Richland Chronicle March 2nd, 2021

CHRONICLE Richland

Vol. XLVII Issue 13 March 2, 2021

A student publication

Gov. Abbott rolls back COVID-19 restrictions • Volunteers help displaced residents

Pg. 2

Pg. 3

• Students weather the storm

Pg. 4-5

• State of Black America

Pg. 6

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2 STATE

March 2, 2021

Texas becomes biggest state to lift mask mandate

Photo Office Of Governor Greg Abbott

Gov. Greg Abbott lifts mask mandate.

Texas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said on March 2, making it the largest state to end an order intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that has killed more than 42,000 Texans.

The Republican governor has faced sharp criticism from his party over the mandate, which was imposed eight months ago, as well as other COVID-19 restrictions on businesses that Texas will also scuttle starting next week. The mask order was only ever lightly

enforced, even during the worst outbreaks of the pandemic.

The repealed rules include doing away with limits on the number of diners or customers allowed indoors, said Abbott, who made the announcement at a restaurant in Lubbock. He said the new rules would take effect March 10, although leaders in Houston and other big Texas cities were already reacting with alarm.

“Removing statewide mandates does not end personal responsibility,” said Abbott, speaking from the crowded dining room where many of those surrounding him were not wearing masks.

“It’s just that now state mandates are no longer needed,” he said.

The decision comes as governors across the U.S. have been easing coronavirus restrictions, despite warnings from health experts that the pandemic is far from over. Like the rest of the country, Texas has seen the number of cases and deaths plunge. Hospitalizations are at the lowest levels since October, and the seven-day rolling average of positive tests has dropped to about 7,600 cases, down from more than 10,000 in mid-February.

Only California and New York have reported more COVID-19 deaths than Texas.

“The fact that things are headed in the right direction doesn’t mean we have succeeded in eradicating the risk,” said Dr. Lauren Ancel Meyers, a professor of integrative biology and director of the University of Texas COVID-19

Modeling Consortium.

She said the recent deadly winter freeze in Texas that left millions of people without power — forcing families to shelter closely with others who still had heat — could amplify transmission of the virus in the weeks ahead, although it remains too early to tell. Masks, she said, are one of the most effective strategies to curb the spread.

The top county leader in Houston, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, called the announcement “wishful thinking” and said spikes in hospitalizations have followed past rollbacks of COVID-19 rules.

“At worst, it is a cynical attempt to distract Texans from the failures of state oversight of our power grid,” said Hidalgo, a Democrat.

Early in the pandemic, Abbott stripped local officials of their power to implement tougher COVID-19 restrictions, but now says counties can impose “mitigation strategies” if virus hospitalizations exceed 15% of all hospital capacity in their region. However, Abbott forbade local officials from imposing penalties for not wearing a face covering.

Abbott imposed the statewide mask mandate in July during a deadly summer surge.

But enforcement was spotty at best, and some sheriffs refused to police the restrictions at all. And as the pandemic dragged on, Abbott ruled out a return to tough COVID-19 rules, arguing that lockdowns do not work.

Politically, the restrictions elevated tensions

between Abbott and his own party, with the head of the Texas GOP at one point leading a protest outside the governor’s mansion.

Meanwhile, mayors in Texas’ biggest cities argued that Abbott wasn’t doing enough.

Most of the country has lived under mask mandates during the pandemic, with at least 37 states requiring face coverings to some degree.

But those orders are increasingly falling by the wayside: North Dakota, Montana and Iowa have also lifted mask orders in recent weeks.

Ahead of the repeal in Texas, Democratic lawmakers urged Abbott to reconsider.

“Texas will experience more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths,” state Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, a Democrat from the border city of Laredo, told Abbott in a letter Monday.

Laredo, where the population is predominately Latino, has endured some of the worst outbreaks of the pandemic, running out of beds in hospital intensive care units as recently as January.

The international trade hub has been among Texas’ most aggressive cities in trying to blunt the spread of the virus, taking measures that have included curfews.

“Elected by the people, your most fundamental obligation is their health and safety.

Please do not abrogate your duty,” Raymond said.

