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A SPIRIT THAT IS NOT AFRAID • NEWS SINCE 1893
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020
VOL. 127 • ISSUE 1 • FIRST COPY FREE THEN 50¢
POLICE
COMMUNITY
Students party as cases rise
APD to actively enforce Safer at Home Order By CHARLIE RAMO Section Editor
NATALIE BECKERINK / MANAGING EDITOR
Students gather for specials at Southeastern on Tuesday night.
By EVAN MEALINS Managing Editor
To get into Skybar Cafe, patrons must be masked and have their temperature taken. Once inside, though, the masks often come off. As fall classes have begun, large crowds have returned to some of Auburn’s downtown bars and clubs where there is little done to enforce social distancing or mask-wearing once inside, despite a statewide Safer at Home Order and concern over further spread of COVID-19. Lee County saw an increase in cases of COVID-19 on Aug. 18 and 19. Business was slow at Skybar this summer. Owner Pat Grider said that his business has been operating at about one-third of the normal revenue it normally brings in. A return of students to his bar is, to some extent, a sight for sore eyes. But with large groups gathering in small spaces, the risk for the transmission
of COVID-19 rises. Grider said that he believed his business is following all statewide guidelines for bars set out by the State of Alabama’s Safer at Home Order. “We make everybody have a mask to come in, we check their temperature, we clean constantly with cleaning the bars, countertops and the tables and then we follow the 11:00 [last call] mandate,” Grider said. While these measures are all encouraged or required by the state, the activity inside the bar has at times gone against the state’s guidance. A photo received by The Plainsman shows the inside of Skybar Cafe on Saturday night, and the scene shows few COVID-19 precautions being taken. The dance floor is packed; nowhere in the photo is six feet of distance maintained; very few patrons are wearing a mask. Elijah Blanchard, an Auburn University
senior in supply chain management, visited Skybar on Saturday night. “When I went to Skybar on Saturday, social distancing was basically impossible, and only a few people other than all the employees were wearing masks,” Blanchard said. “There were kids on the dance floor, and it basically looked like a normal weekend at Skybar.” In response to the photo and reports of large crowds, Grider said a large crowd gathered for 30 minutes Saturday night, which partly caught him by surprise. Grider also said he felt there is little he could do to enforce masks when most patrons are drinking. “They do what they do. I make them wear a mask to come in, and then if they want to wear a mask the whole time and pull it down each time they take a sip, they can do that,” Grider said. “We’re not going to go up » See DOWNTOWN, 2
Due to reported issues with recent noncompliance with the statewide Safer at Home Order, Auburn Police Division said they will begin proactively enforcing the order. According to an APD press release, Auburn’s Public Safety Department has received multiple complaints over the past week about noncompliance from businesses and patrons. This uptick in reported noncompliance aligns with many college students returning to Auburn to start classes. As a result of the uptick, uniformed police officers will now begin writing citations to those in violation of the health order. This citation can potentially also include a fine. Previously, APD said they were taking an educational approach rather than a proactive one. In their press release, APD reminded businesses and office spaces that they should encourage face masks and social distancing of at least six feet between individuals not of the same household. Bars and nightclubs are required to keep the crowd capable of distancing at least six feet apart, regardless of whether they are seated, dancing, eating or participating in other activities. All patrons are required to wear masks when within six feet of members of another household. “As always, many of our citizens serve as an example in this effort,” said Public Safety Director Paul Register. “It is our desire that others will comply and help keep enforcement actions to a minimum. We greatly appreciate the public’s cooperation as we work together to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 in our community.” The current Safer at Home Order, which includes a statewide mask mandate, is set to expire on August 31 at 5:00 p.m., though Gov. Kay Ivey has the ability to amend it and extend it.
CORONAVIRUS
32 AU students test positive before first week
Students still untested, some numbers still not public, county cases spike, students in quarantine By JACK WEST Editor-in-Chief
At the time of publication, Auburn University is a mere three days into its fall 2020 semester. Already, more than 30 students have tested positive for COVID-19, an unknown number of students have not been tested, a full floor of a sorority residence hall has been placed under quarantine, the number of daily positive cases in Lee County has spiked and multiple videos showing students packing into bars downtown have surfaced on social media. Going into this semester, one of the largest aspects of Auburn’s reopening plan has been the implementation of a student-wide testing program through GuideSafe. GuideSafe is a platform and series of applications developed by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Universities across the state have been using to monitor and prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campuses. However, as tens of thousands of students across the state attempted to get tested in the weeks leading up to the universities’ reopenings, many
students fell through the system’s cracks. Peyton Worthy, senior in Wildlife Ecology and Management, said that even though she got tested well before classes reopened, she still hasn’t gotten her results. “I got tested over two weeks ago,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for my results and just got an email from GuideSafe yesterday.” After a two-week wait, Worthy said she was expecting to get results in an email, but instead had to start over. “They told me that I have to go for a retest due to their lab not being able to process my test results,” she said. “Also they apparently got locked out of my account, so I have to make a whole new one with a different email.” Worthy is not alone. Multiple students across campus have reported either not getting their results back before starting classes or having not been tested by GuideSafe at all. This directly violates GuideSafe’s own entry testing plan. JOSHUA FISHER / PHOTOGRAPHER
» See REENTRY, 2
The Haley Concourse on the first day of class.
