blonde reference.)

3) I must get ready every morning and get dressed in something that isn’ t sweatpants. Sweatpants make me want

to lay in bed (under the covers by God) and watch Gilmore Girls all day, and just because I’m in quarantine doesn’t mean I don’t have lots of papers and projects to catch up on.

Amendment made on day 5: sweatpants are okay. Just don’t wear pajamas all day.

4) I am not allowed to watch Gilmore Girls before lunch. Between yoga time

and lunchtime is when I must be productive, so I do not allow myself to be sucked into the plot until I eat lunch. I convince myself that it’s okay to watch tv while I eat because I can’t really be productive while I eat anyway. family members and friends all day and still feel the weight of being physically alone. Even after the quarantine, people still seem to avoid COVID-19 survivors, as if they have some sort of lifelong contagious curse.

To the college student that avoids parties and always wears a mask but still tested positive for COVID-19, as you start your quarantine, just remember that in the apartment next to yours, or in the apartment across the street, another student is lying down in a similar state of isolated fear. You’re not alone, and you’re not being dramatic. You are allowed to feel scared.

I won’t end this by saying that everything is going to be okay and that the world will return to a Gilmore Girls like state. I will say, however, that I am thinking about you, and I know that any person who has ever been in quarantine is thinking about people like you too. I’m sorry you’re in this situation, and I wish the absolute best for you.

Nov. 11, 2020 Campus Voices | Media | Satire | Elections | Campus Police | COVID Testing | Spring Break

4

‘THE MANDALORIAN’ IS MORE THAN JUST BABY YODA

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALLEARS.NET

E

veryone’s seen the little Baby Yoda. The bigeared, tiny green alien has taken over pop culture in the past year sparking Brian Lang tons of memes, toys and plenty of buzz across the internet. I’m not ashamed to say that he’s my favorite thing about Disney+’s Star Wars series “The Mandalorian,” but he’s just the tip of the iceberg in what’s easily one of the best shows of the year.

Set just after 1983’s “Return of the Jedi,” “The Mandalorian” explores far-fetched corners of the Star Wars universe without Luke Skywalker

or his crew anywhere in sight. The series is led by the chrome armored Mandalorian, a member of a secret society of bounty hunters who captures prisoners and scores jobs in a seedy town run amok with other hunters. After a job gets him into more than he bargained for, “Mando” must ferry Baby Yoda (officially called “The Child” in the show, but I refuse to do that) across the galaxy, picking up allies and making enemies along the way.

Each episode is tied to the next in chapters but also stands alone in the way that it presents a challenge for Mando to overcome, characters to help him and a resolution that leads him to a new problem. This type of

storytelling might seem stale, but it gives the show a sense of reliability even as the seasonal story arc builds and develops tensions.

One of the best parts about “The Mandalorian” is its careful attention to the aspects of “Star Wars” that captivate fans the most. It includes fun action sequences, bizarre characters, practical special effects and even, at times, clunky dialogue, all of which feel completely in line with the original Star Wars films. Each episode boasts a cache of easter eggs for the rabid fans to discover, but the writers are prudent enough to not overwhelm newcomers to the Star Wars universe. Their focus is on simply portraying a thrilling space western.

Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell from “Game of Thrones”) seems to be a master of the “less is more” style of acting, which suits this character well. He shows his face just once in the ten episodes to date and his lines are terse and to the point. Actions speak louder than words though, especially when he’s caring for and protecting the irresistible Baby Yoda, and I predict that Mando will grow into a complex and fascinating character to follow. The rest of the eclectic cast includes big names like Carl Weathers, Amy Sedaris, Bill Burr and Timothy Olyphant each of whom seasons their respective episodes with some variety in the weekly cycle.

While we’re still in the early epi-

sodes of Season 2, the cliffhanger ending of Season 1 hints at several exciting storylines in the coming weeks. “The Mandalorian” is an easy sell for Star Wars fans, Western or Sci-fi aficionados or anyone who’s felt a twinge of parental instincts stir in their heart when they look into Baby Yoda’s adorable eyes.