-The Associated Press

Biden visits Texas, promises federal assistance Dara Jones

RichlandStudentMedia.com

Editor-in-Chief Two weeks after a historic winter storm rolled into Texas leaving as many as 40 people dead at press time, residents shivering in dark dealing with frozen pipes and having to boil water to drink, lawmakers, state energy workers and others are pointing fingers at each other about who is to blame.

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden flew to Houston Feb. 26 to join Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Sen. John Cornyn and others to survey the storm damage. Biden promised that the federal government would be there to help Texans through the crisis.

“When a crisis hits our states, like the one that hit Texas, it’s not a Republican or Democrat that’s hurting,” Biden said. “It’s our fellow Americans that are hurting and it’s our job to help everyone in need.”

Biden declared the entire state of Texas eligible for general disaster assistance with 126 of 254 counties eligible for personal disaster assistance to date, to help mitigate damages not covered by insurance, according to The Associated Press. Eighteen additional counties were added Feb. 26. Abbott expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you to our federal partners at

Photo The Associated Press

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were greeted as they walk from Marine One towards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Feb. 26. They are en route to Houston to survey damage caused by severe winter weather and encourage people to get their coronavirus shots.

FEMA for granting approval for these 18 counties,” Abbott said. “I look forward to working with them to ensure the remaining counties in this request are approved, as well as other counties throughout our state who are in need of assistance,” he said Texas residents who need assistance can go

to fema.gov to fill out the paperwork to receive help for repairs. The site advises filing insurance claims first before contacting FEMA. Residents still without water or other necessities can receive help by contacting their local FEMA office or by calling 211. Cornyn pledged his support to the process.

“I know more will be needed in the days and weeks ahead, and I want to assure the folks back home that I’m listening, I’m working and I’m here to help any way that I can,” Cornyn said.

While Biden was in Houston he, Abbott and Cornyn also surveyed the federally run vaccination site at NRG Stadium. Biden, a Democrat, struck a conciliatory tone with his Republican colleagues.

“We disagree on plenty of things,” Biden said. “There’s nothing wrong with that, but there are plenty of things we can work on together. And one of them is represented right here today, the effort to speed up vaccinations.”

The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine was approved for emergency use in the United States on Feb. 27. The newly approved, single-dose vaccine was delivered to the states, including Texas, with inoculations expected to begin March 2.

“The president has made very clear to us that in crisis like this, it is our duty to organize prompt and competent federal support to American citizens, and we have to ensure that bureaucracy and politics do not stand in the way,” said Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall, who accompanied Biden to Houston as reported by AP.

March 2, 2021

The homeless were especially vulnerable to the cold temperatures as shown here at Camp Rhonda in South Dallas along I-45.

LOCAL 3

Photos courtesy Omar Gonzales

Cittlaly Cipriano Staff Writer

As millions of Texans sat in their homes with no power or water and temperatures below freezing, there was little to no communication from energy companies or government officials, so grass root organizations and groups of young activists took it upon themselves to fill in the gaps that Texas government officials were not filling.

“We started out with 200 people on Friday night and the number grew as the temperatures got worse and we went from ‘How do I feed 200 people?’ To ‘How do I feed 500 people?’ To ‘How do I feed 1,000 people in a matter of 24 hours?’” That’s what Reinter Bantau, food services manager of the homeless ministry OurCalling.org, asked himself as he worked around the clock in a shelter set up in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

“Extreme situations call for immediate help,” said LatinX organizer Molly Faricy, who was running a kitchen with SunriseMovement.org organizer Amber Brown throughout the winter storm.

Many small mutual aid organizations gathered to cook meals, hand out water, provide money and hotel rooms for local Dallas residents impacted by the winter storm that shut down the state of Texas starting Feb. 12.

Throughout the storm OurCalling not only sheltered people, but also led search-andrescue operations at local homeless camps, such as Camp Rhonda, and took those

residents to hotels.

Once those hotels lost power, however, the homeless residents were relocated to the mega shelter at the convention center.