SPORTS The SEC announced their fall 2020 conference-only schedule. Auburn’s schedule, where they will play 10 other SEC teams is inside. Page 8
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to somebody while they’re drinking.” According to the state’s order, it is the individual’s, not the business’s, responsibility to make sure people wear a mask when in public, though businesses are encouraged to enforce mask-wearing among customers. While patrons are not distancing in the photo of the inside of Skybar, Grider insists he has encouraged the practice. “I’m encouraging [social distancing] all the time,” he said. “I have signs up, we encourage it, all the time.” Section 19 of the Safer at Home Order requires bars, restaurants and nightclubs to maintain six feet of separation between all patrons when eating or playing games. The City of Auburn has interpreted, according to
REENTRY » From 1
“Students should be tested within 2 weeks (14 days) prior to their return,” according to a GuideSafe document. “All students MUST receive a negative test result before returning to campus and prior to their first campus activities – i.e. before rush, before move-in, and before classes.” However, in an email on Monday Aug. 17, the University announced that it would not require students to complete their reentry testing until Friday, Aug. 21. This means that some individuals, like Worthy, have spent a week on campus interacting with students, faculty and staff without having received test results from GuideSafe. On Wednesday, Aug. 19, Auburn University released its first numbers related to the number of COVID-19 cases on campus. According to the information released, the University added 41 cases on its main campus between Aug. 8 and Aug. 14. Of those cases 32 were students, eight were employees and one was classified as “other.” “Cases reported to the University include those tested at the AU Medical Clinic, through the GuideSafe program, shared by the Alabama Department of Public Health, and self-reported by members of the campus community,” the University said. This information will be updated on a weekly basis, according to the University. “For each individual reporting a positive case, contacts are traced, and those with increased risk of exposure due to close contact are instructed to self-quarantine, monitor for symptoms and, where possible, get tested,” the University said. According to Preston Sparks, Director of University Communications Services, the University is not disclosing any of the geographic locations of these cases, how many students were tested or what the overall positivity rate is. “The numbers reflected in the online table represent only those positive cases that were reported to Auburn during the listed timeframe,” Sparks said. “The table is not intended to reflect the full scope of all who took tests but rather to alert the community of the impact of the disease on campus.” To supplement this, the University is encouraging individuals to gather the data provided by state
their website, that this also implies all other patrons need to maintain distancing, but Grider stated that this is an ambiguity. Regardless, Grider did not express concern about the potential of widespread disease transmission within the bar, saying he believed Auburn has reached herd immunity. No health experts have suggested that herd immunity has been achieved in Auburn. “To be quite honest, I have not met a person in the last month that knows a person that’s had the COVID, and not one single employee has been under quarantine for the last month, so I have a very strong feeling that we already have herd immunity in our college students,” Grider said. “I don’t think college students are spreading it right now.” The Plainsman has also received photos from students showing similar large crowds within Southeastern Bar on several nights.
and local organizations. GuideSafe releases information to the universities it serves, but Ashley Foster, the public relations lead for the platform, said that they will not be disclosing specific information about individual universities to the public. “GuideSafe will release statewide numbers on Tuesdays and Thursday: number of students tested overall and the positivity rate for the whole state. And these numbers only,” she said. “Any school-specific questions will need to go to your university’s lead administrator.” According to Foster, 60,000 students have been tested by the GuideSafe program across Alabama with a 0.8% positivity test rate. While Alabama’s statewide GuideSafe program is only reporting a positivity rate of 0.8% for the students they’ve tested, Lee County reported a positive rate over 10% in the weeks leading up to classes starting on The Plains. In fact, according to data from Bama Tracker, Lee County added 82 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, Aug. 18. This was up from just three new cases the day before. This spike directly correlates to the return of students to Auburn’s campus in the days and weeks prior. Also on Tuesday, the same day that GuideSafe first released its information, the University amended its A Healthier U plan to include a requirement that students wear masks even when they are outside. Sparks said that the decision to include this additional requirement was based on the actions and responses that colleges across the country have taken. “Auburn’s more robust policy is in response to experiences at other universities and observations of students on and off campus the past few weeks,” he said. “Our goal is an uninterrupted fall semester, and face coverings are essential to achieving it.” Sparks also said that will be ways for the University to enforce these guidelines for both students and faculty. “The policy is enforceable for faculty and staff through the normal employee disciplinary process, and any student violations in the classroom will be addressed through the university’s Policy on Classroom Behavior,” he said. For the new outdoor extension of the mask requirement, Sparks said that any violations will be handled by the University’s Code of Student Conduct. The “experiences at other uni-
Social distancing is still not maintained in many of these photos and few patrons are wearing masks. Grider also said the data from student tests, required for Auburn students to return to class, leads him to believe that students previously had the virus, contracting it at parties over the summer. The state’s Safer at Home Order will expire at the end of August. Thirty-two Auburn students tested positive for COVID-19 in the period from Aug. 8–14, however at publication those numbers are more than five days old. On Aug. 18 — just over two weeks since Auburn students began to move into their dorms — Lee County recorded 82 new COVID-19 cases, the most cases in a single day throughout the pandemic, and 27 new positive cases were added on Aug. 19 — 3.5 cases more than the current 7-day average.