“The Mandalorian” is available to stream on Disney+ with Season 2 premiering new episodes every Friday.

Brian’s Series Rating:

5/5

Nov. 11, 2020 Campus Voices | Media | Satire | Elections | Campus Police | COVID Testing | Spring Break

5

Squeakers Bite’em declared president of MSU Texas animals president, you could never get away from politics. Every day it was, ‘Hey look what Grump just posted on Honker [a popular animal social media site].’ I’m looking forward to forgetting completely about politics for the next four years,” Long-Legs said.

Despite no evidence of foul play, Grump has decided to sue every individual animal who voted against him on the basis of fraud. When we tried to coax a further explanation out of the incumbent president, he honked in our reporter’s face and bit their finger before running off. We had to reach out to Vice President Mark Finch, for a statement from the Goose Party on Grump’s accusation.

“Well, I think what Grump was trying to say was...I mean GRAPHIC BY OMAR COMBIE | THE WICHITAN what he was going to get around Squeakers Bite’em, Squirrel Party leader, wins the MSU Texas animal election with 283 to saying was...okay, fine, we have no idea what he’s blabelectoral leaves. bing’ about,” Finch said. “I guess counting votes is apparently unfter nearly a week of counting, losing, administration. and then recounting votes, longtime “I truly believe that if we stand together, democratic now.”

Squirrel Party member Squeakers not as squirrels or geese, but as animals that Amid the celebration of Bite’em’s vicBite’em has been declared President of the we can overcome this pandemic and get tory, there was also sadness at the passing Animals at MSU Texas. The announcement back to stealing food from the humans how- of William B. Gills, a candidate representing the Piscatory Party, who passed away after was broadcast on both the squirrel-leaning ever and whenever we want,” Bite’em said.

Bite’em beat out incumbent president choking on a disposable mask. A large mass network Crazy-about Nuts News (C.N.N.) and the goose-leaning Fox News, which is Flippers Grump of the controversial Goose wake was thrown at the bottom of Sikes run by actual foxes who live in the shrubs Party. Many political experts attribute Lake. According to anonymous sources, Grump’s loss to his controversial comments some of the more violent members of the surrounding Sikes Lake.

In his first address since winning the on ducks, which lost him a large portion of fish community are plotting their revenge the always-important fowl vote. on the two-legged beings on land. presidency, Bite’em preached unity in a fau“What are ducks anyway? They’re just “Humans don’t want to take global na community that has grown increasingly birds that weren’t good enough to be geese. warming and littering seriously? That’s divisive, in part, due to the brashness and Their necks? Way too short. Goosenecks are fine. We’ll see how they feel after getting human-biting policies of the current animal much, much longer,” their hands bit every time they reach into Grump was overheard the lake,” an anonymous member of the saying at a goose gala.

Fish-Against-Humans activist group said.

Most political exDuck Anarchist Quack McFlippers, who perts apparently agree was last seen eating the moderator at his dethat most animals who voted for Bite’em did so, bate weeks ago, is still on the run and may hoping they wouldn’t have fled to Oregon, in part to celebrate have to hear about poli- their recent legalization of hard drugs. The tics for the next four MSU animals hope that chaos, such as that years. We spoke with a caused by McFlippers, will lessen with the young cricket stuck in- election of President-Elect Bite’em.

“Honestly, all I want is some peace and side the doors at Fain quiet for once. I just want to be able to go Hall by the name of Jimini Long-legs, who about my day, disrupting and inconveniencPHOTO COURTESY OF PHIL BEARCE | PEXELS.COM agreed with this senti- ing as many humans I can, in peace,” CharSqueakers Bite’em, animal president elect, and his wife ment. lotte S. Webb, spider and concerned citizen, having a celebratory meal.

“With Grump as said.