“It was cold and OurCalling came [and] said they were picking up people and taking them to a hotel. Unfortunately, the lights went out at the hotel and then they brought us over here to the convention center,” said Cecilia Terell, who received aid from the nonprofit organization.

Although the shelter received an unexpected number of people, the organization was able to meet their needs and provide everyone three meals a day for five days. Not only did they provide warm meals, they also had caseworkers assigned to each resident and offered free medical help to everyone who walked through their doors.

On the north side of Dallas, two young women in a matter of hours secured a kitchen, gathered cooks and volunteers to provide warm vegan meals to Dallas residents that were left without power.

When they were not in the kitchen or delivering, Brown and Faricy were on calls with the heads of many local mutual aid groups.

During these late 9 p.m. calls, they secured another kitchen for the next day and planned a drive-by distribution.

“If someone reaches out, we send them money directly,” Brown said about the way the organization distributed funds back to their community. “That’s why we were blowing up Cash App and Venmo today because they have cash disbursement limits.”

The two women went on social media to

Amber Brown, left, and Molly Faricy prepare meals for OurCalling clients.

pressure the money transfer apps into lifting their payment caps so they could transfer money to struggling families. Eventually the Cash App did in fact lift restrictions to certain accounts. There was never a response from Venmo.

According to fema.gov, a federal disaster declaration was issued Feb. 14. Texans began to lose power the next day. Resources did not arrive until Feb. 18.

“There are people that are specialists in this kind of stuff, disaster relief, but they’re not here, you know,” Faricy said as she talked

about the lack of government aid in areas in which she was serving. “I feel like what has given us hope is the fact that we can rely on each other.”

At least 40 people in Texas died as a result of the winter storm with 70 deaths reported nationwide, according to The Associated Press. At press time, more than 1 million residents were still under orders to boil water before drinking it.

Mutual aid groups, including those mentioned in this article, are seeking donations to help Texans recover from the storm.

RichlandStudentMedia.com

Grass roots organizations fight the freeze

4 CAMPUS

March 2, 2021

Days without utilities: how two students survived the winter storm Angela Ly

Managing Editor

RichlandStudentMedia.com

Dallas College student Bryan Jonenson had a gaping hole in the middle of his kitchen ceiling, the result of his neighbor’s frozen pipes bursting from above. It was the genesis of the winter storm of Feb. 13-17 and marked the beginning of a long week ahead. Minutes later, his entire apartment complex lost power and heat, which Jonenson initially shrugged off as the occasional, “normal” rolling blackout.

He was wrong. He spent the next two days in darkness while eating near-frozen cans of Chef Boyardee pasta for dinner and taking ice-cold showers.

Given his pre-existing health conditions, Jonenson was wary of how well and how long he could fare without hot water or power. It was so cold he could see the condensed air of a sneeze beneath six layers of coverings with the light of just a candle. Jonenson had been stringent about self-quarantining to protect against COVID-19. His challenge this time was dealing with the lack of necessities in frigid conditions, alone.

“You have to dig deep and think, ‘There’s gotta be a morning after.’ There’s something beyond the isolation, cold and dark,” he said.

Along with the crater in his kitchen, there was a leak in his bathroom, which was also caused by the deserted apartment above. This meant gathering water from his kitchen sink in preparation for his evening “showers.”

Jonenson survived Hurricane Maria when he lived in Puerto Rico and had his own survival toolkit to help him survive the physical and emotional strife.

Maria taught him to have an external battery handy, though he was still cognizant of preserving his battery in case of emergencies.

Maria also taught him to reminisce about the better times and how to make the most out of an uncontrollable situation.

“You think of the good times and good things in your life, like how you’re learning Japanese,” he said. “Every once in a while I would open my phone and see if there was a new word. It sounds very simple and silly, but I was honestly getting by just playing Scrabble with my sister.”

Without power, however, physical warmth was hard to come by. He stacked towels and blankets atop his body and lit candles in “desperate attempts” to create warmth.

His periodic workout sets helped for a short periods of time and provided minimal entertainment in his 18-degree-Fahrenheit room.