Second day of class July 1
INFORMATION CONTRIBUTED BY BAMA TRACKER
Lee County saw an increase from 3 new cases on Aug. 17 to 82 new cases on Aug. 18.
versities” that Sparks referred to are likely the series of events which have now taken place at Notre Dame, the University of North Carolina and Michigan State University. All three of these schools have already sent their undergraduate students back to remote learning following multiple uncontrolled outbreaks among students. However, by using the state data provided by GuideSafe, it’s possible to see why Auburn officials might have had reason for concern. According to UNC’s COVID-19 dashboard and reporting by The Daily Tarheel, UNC’s positive test rate in the days leading up to its return to campus was a little under 3%. But within the next week, the school saw 136 people test positive. At that time, the university had four active clusters of the virus in residence halls and a fraternity house. Within days, the school’s undergraduates had gone back to remote learning, and on-campus students were asked to go home. “Carolina Housing informed residents that they should make plans to return to their ‘permanent home’ for the fall semester,” The Daily Tarheel’s Kate Carrol wrote. Auburn has also had confirmed cases of COVID-19 in one of its Greek Life organizations. Two active members of Kappa Kappa Gamma tested positive for
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monitoring how the University is approaching COVID-19 tracking on campus. “I did not believe that we could go an entire semester without a single case obviously; however I do want our chapter to be proactive and take this seriously, as I am only starting to learning how prepared the University is for contact tracing to begin,” Todd said. “It is so important that we are holding each other accountable and having these hard conversations, so that we are able to still have any sort of in-person events or activities in small groups in the future.” As the fall 2020 semester continues, and more universities transition back to remote learning, Auburn has still not released any specific information on what conditions would potentially send students away from campus again. “It is important to understand that there is no magic number of positive cases that will trigger a change in university operations,” the University said. “Decision-making about safe operations depends on a lot of complex factors, including but not limited to, nature of operations, prevalence of the disease in the community, impact on local healthcare facilities, and guidance from state and federal public health agencies and officials.” Reporting for this story was contributed by Tim Nail.
JACK WEST
NATALIE BECKERINK
EVAN MEALINS
Editor-in-Chief
Managing Editor, Design
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CHARLIE RAMO
TIM NAIL
IRELAND DODD
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The opinions expressed in columns and letters represent the views and opinions of their individual authors. These opinions do not necessarily reflect the Auburn University student body, faculty, administration or Board of Trustees.
the virus following the organization’s in-person Bid Day events, according to an email obtained by The Plainsman. The email, from Kappa Kappa Gamma president Montgomery-Lee Todd, senior in accounting, was sent to members of the Epsilon Eta chapter on Auburn’s campus and other potentially exposed Bid Day participants on Tuesday after the two members received their results on Monday. “If you are receiving this email it means you are marked as ‘attended’ on our records for Bid Day event(s) on Aug. 15 and may have been exposed to two of our Active Members (roommates) who tested positive for COVID-19 this Monday, Aug. 17,” Todd said in the email. Both members have contacted the University and are moving to quarantine housing in The Hill as well as following A Healthier U guidelines, Todd said. She asked KKG members to keep watch on their symptoms and to contact the Auburn University Medical Clinic should they have any concerns. “The members have already communicated with the women they were in close contact with, including roommates and Bid Day buddies, so y’all should know who you are and I would also recommend you get tested,” she said in the email. Todd followed by saying she expected some positive cases to appear during the semester and is
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Auburn Police Division also announced on Aug. 18 that the division will be “taking a more proactive approach” to enforcing the Safer at Home Order by issuing fines and citations. The position that Auburn finds itself in is not unique. The University of North Carolina recently announced it will be transitioning to entirely remote instruction for undergraduate students, following a mere one week period on campus. Quarantine housing, which Auburn University also has, quickly filled up at UNC until there were only four rooms left. UNC similarly had a low positive test rate before returning to campus. According to reporting by The Daily Tarheel, in-person instruction, gatherings and parties soon led to a large increase in cases of COVID-19 that prompted the university’s decision to go online.