A

COMIC BY DALLAS WABBINGTON

Nov. 11, 2020 Campus Voices | Media | Satire | Elections | Campus Police | COVID Testing | Spring Break

6

STUDENT REACTIONS TO P

A

WICHITAN STAFF

fter a weeklong process of projections following Election Day, most major media have now projected Joe Biden will be and the futue Biden presidency.

NESHA JONES, POLITICAL SCIENCE SENIOR

“I was surprised a little, I kind of thought Trump was gonna win because a lot of people like him but a lot of people don’t at the same time. Then a lot of people like Biden too, so it was just a matter of chance. I didn’t know who was gonna win. I would hope he does better as far as immigration, the detention camps, policies, foreign policy, stimulus packets, support[s] people who have unemployment, student loan forgiveness, things like that. And not get on Twitter like how Trump is doing with Twitter you know just keep going back and forth that was just unprofessional and unethical. I hope Biden just sets an example for future presidents. I hope he does a lot better than what we’ve been getting so far.”

TRISTAN WEST, ACCELERATED NURSE SENIOR

“I’m a bit indifferent, I don’t believe in a lot of the things that he is proposing and wanting to occur. I don’t necessarily have anything negative to say, but it’s hard to see someone come in who been in politics for so long who hasn’t changed anything and now all of the sudden wants to change everything. I’m hoping that he makes a smart decision, but I don’t think he understands that the United States is a business, an essential. A lot of people want the president to be their dad and that’s not [what] the president’s role is. I’m hoping that in a sense he understands that things don’t need to be handed out to people, people need to work for what they want, and ultimately that’s what America is built on. So hopefully we don’t see just many people who really want and expect all these handouts like he’s proposing, because that money has to come from somewhere, and I don’t think a lot of people understand that.”

ALEXIS MILLS, EDUCATION SENIOR

“I feel like the country will be more unified. A big thing in my life is education. I have a passion for it. I advocate for it, and I really want Joe Biden to deliver on the campaign promises that he made for education and also for Kamala Harris to deliver on her closing the teacher pay gap of $13,500. I want to see education fully funded. I’m tired of collecting box tops for school supplies. I think if hospitals are full of supplies, and they have supply closets, and they are fully funded, why is education not? So I really hope that he does deliver on his promises of fully funding education and having a universal pre-k as well.”

COREY TOMISON, ENGLISH JUNIOR

“I was pleased with it, I did vote for Biden so I was overall pleased with the outcome. I’m hoping that this could be the sign for good things to come. I’m hoping that we also come together like he said in his victory speech that we can all unite together. So overall I was pretty pleased with the outcome. I’m hopeful, I’m very hopeful that with a new president coming in that maybe with the pandemic things can be on the up and up because yesterday we did get an announcement that we have a vaccine on the way that’s at least 90% effective. I’m hoping that with a new president that we can, maybe hopefully, come to an end with the pandemic and maybe with other things we can see a sign of hope.”

DAISY CANADA, BIOLOGY SOPHOMORE

“As a woman who didn’t vote, I was torn between both Biden and Trump. My family were all for Trump and almost all of my close friends were voting for Biden. This caused me to really just be confused and not want to vote at all because I did not want to make anyone upset. I also really did not care who won to begin with. I feel fine about Biden’s win, you know what happens, happens, I really couldn’t care less. The next four years, I do feel there will be a ton of conflict between our states and people themselves. There was already a ton of this during the election, and I don’t see the hate between ‘ Trumpies’ and ‘Bidenies’ ending anytime soon. But then there’s the ones like me who really just couldn’t give a damn. The next four years, we’ll just roll with the punches. If it goes well with Biden then great, and if it doesn’t maybe Texas can just secede.”

ASHLEIGH JARATINA, RADIOLOGY SOPHOMORE

“I am really happy with the outcome of the election. I really wanted Biden to win. As an international student, I feel happiness and relief, and some sort of security because now I know confidently that I get to do my OPT confident after graduating. And the link between the U.S. and my country [Zimbabwe], I know like certain limitations that were imposed by the Republicans, there’s a chance that they maybe lifted. That kind of makes everything easier for me here as an international student.”

