THE PEPPERDINE GRAPHIC VOLUME XLIX
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ISSUE 13
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February 6, 2020
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pepperdine-graphic.com
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TRUMP’S PEPP Ken Starr SPP appoints defends Trump ROOTS Andrew Puzder Jam es Moore New s Editor
KAy iu W ong Di g i tal Ed itor As President Trump’s defense team presented their arguments to the Senate last week for the third impeachment trial in American history, one of those advocating for the President’s acquittal was once a Wave. Kenneth Starr, dean of the Pepperdine Law School from 2004 to 2010, was appointed as independent counsel to President Trump’s legal team
Jan. 17. Starr previously led the Whitewater investigation that resulted in the impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998. “It never surprises me where he pops up,” President Emeritus Andrew K. Benton said of Starr. “He’s a very smart and much sought-after guy.” Prior to his deanship at Pepperdine, Starr served as U.S. Solicitor General under
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Lawyer and former CEO Andrew Puzder will serve as a speaker and mentor for the School of Public Policy’s students under the Senior Fellow program. Senior fellows serve renewable two-year terms and are responsible for speaking, mentoring and occasionally teaching at the School of Public Policy. Puzder
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headed CKE Restaurants, parent company of Carl’s Jr., through a $700-million debt and is credited for returning the company to growth, according to CNBC. Pete Peterson, dean of Pepperdine’s School of Public Policy, appointed Puzder for the fellow position Jan. 16. The position is unpaid. “[Puzder] has been a business leader but understands
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Madeline Duvall | Art Editor Samantha Miller | artist
Behind-the-scenes: Pepperdine prepares for return of Shanghai Program students Jam es Moore New s E dit or Emily Shaw New s a ssista n t Pepperdine sophomore Bradford Holladay was backpacking by himself in Vietnam when he received the email informing him that his study-abroad program in Shanghai, China, would be suspended for the remainder of the semester. “Immediately, I was trying to figure out how I was getting back home, since my plan was to get back to Shanghai, but I couldn’t do that anymore,” Holladay said. Thirty-six Shanghai participants received an email from Executive Director of International Programs Beth Laux at 6:14 a.m. on Wednesday (Shanghai time) informing them of the suspension of their program. Like Holladay, most students were out of the country for their one-week travel break that follows the Chinese New Year. The decision to suspend the program was not an easy one for university administrators like Laux, who analyzed the situation on a moment-to-moment basis for the majority of last week. Laux said the university monitors multiple resources to stay aware of potential
threats to students abroad. “This was really an interesting case: there was about 36-to-48 hours at the beginning of the week where a number of factors converged,” Laux said. The university partners with a medical and travel services company called International S.O.S. that disseminates threats to the university. Laux said the warnings the university received from International S.O.S., coupled with the heightened warnings from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the university’s infectious disease task force finally prompted the decision. “I don’t know that there was one factor that prompted our decision in this case, because it happened very quickly,” Laux said. “This is really an evolving situation, so there’s not a lot of certainty on what this is going to look like in a few weeks.” Student safety and health is always the primary factor in university decision making, Laux said, but the decision to suspend the full duration of the program came out of the university’s legal obligation to provide graduation requirements. “The longer we stalled on making a decision, the harder it was going to be for us to create an aca-
News
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“Immediately, I was trying to figure out how I was getting back home ...”
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demic experience that would meet those federal requirements for students to get credit,” Laux said. “That is one of the big factors that really came into play.” In the initial email, International Programs instructed program participants to return home to their families at their permanent residences for two weeks. The university also provided travel arrangements for students to return home. Holladay said the spirits among his program colleagues are dim. “I think people are pretty disappointed just in general,” Holladay said. “[The school] has told us that we’re going to be taking the same classes back in Malibu, but they haven’t told us exactly who’s going to be teaching those yet.” Laux said the university is in the process of making arrangements for classes, housing and student refunds for the semester. However, she was unable to disclose if faculty members are returning due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Meanwhile, the Student Health Center (SHC) has taken proactive measures to monitor and prepare for any risk of the virus reaching Pepperdine. Dr. Lucy Larson, medical director of the Student Health Center, detailed the center’s risk-as-
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Being sensitive during times of tragedy always outweighs being first. Equal access to quality education is crucial for access to the American Dream.
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sessment procedures in an email. “The risk of developing illness in an individual who stayed in China in the home of someone now ill with coronavirus or who stayed in Wuhan is much greater than the risk for someone who visited Shanghai and stayed in a hotel for a few days,” Larson wrote. If someone on campus met the criteria for becoming a suspected case of the virus, that individual would go through an LA County of Public Health-approved test, Larson said. The SHC would also collect information about whom
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File photo In the Heart of it | International Programs cut the Shanghai program’s second semester short due to the coronavirus. Students are set to return to Malibu campus Feb. 16.
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SP ORTS
Pepperdine brought TEDx back for a second year with TEDxPepperdineU’s “Surf to Summit.”
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Student films premiered B6in Elkins and Smothers Auditorium last Friday night for the annual ReelStories Film Festival.
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Pepperdine Men’s and Women’s Tennis squads are off to stellar starts in the spring season.
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this we e k o n the g rap h T he g r ap hi c’s Ne ws P o d c ast
Pepperdine studentathletes and coaches shed light on their memories of Los Angeles basketball legend Kobe Bryant.
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the individual was in close contact with and then contact them before obtaining the results of the test. “Most likely, the student would be transferred to an E.R. designated by LACPHD [LA County Department of Public Health] for that testing,” Larson wrote. “Isolation of the student would occur pending the results of testing; location of isolation would depend on the individual’s medical condition and living situation.” In the United States, person-to-person spread of the virus
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Bringing Home Shanghai A behind-the-scenes look at the university’s decision to suspend the Shanghai program’s spring semester. Available anywhere you listen to podcasts.
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