Richland Chronicle May 12th, 2020

CHRONICLE Richland

Vol. XLVII Issue 30 May 12, 2020

A weekly student publication

Long time T-duck Coach Neal is retiring Pg. 9

RichlandStudentMedia.com

Richland Student Media Media

@RLCStudentMedia

Richland Student Media

Gr aphi cCour t es yRi chl andCol l egeOf ďŹ ceofPl anni ng,Res ear ch,Ef f ect i v enes sandDev el opment

May 12, 2020

COVID-19/CAMPUS 3

Staying healthy at home Fernanda Pargas

Staff Writer The counseling and health centers at Richland are working to keep students healthy and safe at home.

Jennifer “JJ” Larson, associate director of Student Services for Health and Wellbeing, said Richland now has remote services available.

“We were the first in the district to get the counseling part open and up and running, so that is exciting for us,” Larson said.

The Lakeside Counseling Center offers four types of support for students. Students can seek counseling by calling 972-238-3771.

Services are available Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

“There’s a little bit of paperwork online before they’ll be connected with a counselor who will talk to them about what their issue is, determine what their needs are and maybe set them up with a counseling appointment with themselves or someone else,” Larson said.

“Telequack” is a new service where students call a drop-in group and connect with other students. Richland students can have access to the consultations at https://tinyurl. com/TueTeleQuack and using “DropIn” for the password. RCHS students must use https://tinyurl.com/ HSTueTeleQuack and use

“DropInwithLou1” for access.

“We’ll expand [the website] just to give folks a chance to jump in on a group and talk about their concerns and talk to other students and get some connections, get some support,” Larson said.

From 5 to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, students can check in with a counselor for a brief consultation, no appointment needed.

Students who need therapy sessions can set an appointment, which requires a bit more paperwork. Therapy sessions are available Monday through Friday.

Larson said that therapy, or any sort of support, can be beneficial for students.

“If you are experiencing some challenges, or you got some mood stuff going on and it’s interfering with your ability to focus or concentrate, or you are feeling more emotional than you’re comfortable with, or any other kinds of things that can be a challenge, not only to your emotional wellbeing but maybe your relationship or academic focus. By engaging in some sort of supportive service through counseling, you actually can actually improve your ability to do the other parts of your life well,” she said.

Students who feel they need to visit a nurse to disuss their physical health can talk to the nurse triage. Caroline White, senior manager at the health center, said that students and

Photo Courtesy Richland Marketing

faculty can call for “anything to do with health.”

“If you need to call for health information or if you need to call for anything, like if you need your immunization to get your application into the next level of schooling,” she said.

White said there are other ways, aside from the telephone, to communicate with the nurses, including videoconferences.

“We are on [Microsoft] Teams, so we can do it on Teams, [a] Zoom call or we can even do WebEx. So, we have got lots of video opportunities. Whatever fits with whoever is calling in,” White said.

Nurses can provide homecare recommendations or counsel patients as to which

hospitals are open and available to students to help them deal with any symptoms they are experiencing.

“We tell you how to take care of all kinds of things,” she said. “If you are having gynecological problems or a stomach ache, headache – any symptoms you might have.”

Students can reach the nurses at 972-5146920 from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday.

The Lakeside Counseling Center and Health Center are also available to students throughout the summer. Both centers are planning to expand their services and operations should there be an increased demand from students.

to students, Wilkins said, it will be in the form of cash grants so that it will either be an automatic deposit into a student’s bank account or a check that can be cut and mailed to the student.

“As long as it’s an emergency need that the student has, we are not going to tell a student they have to spend this money all on food or all on transportation,” Wilkins said. “It’s ‘what is your emergency need?’”

Wilkins pointed out that students just have to be eligible for financial aid. It’s not a rule that they have to be “receiving” it. They may be eligible, even if they have never applied for it before. Students can call the Financial Aid office for more information about eligibility.

“We hope to have our system up by June 1 for students to begin to be able to apply for those,” she said. “So far, we have not accepted applications. We are working to get all of that in place.”

The money from the CARES Act will be managed centrally, Wilkins said, but it does not go directly to financial aid. Wilkins said she is partly responsible for coordinating CARES Act funding, but many other people are involved in the process, which is still being ironed out.

Students ineligible for financial aid may be able to get help through the DCCCD Foundation’s emergency fund.

“So even if you’re not eligible for financial aid, you will still be able to apply, and your emergency aid would just come from a difference source than the CARES Act,” Wilkins

said.

Under the CARES Act, Wilkins said, another issue concerns college undergrads who won’t get a stimulus check, particularly those whose parents claimed them as a “dependent” on federal income tax returns. Dependents don’t qualify to receive a stimulus check.

But, she said, “They still are eligible for the emergency aid through the CARES Act if they are enrolled in one of our colleges. They can still apply whether or not they were eligible for the stimulus checks.”

The amount of aid granted will be based on each student’s eligibility and needs.

“It could be any amount,” she said.

“Perhaps $1,500 or $2,000 at the maximum.

We haven’t determined that yet, but we want to help as many students as possible.”

Wilkins said older students, perhaps in their 30’s and 40’s, also can receive financial aid. They can apply for stimulus money with a link through Edquity, an educational technology company in partnership with the district.

Students just need their ID to apply.

Wilkins said students can apply for emergency aid now, but opportunities are limited until details of the CARES Act funding are worked out. Foundation funding, however, is available right now.

“Students can be approved within 24 to 48 hours and they are able to access the funds within 48 to 72 hours,” Wilkins said. “It’ll be in the form of a cash grant.”