Richland Student Government Association President Edward Sesay also lost power and hot water for a few days during the winter storm. While working on an essay, his apartment lights flickered on and off. He breathed a sigh of relief each time his heater and lights came back on as he continued working on his computer.

He referred to this moment as if he was in a movie scene. “I was so scared because when you would do something, like when you type, the computer [would] shut off,” Sesay said.

Like Jonenson, Sesay expected another rolling blackout when the lights dimmed. He thought the lights would be back on in 30 minutes or an hour. They didn’t turn back on until three days later.

“For three days, my emotions were high.

Photos Courtesy Bryan Jonenson

Bryan Jonenson’s apartment ceilings suffered major damages due to bursting frozen pipes.

I was crying. I was angry. I was frustrated. I was confused,” he said. “It was cold and I was worried about my class and my essay, and my job as well because they were closed for two days.”

Most of his building was deserted as neighbors opted for hotel rooms, stayed with friends or relatives. One of his neighbors brought Sesay’s family chicken and rice dinner plates from the local Fiesta supermarket. It was the only hot plate of food they ate during the blackout. For the next three days, bread and butter was their only form of sustenance for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“We were in agony. Nothing helped. My mom was freezing,” he said as he reflected back to their attempt to light candles for warmth. He and his parents stayed in the living room with four blankets apiece.

In addition to the loss of power and heat, Sesay’s bathroom floor was soaked due to a burst pipe that ruptured beneath the sink.

“Thank God it didn’t overflow to my room and just stopped in the bathroom. I had to brush my teeth in my mom’s restroom,” he said, grateful they had two bathrooms to rely on.

The apartment was pitch dark at 5 p.m., eliminating activities like reading, which became impossible after nightfall.

Sesay, who enjoys using his phone at night to read the news or watch YouTube videos for entertainment, knew he had to eliminate those activities to conserve his battery in case of emergencies and to check for class announcements. Unlike Jonenson, he did not have an external battery as a safety net.

Sesay passed the time sleeping a lot.

“Well I didn’t have anything to do, so I just slept the whole time until the next morning. I don’t think there was ‘fun’ in here,” he said.

Despite the adversities, Sesay said it was a crucial time. His neighbors banded together with his family to help them continue to live as normally as possible, even post-deep freeze.

Because his family was down a car due to inclement weather, his neighbor took him to and from work the week after the harsh conditions subsided.

“He’s an awesome neighbor. He usually drops me off at work in the mornings. We also have other neighbors that helped,” he said.

After discovering the pipes in the apartment laundry room had burst, another neighbor took Sesay and his mother to a laundromat.

A week after the dangerous temperature plunge, Sesay and Jonenson have both chosen to look at the situation optimistically, expressing gratitude for surviving in such unfavorable conditions.

Both are awaiting repairs of their apartments and both mentioned heavy plumbing damage due to the freezing conditions.

Sesay estimated about 90% of his apartment complex had damaged pipes, and according to Jonenson’s leasing manager, 30-40 pipes burst in his complex.

In their ow

“When the snow first appeared, my mother had the idea to make it into a competition with my aunts and uncles’ families. Each of the three families would build a snowman and send it to our grandparents who would decide the winner. On the first day, both of my cousin’s families had built their snowmen and left us in the dust! But my Mother had a plan. On Wednesday, the last day of freezing temperatures, we scooped and hauled snow from our backyard to our front to build our snowman. An hour passed of three people hauling snow and the other three trying to roll the snow, but the biggest ball we could get was a mere 9” in diameter. Finally, we looked up why it wasn’t working and discovered the

s c w t l o s s m f 1 a ( s

wn words

snow was too dry. I suppose that is what you call dry water. I filled some cleaner bottles with water and continually sprayed the water on the now-growing snowballs. Two more hours later we had finally finished the only snowman on our street. Six days later, the last of the snow has finally melted from our once-grand snowman. Here is a picture from Thursday of my family who built the snowman. Back row, from left to right: Esther (Richland Student, 19), Joshie (Richland Student, 16), Isaac (14), and Johann(12). Front row left to right: Noelle (mother), Peter (9), and Lillie (6) all with the surname Land.”