Nov. 11, 2020 Campus Voices | Media | Satire | Elections | Campus Police | COVID Testing | Spring Break

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

7

e elected President of the United States of America. We asked Mustangs on campus to tell us their thoughts on the outcome

CORBYN SCOBEE, ART SOPHOMORE

“It was very terrifying. I had to try to tell myself I didn’t care. It sounds so overdramatic but if Trump was elected again I was literally scared for my life. Like, there are so many parts of my life where I’m a minority of something, that it was like, he’s going to f--- something up if he’s allowed to stay. I cried at work when I was told Biden won. I’m kinda excited to see how the next four years go. I’m more excited to see what he does the first few months about COVID stuff, seeing if we get put in another lockdown, if he’s gonna force us, stuff like that.”

QUEEN DARK, BUSINESS FRESHMAN

“Overall I’m excited for the change of pace. Neither of the candidates, I feel, were truly qualified for the position; although I am happy we have the lesser of two evils. So pretty neutral for the most part. If it was my way, I’d have Kamala Harris be the president instead of vice president.”

JO PARKER, ENGLISH SOPHOMORE

“I feel like the next four years are going to be rough simply because the country is so divided. Trump lead an army and not a nation and he wasn’t president for all of us, just the ones he knew would try and re-elect him. I believe Biden is going to make some changes that will scare people, because progress is always scary, but overall I feel hopeful for the first time in four years. I feel incredibly relieved that my country voted for a man who is promising growth.” “ This election was huge, and everyone could see that. No matter what side they were on, which lead to the biggest voter turnout in history. Both Trump and Biden set records. Overall I feel like the people voted for a man who wants to put this country on the right track, and that gives me a lot of hope.”

JAMILAH KANGUDJA, A GRADUATE STUDENT OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND PRESIDENT OF THE BLACK STUDENT UNION

“ With the different ism’s and Xenophobia [Trump expressed], I just think it’s interesting that people rallied behind [Trump] and supported him with those different things that he outwardly expressed. I hope that during [Biden’s] term he makes a lot of progress in regards to what the United States of America wants, what the majority of people would want and what would benefit us in the long run. I hope that he really does put us in a better situation. Hopefully he gets a handle on COVID.”

LUIS SERNA-MARTINEZ, POLITICAL SCIENCE JUNIOR AND PRESIDENT OF MSU TEXAS DEMOCRATS

“Right when the news broke, we started messaging in our groupchat and everyone was basically celebrating, and there seemed to be a lot of hopefulness.

I believe [Trump] moved our country backwards.... While I know all the problems in this country are not going to be fixed, I feel the Biden will take steps into the right direction and turn us away from the direction that this country is headed. Myself and other Democrats are hopeful that Biden will begin to repair some of the damage that had been done and begin to push for a more progressive agenda, while reaching out and trying to work with Republicans who are willing to compromise and move our country forward.”

AUNJELLE IRLBECK, HISTORY JUNIOR AND CHAIRWOMAN OF YOUNG CONSERVATIVES OF TEXAS AT MSU TEXAS

“ We have to remember in the process of electing a president, all of the states have to individually certify who won their state, and that usually takes place in through the rest of November into the beginning of December. Technically speaking, the media may have projected Joe Biden as the president-elect, but since the states have not certified it yet, that is not quite the case. Overall I think there is definitely a net positive [for Trump’s term]: the economy was looking really, really good there, a lot of people were getting off of government assistance and were able to support themselves and Trump was working on price transparency, which is incredibly important. I would hope that on certain issues Biden would take it slower than what he’s wanting to take. Personally for myself, medical freedom is a really big issue. You have Joe Biden talking about mandating masks nationwide and there are talks about mandating vaccines.

I’m not a big fan of mandates for anything like that.”

Nov. 11, 2020 Campus Voices | Media | Satire | Elections | Campus Police | COVID Testing | Spring Break

8

Wichita Falls votes for status Quo With all the votes in Wichita Falls officially counted, it appears the city had largely voted to avoid change.