Joyce Jackson

Copy Editor The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act authorized $14 billion for higher education institutions nationwide as relief from the COVID-19 pandemic. That includes about $9 million in direct aid funds for Richland and the other six Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) campuses that may have access to federal funding as soon as June 1.

Dr. Pyeper Wilkins, chief advancement officer and executive director of the DCCCD Foundation, said another provision of the CARES Act will give DCCCD an additional $9 million to help fund the operational aspects of the online transition over the last few weeks.

To determine a student’s eligibility for federal aid, Wilkins said, officials use a formula based on enrollment of individual colleges and the number of enrolled students who are eligible for Pell Grants.

“There are strings attached,” Wilkins said.

“It’s government money. Because of the way the Department of Education interprets the CARES Act, they have told us that we can only award CARES Act money to students who are eligible for federal financial aid under Title IV.” “That means they [students] have to be a [U.S.] citizen. Students have to be making satisfactory academic progress. All those same things that students who are on financial aid have to adhere to, we have to adhere to in

giving these dollars out,” she said.

Wilkins said there’s “good news” for students who aren’t eligible for the CARES Act funds. The DCCCD Foundation has its own emergency aid fund that has received a big infusion of money recently due to the generosity of the foundation board. That means

“As long as it’s an emergency need that the student has, we are not going to tell a student they have to spend this money all on food or all on transportation. It’s ‘what is your emergency need?”

- Dr. Pyeper Wilkins students who are not eligible for CARES Act money may have another option.

When the Foundation money is distributed

RichlandStudentMedia.com

RLC students hopeful for stimulus aid by June 1

4 ENTERTAINMENT

May 12, 2020

Podcasts come to life with ‘Everything is Alive’ Barbara Gandica Martinez Design Editor

Allegra Edwards, center, stars in the role of Ingrid Kanneman in ‘Upload.’

Photo courtesy IMDb

‘Upload’offers a patch of entertainment and laughter Ricky Miller

Entertainment Editor “Upload” is a fun, sarcastic tale filled with loads of inside jokes and characters who are both grating and enjoyable. It essentially deals with a person’s life after a mishap occurs wherein, they are taken from their life on planet Earth.

It takes place in the near future, since one of our lead characters catches part of “50 First Dates” (2004) with a fellow bus passenger on route to her job.

Part of it borrows from “Defending Your Life” (1991), wherein people unexpectedly die from some sort of mishap or shenanigan. In the afterlife, every piece of food was the best during a temporary purgatory layover, but each person had to defend their life in court before moving on.

The “Upload” cast, which includes Robbie Amell (Nathan) and Andy Allo (Nora), show great chemistry as a duo. The former is a resident of the home for the afterlife that has great meals and snacks for those who actually have a moment to eat them.

Because they are so good together, one just

wants to see them succeed, despite all the predicaments involved with keeping them apart.

Nora (Allo) offers tech support in that she can just show up in an instant. She is essentially an angel or a do-gooder, one who is always around to help or offer assistance.

The villain of the story is Allegra Edwards’ Ingrid Kanneman. She is just an annoying, selfish and self-centered girl who only wants and takes things for herself – just a despicable human being altogether.

This one comes from Greg Daniels, who wrote and co-created the American version of “The Office” (2005-2013) and “Parks and Recreation” (2009-2020). It’s obvious he knows what works, since this just tickled my funny bone.

Like Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” the rewatch factor with “Upload” is incredibly high, since one just wants to join the denizens in their various misadventures.

Just know that the span of the show is short; just 10 episodes. It’s free on Amazon Prime. I really enjoyed this show despite the fact that the story arch feels incomplete.

Hopefully it will attract enough subscribers to finish all the tales.

Grade B+

Most of us shelter-in-place students miss chatting with friends and are so bored under quarantine that we’re tempted to start talking to our brooms and bedside lamps.

Don’t laugh. The idea is no longer as farfetched as it sounds.

Say hello to “Everything is Alive” — a podcast series that showcases unscripted interviews with inanimate objects.

Contrary to what you might think, the objects don’t remain silent. They come to life and share their stories.

The result is a mix of awkward conversations with melancholy objects reflecting on their existence, which is an oddly funny and calming experience.

The podcast is hosted by Ian Chillag, who leads the interviews and finds himself in the ticklish role of animated soul in the dialogue.

Often, Chillag ends up explaining human concepts to his lifeless subjects, such as the time he showed an elevator what stairs look like. Just so you know, the elevator found the stairs beautiful.

It is a ridiculous idea, of course, at its core.

But, hey, it’s a nice break from podcasts tied to what’s “trending” in the news or on social media. Or the ones that you have to catch up on countless episodes to understand.

The “Everything is Alive” episodes can be listened to in any order and are no longer than

20 minutes each.

The inanimate interviewees are full of character themselves. Their personalities reflect the respective object’s purpose and limitations.

For example, a bar of soap is deeply proud of the job she accomplishes to the end and a Magic 8-Ball can only provide its blunt, Magic 8-Ball answers to questions.

While listening, you might find yourself learning about things not directly related to the experience of the objects. On the “Alligator, Alligator” episode, for instance, you learn a bit about the Unclaimed Baggage Center, where things left in airplanes are stored and sold.

These sidebars offer a breather from the main interviews. The sections are reminiscent of a mini-episode of “99% invisible,” another podcast I would recommend.

You could end up with a different perspective of objects that surround us and our relationships with them.

Some you can even visit, like Sean, the subway seat in New York City; or Connor, the painting, which is the portrait of William Howard Taft that’s on display at America’s Presidents Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. “Everything is Alive” is part of the podcast network Radiotopia and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google, RSS, Stitcher, and RadioPublic.