-Esse Land

CAMPUS 5

March 2, 2021

A campus coated in winter Upper left: El Paso bridge overlooking the west breezeway covered in snow.

Lower left: Thunderduck hall viewed over the frozen lake.

Lower right: Front of Pecos Hall after February’s winter storm.

Photos Courtesy Richland Police Capt. Mark Lozano

“I have been working at the COVID vaccine clinics to administer vaccines in the long-term care facilities since December 2020. We at least support around 30 hospice cares, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes per week.

Due to the storm last week, we had to either cancel or reschedule most of the clinics. One reason is delay in the vaccine shipments and another is, most of the areas did not have power. As we are providing Pfizer vaccine and this vaccine is stored at an exceptionally low temperature, it was nearly impossible to store and carry the vaccines in the middle of the blackout.

In addition, a lot of CVS stores went out of power including my store. We had to remain closed for three days in a row. This caused a lot of damage to the refrigerated medications.

We had to order all those medicines and throw away the damaged ones “The CVS store that I work in, have not started doing in person vaccinations yet, but there are few stores close to us, which do.

Based on what I learn from them, mostly senior citizens are in line first to get vaccinated. It affected them a lot because it is

hard to find an appointment as the seats get booked extremely fast. As most of the stores lost power last week, the people who had made appointments were told to reschedule.

I understand how difficult it could be for the CVS staff to reschedule them as well as for the people to find a slot again to get the vaccine.

“As of today, there are millions of Americans still waiting in line to get their first dose of vaccine. Delay in even one day in administering COVID vaccine can make a huge difference in the fight against COVID-19. As the vaccine administration and shipment were extremely limited last week, the whole process of vaccine administration was severely hampered.”

-Samia Hoque “I come from Maracaibo a city in the Caribbean where the weather is constanly hot so I hadn’t seen proper snow before this storm.

I was pretty excited to experience snow for the first time, and I must admit it was not like I expected it to. It ironically was colder than I imagined, and the texture was more similar to sand than ice cream. Regardless I had a blast playing it in the snow while it lasted! Luckily, we only experienced one short blackout so my family and I stayed warm inside.”

-Barbara Gandica Martinez

“My personal experience was lucky though!

I never was without food, shelter, warmth, and clean water. My brother in law stayed with us for the whole week because his power shut off. I even have friends still now without water they can use. If they boil the water it just turned a grey color. I’ve been so worried for so many I know still affected by all of this, even now, a week later!

“This is why so many people are torn about Ted Cruz leaving. Some questioned what Cruz was supposed to do during the crisis and don’t see a problem with the fact that he left the state during it. However, he represents us to a degree and has a certain level of responsibility to the people he represents. Plain and simple, he should have done ANYTHING for the people of Texas. Our girl Alexandria OcasioCortez raised over 5 million in donations from where she resides in New York city.

Which Cruz only attempted as a facade only after being shamed back to Texas!”

-Daphne Earnest

6 CAMPUS

March 2, 2021

CHRONICLE Richland

STUDENT MEDIA LEADERS Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Design Editor Entertainment Editor

Dara Jones Angela Ly Barbara Gandica Martinez Ricky Miller

ON THE COVER Bartender Alyssa Dooley makes a cocktail at Mo’s Irish Pub Houston, March 2.

Photo: The Associated Press

BACK COVER Collage of iconic women in celebration of Women’s History month.

Credit: Barbara Gandica Martinez

COVER AND FONTS Certain cover fonts are provided by the following www.nymfont.com – www.bvfonts.com

STUDENT MEDIA STAFF Frances Badgett Cittlaly Cipriano Reagan Davis Rory Etienne Dave Freeman Nabeela Iqbal Marley Malenfant

Fernanda Pargas Jalen Rainey Janssy Sanchez Hannah Jade Spohn Keith Sproull Jerry Weiss

STUDENT MEDIA ADVISERS Erica Edwards

Image Courtesy Roland S. Martin website

Journalist Roland S. Martin met virtually with students during a Black History Month event held online at Dallas College.