Lee County New Cases Per Day
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OPINION
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Goldberg deserves to be heard on campus We are writing to express our dismay at how Auburn University has handled the treatment of our colleague, Dr. Jesse Goldberg. In May, Dr. Goldberg tweeted that he would not say “War Eagle.” He was then doxed by rightwing media and subjected to online bullying by people who purported to be part of the Auburn community. Last week, when Dr. Goldberg used an expletive while tweeting his alarm over the treatment of civilians by police, he became the center of a right-wing storm, further amplified when Donald Trump Jr. retweeted the article that first reported on Dr. Goldberg’s tweet. Dr. Goldberg has now received death threats. Recently, we learned that he has been released from his teaching duties, and will spend this year as a Visiting Research Fellow. As English professors, we are particularly concerned to see a public statement from Auburn University comparing Dr. Goldberg’s tweet to hate speech. Our colleague’s statement was not hate speech. The social media postings of Dr. Bruce Murray, who has a history of anti-trans and anti-gay remarks, would be better described as hate speech. While there is no internationally accepted definition of hate speech, highly respected entities such the United Nations define hate speech as “any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words,
based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity factor.” Hate speech, then, does not apply to a social institution such as the police. In fact, while one might quibble with the propriety of the expletive Dr. Goldberg used, many of us in academe are far more concerned by the use of “social media and other forms of communication . . . as platforms for bigotry.” The United Nations’ “Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech” also notes that “Neo-Nazi and white supremacy movements are on the march. Public discourse is being weaponized for political gain with incendiary rhetoric that stigmatizes and dehumanizes minorities, migrants, refugees, women and any so-called ‘other.’” The murder of George Floyd has sparked protests around the world and in Auburn. It is neither possible nor desirable to keep this movement from Auburn as it is already here, whether Jesse Goldberg teaches our students or not. As Auburn University officials might gather from following the Instagram feed Black at Auburn, being Black at Auburn is a fraught, often dangerous experience. The stories that Black students, alumni, faculty and staff post to that account are uniformly horrifying. Yet Auburn’s public response has been inadequate, even given our troubled past as a segregated institution and as one which now profits from Black people in its athletic and academic endeavors. Still, it was Dr. Goldberg’s tweet, which was
Alicia Carroll Professor of English Anton DiSclafani Associate Professor of English, Alumni Writer-in-Residence Emily Friedman Associate Professor of English Erich Nunn Associate Professor of English Jonathan Bolton Associate Professor of English, Department Chair Margaret Marshall Professor of English Ernest Gibson III Associate Professor of English, Co-Director of Africana Studies Benjamin Fagan Associate Professor of English
critical of police, which raised instant alarm and an immediate response among the administration and community. We learned last week that Dr. Goldberg has been released from his teaching duties for the next academic year. Whether or not Dr. Goldberg was amenable to this change is irrelevant. In fact, many of us have made comments on our social media accounts that are critical of police, that are critical of what we see as Auburn’s disregard of LGBTQ+ and Black communities. We wonder if Auburn might, instead of responding to Dr. Goldberg’s tweets with condemnation, and then silence, better put its resources to use by renaming the numerous buildings on campus that are named in honor of Ku Klux Klan members, Confederate heroes and other anti-Black figures. That the University failed to respond swiftly when students reported seeing a noose on campus, or when Dr. Murray continued to make inflammatory remarks, but offered an immediate response to Dr. Goldberg’s tweets, suggests that the administration finds only right-wing political views acceptable. We are also aware that releasing Dr. Goldberg of his teaching duties as a result of his public politics sets a disturbing precedent in which people outside the academy have influence on how and what we teach. By demonstrating vulnerability to monetary threats, the University will now encourage more of these and others in the future as people deploy
Paula Backscheider Philpott-Stevens Eminent Scholar Anna Riehl Bertolet Professor of English, Director of Core Literature Rose McLarney Associate Professor of English Sunny Stalter-Pace Hargis Associate Professor of American Literature Jeremy Downes Professor of English Chad Wickman Hargis Associate Professor of Writing Studies Derek Ross Professor of English, Director of Graduate Studies Craig E. Bertolet Professor of English, Director of Undergraduate Studies
personal politics in efforts to affect personnel issues and the University’s sacred responsibility to introduce students to the ranges of opinion and the diversity of the history of literature and writing. We, as the professorial faculty, are proud of the range of points of view provided by the many professors, lecturers, postdoctoral fellows, instructors and graduate assistants who teach in our classrooms. We are saddened that Dr. Goldberg’s point of view will not be among ours this fall. We are pleased that we can still share his perspective by teaching his scholarship, published in leading, peer-reviewed and highly esteemed journals. His ideas reflect a new wave of literary and cultural critique that we are proud to have in our department; the free exchange of his and all ideas is central to a classroom and a university. We ask that Auburn support this free exchange of ideas, and issue a statement reiterating the value of free speech. Finally, we ask that the administration and Auburn community act in accordance with the Auburn creed, which states, among other things, that the United States “is a land of freedom.” If the administration and our community do “believe in honesty and truthfulness,” then they would do well to protest swiftly and vociferously against the intimidation of any member of the Auburn Community, particularly when a faculty member receives death threats for expressing his own point of view. Susan Youngblood Associate Professor of English Jim McKelly Associate Professor of English Charles Lesh Assistant Professor of English Juliane Braun Assistant Professor of English Maria Kuznetsova Assistant Professor of English Julia Charles Assistant Professor of English Justin Gardiner Assistant Professor of English Leigh Gruwell Assistant Professor of English
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