It’s also on the “Everything is Alive” website, www.everythingisalive.com Grade A

Staff Illustration Barbara Gandica Martinez

“Cold Pursuit” (2019) – Liam Neeson headlined this delicious black comedy from director Hans Petter Moland, who made “In Order of Disappearance” in 2014 with lead Stellan Skarsgård. Like the critically acclaimed “Blood Simple” (1986), this one has a wicked black comedy bite.

Streaming Edition

Avilable on HBO.

B

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” (2019) – This J.J. Abrams-directed tale finishes up the original trilogy with a nice sendoff. With Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac.

Available on Disney+.

A

“Anna” (2019) – Luc Besson directs this action-thriller about Anna (newcomer Sasha Luss), who becomes a spy working for both the Russians and the USA. With Helen Mirren as Russian agent Olga, as well as Luke Evans and Cillian Murphy.

Available on HBO.

B-

“Coffee & Kareem” – This new Netflix entry finds Ed Helms as a Detroit cop who takes care of Vanessa’s (Taraji P. Henson) son, Kareem (Terrence Little Gardenhigh). Also with Betty Gilpin (“The Hunt”).

Available on Neflix.

“Dark Phoenix” (2019) – This X-Men entry finishes this Marvel-based saga with a little bit of a whimper. With Sophie Turner as Jean Grey and The Phoenix. Co-stars include Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence.

Available on HBO.

C+

—Ricky Miller

B-

LOCAL 5

May 12, 2020

Texas theaters return from intermission Staff Writer

Photo courtesy Meg Fullwood

The marquee outside The Texas Theatre.

Photo courtesy Coyote Drive/Facebook

Coyote Drive-In in Fort Worth reopens.

Theaters across the nation have been in intermission since March. They were permitted to reopen May 1 under new mandates put in place by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, however, indoor theaters aren’t rushing to reopen.

Movies like “Trolls World Tour” have been released online instead of at theaters amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Angelika Film Center in Dallas and The Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff are streaming movies on their websites. Drive-in theaters have seen an increase in popularity amid the pandemic as well. These are the options for moviegoers with the current limitations.

Movie theaters such as Cinemark and AMC are not likely to re-open until mid-summer.

Several sources indicate a mid-July re-opening for indoor theaters, although nothing has been finalized yet.

“Cinemark is currently working toward a

mid-summer opening date, contingent upon health and safety regulations, as well as availability of studio content,” said Caitlin Piper, a Cinemark public relations representative via email. Piper added that Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” will be one of the first releases come July 17. She also said reopening will likely be limited at first and may take months before theaters return to full seating capacity. Some of the top movie releases for this year have been rescheduled as well.

Drive-in theaters are rushing to the opportunity because of the demand. The Galaxy Drive-In Theater in Ennis and Coyote in Fort Worth have re-opened for patrons to safely enjoy a movie from their own vehicles. Both companies share the same new safety guidelines listed on their websites.

Officials at both drive-ins ask guests to remain in their vehicles unless they need to use the public facilities. Additionally, both driveins ask patrons to keep the social distance requirements of 6-feet apart in mind while

Photo courtesy The Associated Press

Workers change signage to reflect positive messages on the marquee at the Quarry Cinema, which is set to reopen in June, in San Antonio, May 4.

parked and going to the public facilities. Additionally, the drive-ins will not have operating concession stands and are temporarily allowing outside food and drink. All staff at the drive-in theaters are required to wear gloves and masks, as well as undergo temperature checks at each shift.

The Angelika Film Center and The Texas Theatre closed on March 16 and March 18 respectively, under CDC guidelines. Streaming movies go from $5 to $12 on a seven-day online rental. Live theater can also be experienced via online streaming. Andrew Lloyd Webber has been re-releasing his musicals on YouTube for free every Friday since the beginning of April. Every re-release is replaced by the next each week.

Movie theaters across the nation will take some time to re-open under new restrictions and mandates set by each state. In Texas, they are permitted to re-open with a 25% maximum capacity limit as part of Phase 1 of Abbott’s plan to reopen the Texas economy.

Photo courtesy San Angelo Standard Times

The Texas Theatre closed during the polio epidemic of 1949.

RichlandStudentMedia.com

Lloyd Roberts

6 SPECIAL SECTION

May 12, 2020

Historic semester forces students and Students cope with campus withdrawal Jack Ramirez Bernal

RichlandStudentMedia.com

Managing Editor

For millions of college students, the coronavirus changed their lives seemingly overnight. One day, right around spring break, a new reality set in, and students became all-toofamiliar with “social distancing” and “shelter in place.”

Just two months ago, halls and classrooms across Richland and elsewhere were filled with energy as students mingled and marched to classes or club meetings.

Now, many college campuses, including the Dallas Community College District’s seven campuses, are virtual ghost towns with students and professors alike stuck at home for the foreseeable future.

While the move to online learning is not all bad, students are having to learn new skills to cope with the abrupt and dramatic turn of events.

Some students, like Ferdinando Castro Gonzalez, vice president of Richland’s Student Government Association, say they see a silver lining through the COVID-19 cloud.

They are learning how to manage their time better.

“I believe I am coping well with quarantine,” Castro Gonzales said. “I am usually very active on campus and now I can get to do the same, but with more time [on] my hands. I do not have to drive long distances, I can schedule my classes better, and I can take a walk or play a game here and there when I feel like I should.”

Castro Gonzalez quipped that he was “born to be in quarantine” and he has not had any problems adjusting to online-only classes or being forced to stay indoors for weeks.

“Despite your experience during this quarantine, once this is over, you are going to be better prepared for the unknown, he said.