Journalist Martin adds perspective to history’s first draft

Tim Jones

Jack Fletcher

James Ragland

Meg Fullwood

Larry Ratliff

ISSUE DATES March 16

April 27

March 30

May 11

April 13

Marley Malenfant

RichlandStudentMedia.com

Staff Writer Longtime journalist Roland S. Martin was late to the virtual event but he had a good reason. You don’t walk away from an interview with civil rights icon Fred Gray.

“When Fred Gray talks, you don’t stop him from talking,” Martin said. “[He’s] a literal legal legend who is a giant. I’m sitting across from the man who is one of two people who crafted the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He’s describing to me how he and Jo Ann Robinson actually plotted and planned the entire 382-day Montgomery Bus Boycott. This is the man who Dr. [Martin Luther] King never made a legal move without asking for his advice first.”

Martin met virtually with Dallas College students in the Black History Month event “The State of Black America: Equality, Generational Wealth, and Voting with Roland Martin,” on Feb. 24.

He answered questions ranging from how to survive in the media business to national and local politics, race and storytelling.

Martin knew early on he wanted to be a journalist. As a child, he’d watch hours of television news with his father because as a kid, “You didn’t have a choice to watch what you wanted,” he said.

Growing up in Houston’s Third Ward, Martin went to Jack Yates High Magnet School of Communications where he got his start in media. Students dubbed him “Mr. TV.” By college, he was already preparing himself for a media career. At Texas A&M, he’d arrive at classes 15 minutes late and leave 15 minutes early so he could make deadline for the Bryan-College Station

Eagle, the local, daily newspaper. A professor from a writing class told him he could have finished with an A if he applied himself more.

Martin had already moved on.

“I don’t really care about your A,” he said.

“Here’s what I need you to understand. When I graduate, I’m going to have to take a set of facts and write a story in 20 minutes. So, if I never learn to write in a short time frame, then I won’t be able to do it and I may not be successful and I won’t have my job.”

In a career that’s spanned more than 30 years, Martin worked as a reporter with several media outlets including CNN, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, TV One and others.

He remained in the news business by staying on top of new technology, constantly reading and never letting himself become miserable in his work. He applied those ideas into one concept he coined “Me Inc.” Martin encouraged students to feel like they’re CEOs and to look at employers as potential clients.

He took the approach that ‘If they like the work you do, they’ll continue doing business with you,’ and said he believed the approach leads to fulfilling work.

About 25 minutes into the seminar, students who submitted questions through cohost Robert Braswell got answers.

When a student asked about his experience as a Black man working in different mediums, Martin, who was a reporter for the Houston Defender in 1992, told a story about his assignment covering the “Malcolm X” movie.

Martin wore a Malcolm X t-shirt to the premiere and this upset his editor. His editor argued that

this would impact his objectivity in reporting the story.

“Too often, people of color in the media are conditioned to make sure they’re not offending white audiences,” he said. “‘Really, I said. ‘Well, did you say anything to that gay journalist who has that rainbow shirt on and how that is going to impact their objectivity?’’’

Martin said.

“Same thing. I remember when I was at CNN and I got then Senator Barack Obama to agree to shoot a pilot. During the interview, I mentioned how I filed for bankruptcy after my appendix ruptured during the 2000 Democratic National Convention.

I didn’t have any health insurance. And I said ‘Man, that hurt a brotha (sic).’ So this white man tells me, ‘Well, you should be real careful not using the word brotha.’ We don’t want to scare away white viewers.”

In the closing segment, student Morgan Wright asked Martin what he saw for the future of journalism. Martin noted that the current media culture is consumed with disinformation and many are OK with propping up falsehoods.

“We’re living in an age of ‘Can I trust that?’” he said. “It comes back to integrity. You’re going to have those people out here who support lies. Can you believe that Fox News got sued and they made the legal argument that ‘Ehh, you can’t believe what Tucker Carlson said because it’s not really based on facts.’ That was literally their legal argument and the case was thrown out. So, why in the hell would I listen to Sean Hannity or listen to Tucker Carlson knowing full well I’m a catch (sic) lies all day. And that’s the game that we’re in.