It’s time for Auburn to answer some tough questions On July 31st an Auburn University representative responded to social media posts by a new faculty member, condemning the posts and labeling them as “hate speech” while calling for us to “foster mutual understanding and respect within our communities” during these particular times. In another response, an Auburn representative stated that the posts were “inexcusable and completely antithetical to the Auburn Creed” and that “Auburn has not and will never support views that exclude or disrespect others, including hateful speech that degrades law enforcement professionals.” Recent letters from students Heather Mann, writing on behalf of Spectrum, and Kayleigh Chalkowski highlight the glaring inconsistencies in the definitions of free speech and hate speech that you utilize in your responses to different incidents in and about our campus. The swift response to these social media posts demonstrates that you stand ready and prepared to make public announcements to affirm certain groups, just as you have been quick to highlight the “happiness” of certain groups on campus. In contrast, you have failed to respond to acts of racism, homophobia and transphobia on campus. This latest incident tells us that police officers, in your view, are more deserving of affirmation than
Black, queer and trans folx and folx at the intersections of those identities. You have yet to substantively acknowledge or respond to demands about policing of Black students and community members by Auburn Students and Community for Change. More broadly, you have not substantively responded to the Black faculty, students and staff who have shared their experiences with anti-Black racism on and around campus, including experiences with police, on the Black at Auburn account on Instagram. Viewed collectively, we are concerned with the pattern these University (in)actions reveal, particularly in response to local events and community members. This pattern reflects the longstanding anti-Black ideologies and practices that are and always have been a part of the Auburn landscape. Adding his voice to a deluge of statements in response to national events, earlier this summer President Gogue released a statement expressing the need for faculty, staff and students at Auburn “be honest with each other and recognize that discrimination against African Americans and other people of color exists and is wrong. There is hate that is festering. We can and must do something about it.” The work of abolitionist scholars and activists is instructive regarding efforts to “do something about it.” Abolitionist
Carey Andrzejewski Professor, College of Education Hannah Baggett Associate Professor, College of Education Sara Demoiny Assistant Professor, College of Education Kamden K. Strunk, Ph.D. Associate Professor, College of Education Mike P. Cook Associate Professor, College of Education Evelyn Hunter Assistant Professor, College of Education Lisa Simmons Assistant Professor of Research, College of Education Ryan Schey Assistant Professor, College of Education Wendy Troop-Gordon Professor, College of Human Sciences Alicia Carroll Professor, College of Liberal Arts
movements have called and continue to call for the dismantling of state institutions and practices that are racist and anti-Black, such as chattel slavery, institutions of policing, the prison-industrial complex and the school-prison nexus. Such movements have deep historical roots in the United States and have contributed to vital legal and societal changes that are oft celebrated as part of narratives of national progress. Labelling contemporary manifestations of abolitionist scholarship, perspectives and movements as “hate speech” reproduces and supports racism, anti-Blackness and white supremacy, naturalizing them as common sense rather than naming and changing them. Given the nationwide and local movements to examine anti-Black racism and the role of policing, your quick and forceful condemnation of speech critical of law enforcement is particularly troubling. The University must examine its relationships with policing, grapple with the anti-Black origins of the institution of policing — especially in the Deep South — and confront the difficulties and violence contemporary policing creates in and for Black communities. The University must also directly confront anti-Blackness in and around campus and take explicit steps
Kate Craig Assistant Professor, College of Liberal Arts Ivan E. Watts Associate Professor, College of Education Anna Bertolet Professor of English, College of Liberal Arts Anton DiSclafani Associate Professor, College of Liberal Arts Jennifer Brooks Associate Professor of History, College of Liberal Arts Claire Wilson Office of Public Service, University Outreach Ernest L. Gibson, III Associate Professor of English; Co-director of Africana Studies Emily Friedman Associate Professor of English, College of Liberal Arts Martina P. McGhee, Assistant Clinical Professor, College of Education
to affirm, value and sustain the lives and work of Black students, faculty and staff. As a starting place, we ask that you take up and respond publicly to the following questions: When a University representative, in response to online outrage about an incoming lecturer’s tweets, asserts that “University officials continue to assess the situation to ensure Auburn remains a campus where mutual respect and understanding is paramount,” of what, by whom and for whom is the University pursuing mutual respect and understanding? Why was there an immediate and widespread response in affirming the state apparatus of policing when there has been little substantive response to the hurt and terror of Black people in and beyond Auburn University, and little examination of the ways the institution itself is responsible for that hurt and terror? What is the nature of the University’s relationship with local law enforcement, namely the Auburn Police Division, Opelika Police Department and Lee County Sheriff’s Office? What are the nature of the financial and other ties in these relationships? And how are these relationships being reconsidered in light of recent national events? Similarly, in what ways are the
Diana R Samek Associate Professor, College of Human Sciences Arianne Gaetano Associate Professor, Director of Women Studies Guy Emerson Mount Assistant Professor, Department of History Andrea Kelley Assistant Professor, Communication and Journalism, College of Liberal Arts Julia S. Charles Assistant Professor of English, Office of Public Service, University Outreach Maiben Beard College of Liberal Arts Kelly Kennington Associate Professor of History, College of Liberal Arts Crystal Garcia Assistant Professor of Administration of Higher Education, College of Education Monique Laney Associate Professor, Department of History
practices and structure of Auburn University’s Department of Campus Safety and Security being examined in light of recent national events? How are faculty of color, particularly Black faculty, supported when they experience harassment on campus? How are students of color, particularly Black students, supported when they experience harassment on campus? How are staff of color, particularly Black staff, supported when they experience harassment on campus? How are those responsible for harassment held to account? In what ways is the University’s task force on equity and inclusion using scholarship on anti-Blackness, abolition and liberation to inform their work? Beyond the task force on equity and inclusion, how is the university working to systematically and meaningfully address anti-Black racism in all areas of its operations? Whose life and work are you invested in affirming, valuing and sustaining? And how are you enacting these investments? As faculty and staff, we remain committed to working towards the idea of the Auburn Family. We want to make sure our leaders are too.