“And you know yourself a little bit better, too.”

Another Richland student, Orlando Silva, president of the Philosophy Club, said that being indoors has given him a new sense of responsibility.

“I say that quarantine has been a blessing and a curse. For me, its been a sort of realization,” Silva said.

“I came to see that I was not as independent as I thought. This time indoors has forced me to learn to cook more of my own meals, develop a study schedule while at home and learn to maintain my all by myself.”

Silva said that the circumstances are teaching him and his peers how to be more creative and productive with their time.

“This time is the best time to develop healthy habits because whether they are good or bad, they are going to follow you in the aftermath,” he said.

Students have found several ways to fill the

void, from streaming movies to playing video games and sleeping more.

Of course, some are still procrastinating like they were before things changed.

But Esther Land is not one of them. Land, president of Richland’s Anthropology Club, is busily pursuing new adventures.

“For a while now, I’ve been wanting to learn French and I’ve been able to start that up,” she said. “I’m also learning the violin.

So that’s fun. I didn’t have time before. Now I have the time to start hobbies that I’ve always wanted to learn and do.”

Land said that remaining indoors has enabled her to spend more time with family and engage in recreational bonding activities with them.

She still misses her friends, but she said the quarantine reminded her of the importance of family, too.

“It has been hard, but at the same time it hasn’t been hard,” Land said. “I recognized this is a time I’m not gonna [sic] have again.

This is where I’m forced to stay at home and be with my family, and I’m not gonna [sic] have that forever.”

Still, there are challenges for many students.

Some have lost jobs or seen family members unable to work during the pandemic.

Marisol Maldonado, a member of the Women’s Initiative Network, said that while she will not lose any sleep over losing her gig, she and her family must pay closer attention to their budget.

“Overall, I’ve been restraining myself from making any unnecessary purchases since I’m not making any money to accommodate those purchases,” Maldonado said. “However, I have had to go into my savings to help pay for things [such as gas or food.]”

Maldonado said she was shocked when she realized how much money she was spending on things that were not necessary. She took a different approach to spending.

“First, categorizing purchases and seeing if they’re necessary or not,” she said.

“From there, you can budget.”

While it remains uncertain when or whether college life will return to the way it was before COVID-19, it is clear that students are learning to overcome the challenges.

What they are missing most, they say, is the face-to-face interactions that the coronavirus took away; the advantages of learning in a classroom setting. It turned spring break into an extended hiatus — and a teachable moment.

With Chancellor Joe May announcing that classes for the Fall semester will continue to be online for all district campuses, the challenges and responsibilities students face will be among the most rewarding teaching lessons to come out of this moment of crisis.”

Marisol Maldonado

Damon Craig

Esther Land

Jonathan Lin

Jorge Perez

Barbara Gandica Martinez

Dave Freeman

Alex Ortuno

SPECIAL SECTION 7

May 12, 2020

faculty to adapt to COVID-19 changes

Faculty embracing online shift Staff Writer

Larry Ratliff

Erica Edwards

Tim Jones

Jack Ramirez Bernal

Meg Fullwood

Patrick Moore

Joyce Jackson

Jack Fletcher

This isn’t what Patrick Moore, a seasoned professor of government at Richland, signed up for when the spring semester began: A toddler constantly tugging at him while he juggles the demands of working from home.

No face time with the students he’s trying to teach or counsel. More emails than he cares to count.

But thanks to COVID-19 forcing the Dallas County Community College District to shut down its seven campuses and shift to online classes after spring break in mid-March, Moore, and other professors are learning to adjust.

“The professional ‘hard part’ has been working with a large group of students who intentionally didn’t sign up to take a class online because they want the personal connection of a face-to-face class,” said Moore. “Students these days generally have a choice to go online if they want to, and these students chose not to. Yet they were required to because of the pandemic.”

Moore isn’t the only one bemoaning the loss of personal interactions for himself and his students.

Karin Matz, a journalism professor, also misses seeing her students and watching them mix it up in a classroom setting. ​“I miss the energy of campus. And I also miss seeing that moment when one of my students has that ‘aha’ moment,” said Matz.

“Seeing the lightbulb of learning go off is one of the most rewarding parts of what we do.”

Rick Walker, a professor who teaches solely online at Richland, has not felt the reverberation from COVID-19 but has felt it at his other school, the University of North Texas, where he was teaching classes on campus. “[I] really miss the lively student interaction,” said Walker. “I hope this plague passes us quickly!”

Some professors said that not seeing their students in person also makes it more difficult for them to measure a student’s progress.

“I think connecting [with] students and making sure they are learning the material are the most challenging parts of distance learning,” said Matz. “It’s almost more important to make and keep a connection now that learning is remote.”

That’s a lesson they must carry forward, at least through the fall. DCCCD Chancellor Joe May announced this month that, save for a few possible courses, online learning would continue through the fall semester.

That gives professors, such as Moore, time to strike a better balance between their professional life and personal life — all being done under one roof.

Moore acknowledges that working from home has given him quality time with his

3-year-old daughter. Moore said that, just like him, she is accustomed to various activities during the day, like gymnastics. They now find joy through nature walks, which Moore jokingly says his daughter asks for every half hour. ​“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining.

Millions of people have real problems far worse than what I’ve had to contend with,” Moore said. “I’m just saying it’s tough to get grading done and planning done and email answered and preparations done for the upcoming May and summer terms and ‘counseling’ done with students who are in tough straits, with a boisterous toddler daughter in the background.”

“I miss the energy of campus. And I also miss seeing that moment when one of my students has that ‘aha’ moment.”