Incumbent Mayor Stephen Santellana has once again been reelected as mayor of Wichita Falls with 17,649 votes. Kevin Hunter received the second most votes with 9,265 and former “Big Brother” star James Huling received 4,139.

All three of the city council seats up for election were won by the in-

cumbents. Jeff Browning beat out Mel Martinez for the District 3 councilor position, 4,470-2,209. District 4 saw Tim Brewer defeat Jason Hester 4,560-3,410.

In the closest battle of the three, Steve Jackson won 1,908 votes to retain the District 5 councilor position, edging out challenger Tim Brewer and his 1,759 votes. Martinez and Hester both visited the MSU Texas campus in October.

The Wichita Falls Independent School District

bond scored a half-victory.

With 14,538 votes for and 14,216 against, Wichita Falls voted for Proposition A of the bond which approves plans to build two new high schools. However, the city voted 15,01313,632 against Proposition B, which would have built new athletics facilities for these high schools. It now appears that Memorial Stadium might play host to five high schools, as well as the Mustangs.

GRAPHIC BY SANDRA CRUZ | THE WICHITAN

Collage of Republican candidates that got the majority vote in Texas.

Despite projections, Texas remains red AMOS PERKINS MANAGING EDITOR ith the Associated Press calling all major elections in Texas, it appears the Republican Party has maintained its grip on the Lone Star State, despite closer races than in past years.

With 98% of the votes reported and 5,944,613 votes compared to the 4,860,121 votes of challenger MJ Hegar (D), incumbent Senator John Cornyn (R) has been voted into his fourth term as the senior United States Senator for Texas. Wichita County voted 31,488-12,278 in favor of

W

Cornyn with third-party candidate Kerry McKennon (L) winning 988 votes.

Texas’ 13th congressional district, which contains Wichita County, voted in favor of keeping incumbent Dr. Ronny Jackson (R). Gus Trujillo (D), who visited the MSU Texas campus in October, won 50,213 votes compared to Jackson’s 216,523 ballots. Wichita County voted 31,665-11,890 in favor of Jackson. Libertarian candidate Jack Westbrook won 1,177 votes in the county.

Statewide, Republicans won the majority of the 35 seats up for election.

While the presidential

election has been called by most major media in favor of former Vice President Joe Biden (D), Texas continued its red streaks and voted for incumbent President Donald Trump (R). Trump received 5,872,362 votes compared to the 5,216,327 votes of Biden. In Wichita County, Trump won 31,930 votes and Biden won 13,024.

Texas did not become the swing state many thought it might, but Democrat candidates won two more congressional seats than they previously had. Wichita County continued its history of voting Republican.

PHOTO BY BRIDGET REILLY - GRAPHIC BY SANDRA CRUZ | THE WICHITAN

Incumbent Stephen Santellana speaks on the Lake Ringgold project, Oct. 1.

Nov. 11, 2020 Campus Voices | Media | Satire | Elections | Campus Police | COVID Testing | Spring Break

9

An expected winner, an unexpected outcome: a 2020 presidential election analysis JOSEPH NELSON REPORTER oe Biden, the president-elect, went into the 2020 election sporting larger leads in swing states than Hillary Clinton in 2016. According to Nate Silver, an election analyst, a Trump victory would require an even larger polling error than the one that elected him four years ago. In fact, he compiled a table of swing state margins and subtracted the polling errors from 2016. Just four days before the election, the electoral map from that table predicted every state’s 2020 outcome, except for Florida. Even with the added polling error, Joe Biden was able to flip many states Trump won in 2016, and those changes largely had to do with high voter turnout, shifting demographics and changing priorities.

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Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania: Former President Obama won all of these states handily in 2012, yet they all went to Trump in 2016. If Hillary Clinton had the same number of votes Obama did in these states, she would have won all three. Additionally, Trump’s 2016 vote count was less than Mitt Romney’s in Wisconsin, and yet Trump pulled ahead of Clinton due to low enthusiasm for both parties. It’s

very probable that the highest voter turnout since 1900 was the deciding factor in Biden winning back the “blue wall”.