Maiben Beard College of Liberal Arts Elijah Gaddis Assistant Professor of History, College of Liberal Arts Leigh Gruwell Assistant Professor of English, College of Liberal Arts Rose McLarney Associate Professor, College of Liberal Arts Craig E. Bertolet Professor of English, College of Liberal Arts Anna Ruth Gatlin Assistant Professor, College of Human Sciences Benjamin Fagan Associate Professor of English, College of Liberal Arts Charles Lesh Assistant Professor of English, College of Liberal Arts Jesús Tirado Assistant Professor, College of Education
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‘Black at Auburn’
Auburn students of color share their experiences of race at Auburn By DESTINI AMBUS Reporter
In the midst of a pandemic that rocked the world, people from all walks of life left the safety and protection of their home to pick up a mask and signs to protest the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer in late May. The event, only the latest in a long history of Black civil rights in America, sparked an international conversation about race and how Black Americans are profiled in communities meant to serve them as they do white Americans. The Auburn community was not exempt from this discussion. In July, an Instagram page called Black at Auburn appeared, following the lead of other Instagram pages for other universities with similar goals: sharing the experiences of Black, indigenous and people of color, or BIPOC, students and community members at Auburn and interrogating the idea of the Auburn Family. The page is submission-based, with faculty, students or members of the community direct messaging the page or filling out a form to share their experiences. “I shared two stories on the page,” said Sydney Talbert, senior in marketing. “The first one was about my first weekend in Auburn. Me and some friends were walking around downtown trying to find something to get into. As we were walking past Toomer’s [Corner], a car of white girls listening to rap music stopped at the red light, and when they saw us they rolled down their window and started rapping the lyrics to us and made sure to put emphasis on the n-word each time it came up. My friends and I were so angry and hurt that we just got in the car and went back to my dorm.” This experience is one of many just like it, with at least 207 submissions and counting as more people submit their experiences every day. The experiences range from blatant racism to microaggressions from other students and even faculty. Many stories share similar experiences of BIPOC students feeling belittled or overlooked by professors as they made offhand comments on their intellectual abilities. “I was a fourth-year Veterinary student,” one submitter shared. “I and a group of fellow Black AU grad students went out to dinner to celebrate a friend getting her Ph.D. An Auburn professor approached us and asked if we were Tuskegee students. He was shocked when we told him we were all graduate students at Auburn …and that I was actually a student on his current clinical rotation.” The page has been growing steadily since its inception as more people have tuned in and shared their experiences of being a BIPOC in Auburn.
Most BIPOC who encounter the page aren’t surprised that these incidents occur, but some didn’t previously know the extent. “I personally haven’t experienced any blatant racism towards me at Auburn, but I know of friends who have,” said Jarious Avery, sophomore in biomedical sciences. “My initial reaction to everything was disappointment and disgust that some people could be that disrespectful.” For seniors and alums, like Talbert, who has experienced it firsthand, and Michael Oaktree, who graduated in 2019, the stories come as no shock, though Oaktree expressed that he was pleasantly surprised at the community, validation, and positive conversation born from the page. Fellow students fill the comments with support and repost the stories on the page to their own pages in hopes of reaching more of the Auburn Family. Although the page started and will continue to be an outlet for BIPOC to share, students, faculty members and members of the community are looking to the University for concrete plans to improve the environment for those students. “Auburn reveres in the homogeneity that results in an overwhelming majority of students being white, wealthy and Alabama-raised,” Oaktree said. “I absolutely think Auburn has the capacity for change. One thing Auburn does well is cultivate leaders who go on to shape their respective communities in a multitude of ways. The trick is capturing that talent while they’re still on campus and directing it at making more equitable and accessible, rather than using student leadership positions to uphold structures that disproportionately benefit affluent white students.” In a way, Auburn has already started taking steps toward this through their University task force on equality and inclusion, which includes a mix of student, faculty and staff members. Oaktree also suggests that staff should be trained to intervene when the culture of organizations becomes so intolerant that it makes it difficult to capture that talent. “IFC, Panhellenic, SGA and other influential organizations have an extreme level of autonomy despite all having advisors,” Oaktree said. “I understand the importance of making your own decisions as a college organization, and how that grows leadership, but the cultures of many organizations are so unchecked that their actions would get them fired if it were a professional workplace. Hold advisors accountable.” In addition to putting students in better positions to make change, Talbert suggests requiring all students to take the class Living and Communicating in a Diverse Society and better training for faculty to avoid the careless comments and microaggressions. “Auburn could do with some inclusivity and cultural training for its professors and workers, because the amount of microaggressions that I
have seen over the almost four years I’ve been at Auburn is ridiculous,” Talbert said. Bobby Woodard, the senior vice president for Student Affairs, said that the Office of Student Affairs had previously sought approval in 2016 from the Provost’s Office to establish the Bias Education and Response Team. “The team receives and responds to issues of racism that occur on campus,” Woodard said. “Their responses to many of those issues have resulted in educational experiences or recommendation for further action that directly confronts racism on campus.” The plan from Student Affairs for the fall semester is better implementing and promoting BERT to ensure that all students are aware that there is a safe space to report incidents. Additionally, the staff will participate in training. “We will provide training programs to assist us in educating more of our students about what racism is and how to combat racism in our campus community,” Woodard said. “And work to implement the recommendations from the University task force addressing racism has been charged with creating a plan for how to move forward and be more inclusive as a University.” Like Avery, Woodard said he was disturbed to read about the experiences of Black students. “I don’t want anyone to experience what they described on campus,” Woodard said. “I have been made aware of personal reports from students; however, many of the experiences shared on the page were ones I had not heard before.” Woodard said that Student Affairs has all been doing a lot of personal reflection, and will put in the effort to create a better environment for Black students. “I will continue to reach out to more students and involve them in the process so that we can ensure we have diverse viewpoints and ideas,” Woodard said. Oaktree thinks one of the steps to change begins with just an acknowledgment of all the experiences shared on Black at Auburn by the administration. “Them coming out and acknowledging that these things happened and continue to happen within the ‘Auburn Family’ is crucial to moving forward,” Oaktree said. Oaktree’s experience, shared on the page on July 29, criticizes the idea of the Auburn Family for BIPOC. “Everything is shaped to make you feel like you are indebted to Auburn,” Oaktree said. “That Auburn is what gave you the opportunity to rise up. The truth is, I got amazing opportunities from people and institutions who had never heard of Auburn. They were impressed with me, my initiative and my skills. Black Auburn grads are amazing and would have thrived at any institution, and we chose to do so at Auburn.” The problem, Oaktree said, was that most of the time, Auburn didn’t choose us back.