- Karin Matz While the district’s Board of Trustees decided that online learning will continue through the fall semester, certain specialized programs, such as medical and manufacturing workshops, may be able to offer face-toface classes that still adhere to social distancing guidelines.

To help students and faculty continue adjusting to the new learning circumstances, the district offers a link with useful resources at, https://www.dcccd.edu/services/pages/default. aspx

Graduation notice At press time, Richland graduates are still waiting for an official date concerning the 2020 commencement ceremony. The service was originally planned to be held on May 14 at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland but those plans are on hold due to the pandemic.

“Based on whatever is decided, spring graduates will have the opportunity to celebrate with family and friends in-person,” said May. “Once we reach a decision, we will share that information with you.”

A town hall meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. March 13.

RichlandStudentMedia.com

Angela Ly

8 LOCAL

May 12, 2020

Sheltering from severe weather and COVID-19 Alex Ortuno Assistant Editor Severe weather has been ramping up in recent weeks across the southern states with some deadly results. According to the National Weather Service in Houston, an EF-3 tornado killed three and injured 33 in Onalaska on April 23. On May 7, severe thunderstorm warnings were issued in southwestern parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, bringing golf-ball sized hail and damaging winds to the area.

The severe weather season, which contin-

ues throughout the month of May, comes at a time when people are still adjusting to another threat: COVID-19. How should people prepare?

Travis Houston, senior emergency management specialist with the City of Dallas Emergency Operations Center (EOC) said precautions for severe weather are the same for COVID-19: staying inside the home.

“When there is severe weather, we like people to stay home and stay inside regardless. In this situation, we would ask you to do no different. You know, be prepared, take cover in your own home in an interior room without any windows if possible so the recommen-

Source Information City of Dallas Office of Emergency Management

Staff Graphic Alex Ortuno

dation there doesn’t change in light of COVID-19,” Houston said.

Rhonda Simpson, communications specialist with the Dallas EOC, said COVID-19 safety measures should be used, even when evacuation is necessary.

“When you run out of your house, you still have to have your shoes, you still have to have your clothes, but you have to stay six feet away from other folks,” Simpson said.

Other safety measures should be taken as well, including adding protective gear to an emergency disaster kit.

“I might suggest [putting] a couple of gloves and a mask in your emergency kit which, honestly, you should have anyway just in case of any emergency,” Simpson said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many businesses to change their ways of operating and Dallas EOC has followed suit.

“If we did have to activate the EOC, we would probably do a lot more virtual work,” Houston said.

He added that a duty officer always maintains a 24-hour point of contact. The duty officer searches for any situations that may pose a danger, including monitoring the weather, and may activate the EOC if needed.

If the Dallas EOC goes virtual, they remain in contact with their partners.

“One of the biggest things that we do as emergency managers is we’re active in ways with different organizations. Obviously, there’s a huge amount of work internally with different city departments when responding or pre-

paring to any type of hazard,” Houston said.

The network doesn’t only include city departments. It includes bigger organizations.

“We’re also in constant communication with our regional, our state and federal partners; all those organizations, as well as our non-profit voluntary organizations. When we do have severe weather and it does impact Dallas, we’re ready to work with all of those departments,” Houston said.

While Dallas EOC continues to research and prepare for any event, residents are urged to have multiple ways to receive emergency warnings.

“You should have many ways to receive emergency alerts and information. Make sure wireless emergency alerts are turned on – on your phone. You can sign up for Dallas Alert,” Houston said.

Dallas Alert is a program that allows residents of the City of Dallas to subscribe to receive alerts in the event of an emergency. Dallas also has an outdoor warning siren system across the city.

“We have a very robust outdoor warning siren system but they are only for the outdoors.

If we sound the sirens, they’re not intended to be heard inside so many people will not hear them inside,” Simpson said.

These sirens are specifically to warn individuals who are caught outside of an emergency and to seek shelter immediately. To sign up for Dallas Alert, visit https://dallascityhall.com/ departments/officeemergencymanagement/Pages/ Dallas-Alert.aspx

Richland makes gains at TIPA Angela Ly

Staff Writer Richland Student Media received 22 awards from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA) for work published from January through December 2019. They include 10 first-place winners, three second-place winners, five third-place winners and four Honorable Mentions.

“Our students publish approximately 30 issues of the Richland Chronicle from August to May each year. It’s a rigorous process that requires a great deal of commitment. It’s been a joy to see them grow as journalists. I’m very proud of their individual and collaborative accomplishments,” said Margaret Fullwood, learning laboratory specialist with Richland Student Media.

A total of six awards were granted in the category of Electronic Reporting. The two first-place projects included a staff award for coverage of the North Dallas tornado and an individual award for André Duncan’s coverage of a demonstration in downtown in Fort Worth.

Richland students received the most honors in the area of Visual Reporting, which included photography, illustrations and cartoons. Student Media took home nine awards in this category with five in first place.

Some of the winning photos depicted school events, like Thinh Pham’s “Richland jams the

dance floor” and Mirco Daniel Mbega Ndoumou’s photo of soccer coach Sean Worley wearing seven championship rings in “Worley leaves with a legacy.” Others covered a larger scope, such as Jonathan Lin’s photograph of tornado recovery work in North Dallas last fall and Muyideen Ogunbunmi’s photo story of Cirque du Soleil in “Ladies and gentlemen … the circus is back in town.”

An illustration of girls playing with Barbie dolls tailor-made to reflect children with disabilities, by Chronicle Design Editor Barbara Gandica Martinez, received an honorable mention. Jerry Weiss claimed three awards including first place for an editorial cartoon and first and second place honors in the category of Cartoon or Strip.