Results according to the New York Times 2012 and 2016 results.

which most likely led to more Biden voters.

Arizona: Arizona has one of the largest senior populations in the country, and they proved decisive for Biden in this election. According to the New York Times exit polls, seniors voted for Trump by only a few points, representing a huge decline from where they were in 2016. Additionally, Arizona is a much more diverse state than it was in the 90s, and the urbanization of Maricopa county over the years has made this a winnable race for the Democrats.

Georgia: Biden is likely to have won the peach state without winning any of the surrounding swing states of Florida or North Carolina. According to Politico, the former 2018 gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams registered more than 800,000 new voters in the state, which proved to make Georgia bluer than the surrounding Deep South. Not only that, according to an AP election day survey, Georgia was the only state from Dixie to label racial injustice a “serious” issue,

PHOTO COURTESY FIVETHIRTYEIGHT.COM

Chart displaying the polling numbers of Biden and Hillary Clinton from 2016 and 2020 respectively.

The Blue Shift: Because some key swing states chose to count mail-in ballots after election day ballots, Republicans appeared to be well-positioned to win the presidency on election night. However, since Democrats generally chose to vote by mail while Republicans generally didn’t, those leads in swing states evaporated as the days went on. The exact opposite effect happened in Kansas and Ohio, where they counted mail-in ballots first, then reported election day votes. As some misinformation memes describe states “finding votes,” the reality is states were simply counting the votes left to report. While this was a historic election, there is no proof of widespread illegal voting. According to the FBI diPHOTO COURTESY OF NEW YORK TIMES

rector Christopher Wray, voter fraud has virtually no effect

Map displaying the presidential election results by county in the United States with red denoting Trump and blue denoting Biden.

on election results. Americans should take pride in such an advanced electoral system being safe and secure.

10 Nov. 11, 2020 Campus Voices | Media | Satire | Elections | Campus Police | COVID Testing | Spring Break

MSU Police Department welcomes Amy Van Veen to the force

PHOTO COURTESY OF A.J. RUBIO | THE WICHITAN

Officer Amy Van Veen, in front of a wall of portraits of her fellow coworkers, Nov. 9.

KHIRSTIA SHEFFIELD FEATURE EDITOR he faces behind the badge and pristine suits have not always represented the diverse range of society. In 1838, the city of Boston established the first American police force and 72 years later a woman was appointed as the first regularly rated policewoman by the Los Angeles Police Department. Alice Stebbins Wells became a pioneer in the national movement to have police departments hire more women as officers, and now women make up 12.8% of all police officers. Although the story of women in American law enforcement is an evolving one, MSU made a breakthrough by hiring its first fulltime policewoman, Officer Amy Van Veen, since 2017.

“She’s a very experienced and knowledgeable law enforcement officer coming to us after close to 30

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years in the law enforcement field, 10 of which have been in the capacity of higher education,” Chief Patrick Coggins said. “She brings a tremendous amount of skill and experience to the department. Because of her experience in the past, she is able to catch on very quickly and serve in the role that we need her to serve in.”

After spending 30 years in law enforcement, Van Veen said this is the first time she’s been the only female in the department.

“It’s a small department, I don’t think it’s unusual that I’m the only female in the department,” Van Veen said. “It’s kind of cool in a way. I don’t want to be singled out for any reason; I just want to be a part of the team and do my job.”

Although the MSU police department strives to create an inclusive environment that represents the college community they serve, there is

still a disparity between the number of male and female students in the local police academy which is where they recruit from.

“MSU is different from the region.

We’re a community within a community, but we still have to recruit from the local community, so those diverse attributes that we would like to see in those applications are still reflective of the community that is predominantly white,” `Coggins said. “Any police department, I think, wants their police staff to be reflective of the community they serve. Often times, we don’t get the number of applicants that we would need, because not everyone who applies is selected as a police officer.”