I don’t believe in allowing lies to go unchecked.”

STUDENT MEDIA AWARDS Student Organization Community Service Award, 2019 Student Organization of the Year, 2019 CMA Pinnacle Two-Year TV Station Award, 2018 CMA Two-Year Radio Station Award, 2018 ACP Newspaper Pacemaker Winner Award, 2016 ACP Best of Show Award, 2015 ACP Photo Excellence Award, 2015 CMA Newspaper of the Year Finalist, 2014 1st Place – TCCJA Overall General Excellence, 2014 2nd Place – Pinnacle College Media Award, 2014 1st Place – TIPA Sweepstakes, 2005 3rd Place – TIPA Online, 2005 & 2006 Over 270 Texas college journalism awards since 2000

CONTACT INFORMATION El Paso Hall, Room E020, 12800 Abrams Rd., Dallas 75243 Newsroom: 972-238-6079; richlandchronicle@gmail.com Advertising: 972-238-6068 Email: Advertise@dcccd.edu Staff meetings: Monday and Wednesday at 2 p.m. in E020 Letter Policy Letters to the editor may be edited for space. They will be edited for spelling, grammar and malicious or libelous statements.

Letters must be the work of the writer and must be signed. For identification and verification purposes, letters also must include the writer’s classification (grade level), full name, address and telephone number, although address and telephone number will not be published.

Editorial Policy The Chronicle is the official student-produced newspaper of Richland College. Editorials, cartoons, columns and letters are the opinions of individual students and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other individual student writers, editors, advisers or the college administration. © Richland Chronicle 2021

March 2, 2021

Former Dallas Cowboy Drew Pearson joins the Hall of Fame Jalen Rainey Staff Writer Alan Faneca, Tom Flores, Calvin Johnson, John Lynch, Peyton Manning, Bill Nunn and Charles Woodson are the seven of the eight new football heroes inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.

One of those eight legends holds a special place in the city of Dallas and the Dallas Cowboys organization heart. That legend and now Hall of Famer is former wide receiver Drew Pearson. Pearson was born Jan. 21,1951 in South River, New Jersey. He attended the University of Tulsa and played four games at quarterback his sophomore year before playing wide receiver.

Image Courtesy Drew Pearson/Twitter

A recent picture of Drew Pearson, now, 70.

Playing for a run-oriented team at Tulsa, but still having stellar wide receiver numbers, he was rewarded with the university’s President’s Award as the team’s “best spirited and most unselfish” member. Pearson was inducted into the Tulsa Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985.

In 1973 his professional career began. He was signed as an undrafted free agent to the Dallas Cowboys. All the New Jersey native needed was a chance and he took full advantage of it earning career records of 489 receptions and 7,822 receiving yards, along with 189 rushing yards, 155 yards returning kickoffs, and 50 touchdowns (48 receiving and two fumble recoveries).

Pearson was also recognized for his achievements by being named to the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team. He also helped the Cowboys to three Super Bowl appearances and a victory in Super Bowl XII in 1978. In addition, Pearson also scored a touchdown in Super Bowl X. His career was shortened because of a 1984 car accident that killed his brother and left him with internal injuries that forced him to retire.

Although his career was short, he achieved a lot, but out of all the accolades he needed one more to cap off his career and that is the NFL Hall of Fame. After years of disappointing snubs to make the ballot and even a viral video of Pearson slamming his hat with disappointment after finding out he didn’t make it, finally 33 years later on Feb. 6 he was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame with an impressive class who will receive their awards Aug. 8.

Pearson wore the number 88 that is now a tradition of great receivers for the Cowboys from Michael Irvin, Dez Bryant, and now CeeDee Lamb, who had an amazing rookie season this year. Not only will number 88 for the Cowboys live forever, now in Canton, Ohio the name Drew Pearson will live forever too.

SPORTS 7

Photo The Associated Press

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson (88) scores against the Washington Redskins during the NFC Championship game at RFK Stadium. Jeris White (45) falls to the ground.

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March 2, 2021

“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made.It shouldn’t be that women are the exception” mythology, spooky stories and folk lore

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- Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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