Richland Student Media also raked in three awards for production, one respectively in each place. The first-place winner was KDUX Web Radio’s “Horror Theater” while the print edition of the Chronicle’s tornado coverage won second and a third place award went to the newspaper staff for the overall design of a newspaper special section celebrating AfricanAmerican History Month.

The annual TIPA conference was scheduled to take place in Corpus Christi on March 25-28. It was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The entire list of contest winners is available at www.RichlandStudentMedia.com

“As your best friend, I’m telling you for the last time! 25% is the number of customers allowed in a restaurant, NOT how little work you can do to pass our course!”

Staff Cartoon Jerry Weiss

May 12, 2020

CAMPUS 9

Coach Neal in September 1988.

Coach Neal in 2017.

Coach Neal motivates the Richland wrestling team.

Photo courtesy Paul Knudsen/Richland Marketing

Bernard Cheatham Staff Writer

It’s time to say goodbye to a Richland legend and the sports program he wrestled into campus activities. Bill Neal, Richland’s men’s and women’s wrestling coach and physical education instructor, on staff for 48 years, is retiring at the end of the spring semester.

Neal started the wrestling program in 1972 and it ran through 1984. He said Richland won seven state championships in 10 years during that time period. Then Texas colleges dropped wrestling and the program ended. It was reinstated in 2016 after a hiatus of more than 30 years. Neal said the program is not expected to continue in his absence.

Neal said he always knew he would be a coach and teacher for physical education.

“I knew when I was very young that I wanted to teach and coach. I played and coached programs all around the neighborhood while growing up. Our backyard was the playing field and we hosted all kinds of sports and games. I just needed to go on to college to get the education for a lifetime of enjoyable teaching and coaching,” Neal said.

Neal graduated from college with his Bachelor of Arts degree from Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio in 1962. In 1965 he went on to graduate school at Southern Illinois University (SIU) for his Master of Science in Education. He was a graduate assistant for the football program at SIU and Maryland University (MU).

Neal played various sports in college, like football, basketball, baseball, and he ran track and field. He practiced with his college wres-

tling team in their sessions but he never competed in the sport. Neal learned a lot from his college roommates who were wrestlers, which later helped him in the start of his wrestling coach career when he coached high school wrestling in Florida.

“My roommates were wrestlers and so they beat me up in the hallway every night. I learned a lot. I got into wrestling while coaching high school in Florida,” Neal said.

Neal became a wrestling consultant for the 1990 movie, “Born on the Fourth of July.”

He worked with director Oliver Stone, who Neal said is a real different character. On the set he was strict but he treated Neal very kindly. Part of the movie was shot in Dallas.

The young coach had a role in the film as a referee for the wrestling match scene with legendary actor Tom Cruise. The gym scene was shot at Sunset High School in Oak Cliff.

“We practiced the wrestling scene with Tom Cruise in our wrestling room. I then played the part of the wrestling official in the movie,” Neal said.

Neal and his wife, Donnie, have six children who are all grown and have children of their own. He has 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He and his wife live on a 50-acre ranch in Canton, where they own and take care of animals.

For many years, Neal and his wife have invited Richland students and faculty to their ranch to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with them. He tells students every year to come check out the ranch, see the animals, eat and watch television. It’s just kind of a gesture of opening up his home to spend a holiday with others outside of his family. Neal said they

normally have 15 to 30 guests.

Neal has lived throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has traveled great lengths to work at Richland and coach student wrestlers.

“I have driven a great distance most of my years at Richland,” he said.

“The past 18 years I have driven three hours a day roundtrip, getting up at 4 a.m. and arriving at Richland at 6 a.m.,” Neal said.

In his retirement, Neal hopes to start an emeritus exercise program at Trinity Valley College in Athens and plans to work with their kickers on the football team.

Neal is in two wrestling halls of fame in Dallas and has worked with the Olympic Training Center for seven summers.

He received the Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award at Richland in 2000 and was named “teacher of the year.” As part of that honor, he gave the commencement speech that year during the graduation ceremony.

Neal was an inspiration to a former Richland wrestler who transferred in the early ‘80s with a scholarship to the University of Minnesota. Evan Bernstein, an Israeli-American citizen, wrestled in the 1988 Olympics and carried the flag for Israel in the Olympic parade. Neal helped him get a job cleaning mats in the Olympic Training Center. While he was there, Bernstein was able to train with fellow athletes.

Neal coached several wrestlers to notable success. In the mid-1970s, Richland alumni Rudy Perez won three national championships and a world tournament. NJCAA All-American Brian Nelson went on to Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tennessee and won a NAIA title in wrestling.

Neal said he was so happy when they had success in their athletic endeavors.

Neal is also credited with coming up with the Thunderduck mascot in the 1970s. At the time, he said, all of the individual sports at Richland had their own mascots. In the 1980s, when Richland decided to go with one mascot, the Thunderduck was selected due to the success of the wrestling team. A plaque outside the main gym in Guadalupe Hall commemorates the occasion.

In his early days of coaching at Richland, Neal coached volleyball and baseball along with wrestling. He has grown close to the coaching staff and feels that Richland has always had the best coaches.

“Coach [Louis Ray] Stone (1941-2019) and I were close colleagues as his basketball program and my wrestling program were tops in the district and state. We have a great complement of coaches. All are well versed in their sport but so cooperative and supportive,” Neal said.

Neal is disappointed that there will no longer be a wrestling program at Richland. He said it has been a huge part of the school’s success story.

As a physical education teacher, Neal was upset about the COVID-19 shutdown and the DCCCD’s move to online classes. He said he loves working with students to help them with their health and fitness.