STUDENT CENTER
Involvement Suite updated for modern meetings By TIM NAIL Section Editor
Student organization leaders returning to campus this week will find themselves holding meetings in new rooms in a usual space. The Office of Student Involvement completed substantial renovations to its existing Involvement Suite on the third floor of the Student Center. New furniture, meeting pods and new areas for conferencing are some of the most noticeable changes. John Michael Roehm, assistant director of Student Involvement, said the renovations were a much needed facelift for the suite, which he said was beginning to feel dated. “We entered 2020 and left the late ’90s: that’s the biggest difference,” Roehm said with a laugh. “Cool patterns and less pops of color.” The front desk at the entrance of the suite received a remodel in that it was moved closer to the entrance and to one side of a supporting column that previously obstructed visitors’ view of the desk. Roehm said he hopes the reconstructed desk will be more enticing to those stopping by, while at the same time providing more space for a Student Involvement Ambassador desk, which is new to the lobby. “We wanted to intentionally build some storage for us but also when you walk in, be met with a welcoming face,” he said. “We want students, when they do enter, to be able to be welcomed, and if they have questions, see an Involvement Ambassador.”
Visitors must now also check in as they step into the lobby via the use of a QR code linked to AUInvolve. This idea was included during planning stages of the renovations before COVID-19 impacted Auburn, but Roehm said it will prove particularly useful because of the nature of this semester. Some of the most significant changes came to the suite’s collaborative workspace area, a 10,300-square foot room where select student activity organizations have designated workstations and others have a place to hold meetings. Previously, the area was comprised of a number of cubicles and narrow corridors, but Student Involvement took a more open, modern approach to its redesign, eliminating both in the renovations. “This is completely reimagined,” Roehm said. “We’ve added six semi-private meeting pods for student orgs to check out at our front desk to have a quick meeting; ideally that’ll fit six people.” Each meeting pod is a glass-enclosed space that features wireless streaming to PC and mobile devices using the same software as in Mell in place of Apple TVs and HDMI cords that were used before, Roehm said. Window blinds will be added to the glass in the pods in the future to allow meetings some privacy. The previous cubicles, which were often used by groups for storage, have been replaced with individual work desks for groups considered student activity organizations by request. Student Involvement hopes to allow different or-
ganizations to receive workstation assignments each academic year, Roehm said. “[The desks] have minimal space; you come to the station to work on your personal or organizational computer,” he said. “These are meant to have office supplies, things you need to do to get your job done, not where you store your event supplies.” Additional storage has instead been set aside on one side of the room, formerly a hallway, for any group to put away items needed the week of an event and heavier items in sliding door closets. Copiers are also available for groups to use when drafting organizational paperwork. Conference Rooms A and B have seen slight modifications in their layout. Each is now equipped with video conferencing technology using Zoom, which Roehm said was another pre-pandemic idea that will now pay off. Segments of the large table in Room B can be folded up like an easel for workshop-style use. “If [Auburn University] Dance Marathon needs to film themselves doing the line dance, they can move the tables out, they can film the dance and they can move them back,” Roehm said of the folding design. Roehm said Student Involvement is most excited to bring what it calls the “Think Tank” to the suite, taking the place of what was once the University Program Council executive office. The Think Tank is a third conference room made up of fully dry-erase board walls with cushiony seating with charging ports, designed with longer brainstorming sessions in mind.
“What we envisioned this place as is if a group is planning a big event, and they need to get out of the conference and they need to get a TV to project some things, they can get on the whiteboard and think creative and really be innovative about what they’re doing,” Roehm said. “We know when our students go into corporate America outside Auburn, all these big companies ... have these big informal meeting spaces.” The suite’s revamp took around two years from early on the drawing board to completion according to Roehm. A side effect of the University’s transition to remote instruction in the spring, however, was that construction finished ahead of schedule. “We had a conversation with the team, January maybe, about figuring out if the suite had to close and if staff would work remotely,” Roehm said. “[We thought], ‘How are we going to do that?’ Then, three months later, we went entirely remote. It allowed the construction team to have full access to the space.” While Student Involvement is eager to share the suite’s upgrades, for now, the Involvement Suite is under a 52-person occupancy limit in compliance with the University’s coronavirus guidelines, Roehm said. “We really need students working on organizational activities because 52 people is not many, especially in a space that typically sees 200 [to] 300 people a day or more,” he said. “That’s the big change we’re going to be asking students to really [follow]: when they’re here, to be working on an organizational activity.”