At 20 years old Van Veen decided she was dedicating her life to serving her community. With no family background in law enforcement, Van Veen was the first of her family to

become an officer, a path her older brother would soon follow.

“One day it came to me and I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life and I’ve been doing it ever since,” said Van Veen.

Van Veen decided to turn in her badge for the municipalities in 2009 and in 2012 she traded her former badge in for a badge that represented so much more than fighting against crime. Tired of the reactive environment that was dictated by continuous calls which created room for a lack of personal connection, Van Veen’s desire for interaction pushed her to work in higher education.

“A college environment is more proactive; we’re here to interact with the kids and we want a repour with the kids and the staff. It’s important for them to understand our main purpose here is to make sure they’re safe. That’s our goal, to make sure they have a safe environment to learn in,” Van Veen said.

For the past eight and a half years she’s been working in a college environment. After getting laid off from her most recent job due to COVID-19, she was looking for a place to call home.

“I like what I saw about MSU, it seemed like a place I would like to relocate to start a life at. I like the size and it had a homey feel to it and that’s really what I want,” Van Veen

said.

For Van Veen choosing MSU is less about a job and more about making those life-long connections she couldn’t make before.

“I enjoy helping people. I’ve done the running and gunning,” Van Veen said. “I’m at the point in my career where I’m more interested in helping people, interacting with people and just getting to know people. I want to be there as support. It’s not just a job; I want to be more personable and deal with people more on a one on one basis.”

Although there are no plans in place to help the MSU Police Department recruit more diverse officers, the department is looking forward to a future full of improvements that will enhance the ways in which they protect, serve and defend the campus culture.

“The university police exist to protect the campus community, to assist in creating and maintaining a safe community to live, learn, work and recreate,” Coggins said. “I’m hoping that these improvements, both in the quality of staffing as well as the infrastructure that we’re working on now, will result in a better police service to our community.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF A.J. RUBIO | THE WICHITAN

The MSU Texas Police Station located on Eureka Cir., Nov. 9.

Nov. 11, 2020 Campus Voices | Media | Satire | Elections | Campus Police | COVID Testing | Spring Break

Wichita County Health District announces free COVID-19 testing site AMOS PERKINS MANAGING EDITOR he Wichita County Health District has announced a free COVID-19 testing site available at the parking lot of the Multipurpose Events Center (MPEC), courtesy of health services company WellHealth.

“We work for WellHealth and they’re out of Plano, Texas, but they have a contract with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the health department, so that’s why we’re allowed to be out here doing the free COVID testing,” Meredith Charrie, medical assistant, said.

The site will be open and available Monday through Friday 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. until 2 a.m.

The site is located outside the Ray Clymer Exhibit Hall of the MPEC.

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Those wishing to get tested must register at www.gogettested.com, and workers say they would prefer you register ahead of time.

“We prefer appointment setups, because if [people getting tested] don’t have an appointment [when they arrive at the site] then they have to go and set up an appointment and get back in line,” Charrie said.

The test is free and as of Nov. 4, gogettested.com states that there are 608 test slots available with an estimated wait time of under five minutes. Those who get tested can also expect their results within approximately 4 days. “[Test results] take 48-96 hours, and you get a text and an email letting you know whether it’s negative

PHOTO BY NIKO MCWILLIAMS | THE WICHITAN

Person can register beforehand or on-site at the COVID-19 testing site, Nov. 9.

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PHOTO BY OMAR COMBIE | THE WICHITAN

COVID-19 testing site available at the parking lot of the Multipurpose Events Center (MPEC), Nov. 11. or positive. With a positive result, there’s also a phonemail,” Janet King, medical assistant, said.

Those wishing to get tested must also abstain from certain activities that could alter the test results and make them harder to read.

“Twenty minutes before they come, there’s no eating or drinking, no smoking a cigarette or whatever before they come, because we want a clear test, because [the test comes] from saliva,” King said.

The testing site only offers testing via a cotton swab to the inside of the mouth. Students who need another kind of approved test for travel will have to be tested elsewhere.