“I got into teaching to have face-to-face contact with students and to be involved daily with their faces and minds. I always said if I had to teach online I would retire and, well, how about this timing for my exiting?” Neal said.

RichlandStudentMedia.com

A legendary career ends at almost 50 years

10 LOCAL

May 12, 2020

Drive-in concerts coming to Arlington CHRONICLE Richland

STUDENT MEDIA LEADERS Emeritus Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Design Editor Assistant Editor Copy Editor Entertainment Editor Photo Editor Sports Photo Editor Online/Special Projects Online/Special Projects

Adrienne Aguilar Jack Ramirez Bernal Barbara Gandica Martinez Alex Ortuno Joyce Jackson Ricky Miller Jonathan Lin M. Daniel Mbega Ndoumou Damon Craig Ryan Bingham Duff

ON THE COVER

Coach Neal watches a match against the University of North Texas.

Photo Courtesy: Paul Knudsen

BACK COVER Staff Illustration: Alex Ortuno & Barbara Gandica Martinez

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

The Globe Life Field in Arlington will become the new home of the Texas Rangers in upcoming seasons.

Texas Rangers season ticket holder Pat Green will be among the Texas artists who will play a series of drive-in concerts in the parking lot of the team›s new stadium that has not yet hosted a baseball game because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Eli Young Band, Whiskey Myers, along with Josh Abbott Band and Kevin Fowler, will also do hour-long acoustic sets during the Concert In Your Car series June 4-7 at Globe Life Field.

Organizers said May 12 that 400 vehicles will be allowed in for the shows each night, with fans having to remain in their vehicles and listen to the performances through FM radio signals. General admission tickets, for $40 per vehicle, will have to be bought online in advance and will be scanned through the window for entry.

The parking lot being used, located between

the new Globe Life Field and the team›s former home, Globe Life Park, could hold 800 to 1,000 vehicles. The capacity is being limited to allow plenty of room for social distancing.

There will be no concessions or merchandise sales.

The first scheduled event at the new $1.2 billion stadium, which is also adjacent to the home stadium of the NFL›s Dallas Cowboys, was supposed to be a Chris Stapleton show on March 14 that included Willie Nelson. That concert was postponed, and later rescheduled for Nov. 21 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

High schools from several North Texas districts will hold graduation ceremonies inside the new baseball stadium, including some on the same days as the drive-in concerts that will begin at 9 p.m. each night.

Eli Young Band will perform the first concert June 4, followed the next night by

Photo Courtesy Ballparks of Baseball

Whiskey Myers. Green will perform June 6, with Josh Abbott Band and Fowler wrapping up the series June 7.

It is still unclear when the Rangers will play their first game there.

– The Associated Press

Clarification In an April 28 article about Ferdinando Castro Gonzalez, he was identified in second reference as Gonzalez, rather than Castro Gonzalez, he had 400 work credit hours instead of “more than 250” as mentioned and he worked as a professional athlete instead of aspiring to do so. The Chronicle wishes to clarify this information.

Helpful tips for Richland’s upcoming fall semester 1.

2.

4.

2.

Down:

1.

The Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) will be renamed to the ____ College. (Pg. 2).

1. ____ has been postponed.

An update will most likely come later in the summer.

2. ____ will go up slightly due to changes the district hopes to improve upon.

2. Students can register for summer and fall classes through ____.

3. Most fall classes will be held ____ according to the district.

4. ____ and supplies will be available soon via a digital bookstore. Students will also be able to get some of their supplies through Richland too.

Across: 1. Dallas 2. Tuition 3. online 4. Books Down: 1. Graduation 2. eConnect

3.

---------------------------------------

RichlandStudentMedia.com

1.

Across:

STUDENT MEDIA STAFF David Acosta Bernard Cheatham Dave Freeman Nabeela Iqbal Angela Ly Marcellus Martinez Natalia Pineda Fernanda Pargas

Bryan Pham Thinh Pham Glen Pierre Adina Ramirez Orlando Silva Sara Snyder Mubeena Wahaj Jerry Weiss

STUDENT MEDIA ADVISERS Erica Edwards

Tim Jones

Jack Fletcher

Larry Ratliff

Meg Fullwood

Karin Matz

James Ragland

ISSUE DATES

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 2020

May 12, 2020

LOCAL/OPINION 11

Rowlett student creates conference app Online/Special Projects ​Rowlett High School student, Ayush Kurian, has created a new video conferencing application known as Calyr. Kurian, 16, began development of the online app three months ago. It’s free, does not require an account to sign in and maintains the privacy and anonymity of its users.

“When I was making this, you know, at first [I] didn’t really have high hopes. It was just another project for me,” Kurian said.

When he started the project, he said, he was stressed that all of the required coding and programming would delay completion.

And then, once the COVID-19 pandemic hit and shelter-in-place went into effect, Kurian dedicated his time and energy to completing the project.

“I think, like, this could be an alternative to Zoom [or] even something bigger,” he said.

When he was running behind with the coding and programming, he considered shutting down the app and thought no one would care, he said. But suddenly, he noticed that people were starting to use it.

Before launching the app on Apr. 12, Kurian used Calyr to make his first test call to his friend who lives in India.

“We called and it was phenomenal. The audio, the video quality, everything,” he said.

Kurian said in India, the internet connections were “very-very bad” due to the lack of cell towers. He said most people use internet USB sticks for their laptops. Still the Indian internet was slow.

Kurian said Calyr’s audio and video quality compares favorably to Zoom.

“When I was making Calyr, I wanted to make sure for people living in those types of places or even in places that don’t have really good internet that it would still work for them,” he said.

This budding software engineer is no stranger to making apps. Calyr is not his first.

“When I made Cosmo, it was also based on [the need for] privacy” he said. “It mostly started all the way back when I was making like, small, little games and stuff like that.”

The Calyr inventor said that after he graduates from high school, he plans to pursue a computer science degree at the University of Dallas.

You can find the Calyr app on Googleplay. Kurian said it’s free, although he does accept donations and has received contributions of up to $20 a month.

He said that he has plans to create a “pro” version of the app with a monthly fee of just $5. He said the app will allow up to

Students can apply to receive a free hot spot- https://www. dcccd.edu/services/pages/ classroom-technology.aspx

Food

North Texas Food Bank For food assitance call 1-855-719-7627 or 214-269-0906 https://ntfb.org/the-north-texasfood-banks-response-to-covid-19/ Find a food pantry near youhttps://ntfb.org/our-programs/getfood-assistance/find-a-food-pantry/ SNAP benefits- not everyone qualifies and benefits do not begin immediately https://yourtexasbenefits.hhsc. texas.gov/programs/snap

Employment Ayush Kurian

Photo Courtesy Ayush Kurian

1,000 people to attend an online conference.

Kurian has donated a percentage of his proceeds to UNICEF and the World Health Organization, and said his contributions will go to COVID-19 research.

Theatre department awards Golden Duckies Damon Craig

Online/Special Projects The Richland Theatre Department held its 4th annual Golden Duckie Awards (a rubber duck, spray painted gold) May 7, an event that celebrates the hard work of talented thespians, playwrights, directors, designers and backstage runners who produce multiple shows throughout the school year.

Keeping in compliance with the restrictions set in place due to COVID-19, the awards were hosted remotely. While it was unfortunate that the events of the pandemic put a damper on the highly anticipated production of “The Rocky Horror Show,” the time and effort put into the production was not wasted.

The ceremony began with a pre-recorded video performance of Noemi Rivera doing a fantastic rendition of character Janet Margaret Major’s “Touch-A-Touch-A-Touch-Me,” played by actress Susan Sarandon in the 1975 film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” with additional performances throughout by the amazing Suha Kim, who did a version of “Pulled” from “The Addam’s Family” musical, and Michael Hampton; the latter of whom stands as a living testament to the phrase, “The show must go on.” Hampton, who was scheduled to perform the “Rocky Horror” classic “Science Fiction-Double Feature,” absolutely killed it with an a cappella version after facing some technical difficulties with his backing track.

True to the spirit of “Rocky Horror,” the attendees dressed as characters from the show,

with Director of Stage Design Scott Osborne dressing as the iconic Dr. Frank-N-Furter, played by acting “Legend” (bonus points for catching the reference) Curry in the original film. With references, and even a few iconic props, (such as a roll of toilet paper signed by Meatloaf, owned by theatre student Alondra Castro).

The awards kicked off with the Richland Writes Awards, a project from the fall semester in which theatre students wrote their own screenplays, followed by the Faculty Awards, which celebrated the hard work students put in behind the scenes in the technical areas of lighting and sound, costume and stage design, just to name a few.

While the tone was certainly one of merriment, a special moment was taken to celebrate the life of one Riley Eye, a student in the Richland Theater Department who is unfortunately no longer among us. A memorial was held, in which students celebrated their beloved friend.

“You told me amazing things in the hallway. I didn’t know how you could open up to a stranger like me. You were kind, very kind,” said Kim, who wrote a letter in his memory. Regarding his classmate, Hampton said, “I could just tell that’s the type of person he was. He believed life was too short to hold onto regrets or fear of things. He spoke his mind and he ...

Internet access

He was a good person.”

Ending on a bittersweet note, the memorial closed with a song written and performed

by Eye’s childhood friend and former Richland theatre student Gracie Gonzalez, who closed with the following: “We’d get right up and wander to the ocean to have ourselves engulfed inside its love … until the day we meet again, we’ll think of you, our huckleberry friend.”

For many of the attendees, this will be their final semester in the Richland Theatre Department.

While there was a shared sentiment of disappointment that the semester was cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the outpouring of support was palpable.

Winners will receive their awards by mail, “handled with gloves,” Director Andy Long jokingly assured.

Lost your job?-file for unemployment twc.texas.gov Work/study students Talk with your financial aid adviser.

If you contract COVID-19 while on the job- check with TWC to see if you are eligible to file for Workers Compensation.

Financial assistance

United Way COVID-19 Community Economic Relief Fund- can help with rent, bills, food. Call 211 Dallas water- suspends disconnections until further notice. https://dallascityhall.com/ departments/waterutilities/pages/default.aspx

Mental health

Crisis Text Linetext HOME to 741741.

Unique keyword for students of color - Text STEVE to 741741 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline- 1-800-273-8255 Stress and coping- https:// www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019ncov/prepare/managingstress-anxiety.html Mental Health mid the Coronavirus Pandemic- https://www. activeminds.org/about-mentalhealth/be-there/coronavirus/

Travel

Check for travel advisatories for your intended destinition before traveling abroad-https://travel. state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/

DCCCD’s Response

DCCCD COVID-19 updates-https: //www.dcccd.edu/au/news-media/ coronavirus/pages/default.aspx

RichlandStudentMedia.com

Ryan Bingham Duff

COVID-19 Resources

12

May 12, 2020

See you next semester!

RichlandStudentMedia.com

mythology, spooky stories and folk lore

You can find us at richlandstudentmedia.com

To join Student Media contact MFullwood@dcccd.edu

RichlandStudentMedia.com

Richland Student Media

@RLCStudentMedia

Richland Student Media