“We don’t do nasal [testing], not at this site, we don’t. Some of our other sites might, but we don’t do it here,” Charrie said.

Those who test positive from the WellHealth testing site are told exactly what to do via a phone call.

“If someone has a positive test, one of our providers from WellHealth will call them and instruct them what to do next. Usually the health department will get involved, and the health department will contact them and have them quarantine,” Charrie said.

Previously Wichita County citizens primarily had to rely on CVS and other pharmacies for tests, but an increase of cases in the county has led to more preventative measures by the government.

“We don’t know for how long we’re going to be here. The only reason that they put here is because of the rising cases. The TDEM is paying for it, because they want people to get tested,” Charrie said.

King feels it is worth it to get tested because of the security and stability it provides, and because it keeps the other members of the community

safer when you know whether or not you carry COVID-19.

“I think it’s important for you to knowing yourself, so you can get peace either way, no matter what [the result] is, so you can take care of yourself properly. Someone that’s positive can be going about the community, infecting people, not knowing they have it,” King said.

PHOTO BY NIKO MCWILLIAMS| THE WICHITAN

Medical assistant Janet King instructing incoming patient, Nov. 9.

12 Nov. 11, 2020 Campus Voices | Media | Satire | Elections | Campus Police | COVID Testing | Spring Break

SPRING BREAK CANCELLED STEPHANIE RODBLEDO | BRIDGET REILLY | ELIZABETH MAHAN NEWS EDITOR | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | REPORTER SU Texas officials announced via Postmaster Wednesday, Oct. 21, the decision to eliminate spring break from the academic calendar for the 2021 spring semester as they “continue to make the necessary adjustments to plans for in-person operations in the environment of the pandemic.”

“Given the rise in cases and the expected continuation of managing the COVID-19 pandemic through the spring 2021, it is prudent to cancel spring break and end the spring semester one week earlier,” Keith Lamb, vice president of student affairs and enrollment management, said. “Doing so will help mitigate the spread of the virus within our campus community by minimizing travel of the campus population during the middle-of-the semester, and then returning to campus.”

Due to the cancelation, the last day of classes will be brought forward to April 23, final examinations will begin April 24, and commencement will fall on May 1. The decision comes following input from the campus community. However, some MSU faculty think students were left out of the decision-making process.

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CAMPUS REACTIONS “I think it will be effective in taking the right precautions to make sure COVID doesn’t spread any more than it has. It’s gonna be just another weekend.”

Marianne Rangel, social work sophomore

“I don’t see any need of canceling it. I don’t know why they did it. I just heard about it earlier, like a few hours ago, and I was like ‘That’s weird.’ I heard it from a friend, so I didn’t quite believe it.”

Valeria Contreras, radiology sophomore

“I think what’s surprising is how early they decided to cancel it, because I honestly didn’t think they were going to cancel it till next semester, so I was kind of shocked to get the email at the end of October.

Estefani Vasquez, biology junior

“I think that we were going on a good path with how it is right now, but if they want to take extra measures I think it’s okay,” Davis Price, undecided freshman

“That’s very unfortunate. With COVID and stuff, it’s not that much that we could really do with spring break, but some of us actually look forward to spring break as a break from school and from classes and everything. It’s just like a way to relax and take a relaxing thing from the past semester, especially with everything going on and stuff, so it’s kind of rough.”

Ginelle Fontinelle, exercise physiology senior

“I was kind of expecting it. A lot of universities had already done that, so it was kind of just inevitable at this point.

I’m just kind of rolling with the punches really.”

Luke Craddock, theatre freshman

“Why didn’t administrators do a student poll? Even if the decision had been made, it would have been nice to get general student input,” mass communication professor Bradley Wilson said. “Maybe they did ask Student Senate folks. I don’t know.

Maybe they did ask Faculty and Staff Senate. I don’t know, but it sure came as a surprise to most of the faculty members I’m in touch with regularly.”

Bradley Wilson, mass communication professor