The Auburn Plainsman
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020
PAGE 5 TRANSPORTATION
GREEK LIFE
Scooter rentals scheduled to come in spring By VIRGINIA SPEIRS Writer
CONTRIBUTED BY ELEESE ANTHONY
The videoboard in Jordan-Hare Stadium displays a welcome message for students participating in Bid Day on Aug. 15, 2020, in Auburn, Ala.
Socially distanced Bid Day breaks records By TIM NAIL Section Editor
Cheers echoed off the stands of Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 15, but they weren’t from football fans. They were the cheers of a record 1,539 Auburn women who rushed and received bids at this year’s Bid Day, which took place inside the stadium beginning at 4:30 p.m. Bid Day followed a fully virtual recruitment week, a first for Auburn Panhellenic because of the need to socially distance. The council had initially considered two other options which each involved some virtual and some in-person recruitment rounds. “I’m sure that all of us rush girls were very excited that we even got to do something,” said Tristyn Harrison, freshman in pre-optometry, who was welcomed into
Delta Zeta. “We were very thankful that we could go through Zoom and that it was offered at the stadium.” A record 1,702 women registered for Panhellenic recruitment, and 1,687 took part in at least one round of recruitment, which is another record, according to Auburn Panhellenic. “We were all overwhelmed with joy, me especially, surrounded by so many people that were feeling the same way I that was – to be welcomed home into such a wonderful sisterhood,” Harrison said. “We were all just very excited for an amazing opportunity.” The set quota on recruitment for each of Panhellenic’s 18 sororites was 80 students this year, which all sorority chapters made. Among those who received bids were all six women of the Education to Accomplish Growth in Life Experiences for Success
program. The program, run by the College of Education, supports students with intellectual disabilities. Auburn Panhellenic said the chapter with the smallest number of bids will welcome 80 new members, while the chapter with the largest number will welcome 108 new members. Panhellenic achieved a record 91% match rate of students receiving bids for their desired sorority. Panhellenic events will differ from normal this year, but Harrison said she remains optimistic they might continue in some fashion that remains safe for students. “It will definitely be different, and I hope that some events can still go on, as most of us have dreamed of events like these for years to come,” she said. “I’m sure that each sorority will conform to some of the guidelines and still try to make the most of each
situation.”
INVOLVEMENT
UPC looks to have full schedule of events for fall By COLLINS KEITH Assistant Section Editor
Despite social-distancing guidelines and other coronavirus-related restrictions, Auburn’s University Program Council is still aiming to welcome students back with a full fall event schedule. Although the events that are put on may be slightly altered for health and safety concerns, Luke Heslep, UPC’s vice president of marketing, said that the council “has gone above and beyond in developing creative ways to continue to operate at a normal capacity,
while keeping everyone at events safe and well-informed.” The events that have been planned are a mix of virtual and in-person events. The in-person events will have all the necessary precautions taken in order to safeguard the health and safety of those attending, Heslep said, while allowing them to interact with each other. “All UPC members are required to wear masks and proper protective equipment while working at events,” he said. “UPC will provide masks for attendees at all events, as well as hand sanitizer.”
In addition, all in-person events will be held outdoors, and there will be touchless temperature scanning and check in, as well as pre-entry questions at every event, according to Heslep. In the circumstance that Auburn transitions to all online classes, Heslep said that UPC will be ready. “We have asked all of our directors to think critically about what another semester online with UPC will look like,” he said. “We already have some virtual programming planned, and [we] trust our committee leaders’ ingenuity and flexi-
bility if we need to add more.” According to Heslep, UPC recognizes its opportunity to welcome students back to campus after what has been a difficult few months. “The role of UPC is to enrich each student’s Auburn experience by providing inclusive and engaging programs that foster community and a positive campus culture,” Heslep said. “Our goal is to create spaces that allow students to once again experience the connections they have been missing while also maintaining proper safety protocols.”
After returning from winter break in January, students will find a new mode of transportation for riding to class and exploring life on campus in the spring semester. According to officials from parking services, there will be 200 new scooters available for rental along with three drop-off locations: a concrete pad in the Hayfield; on the corner of Petrie Hall and the Harrison School of Pharmacy; and at the old laundry room on West Thach Avenue. The scooters can be paid for with a monthly or yearly fee or a pay-as-yougo option. “[Scooters] have been a popular request from students for about a year or so,” said parking operations manager Arishna Lastinger. “We thought it would be a great opportunity to let students try it out to see how they handle them being on campus, how they take care of them and other things of that nature.” Another reason for the new addition is to make the distance from the parking lots on the outside of campus to the center much more manageable for students, Lastinger explained. The parking lots are towards the outskirts of campus, so if a student needs to drive to campus and get to class, the time it takes would be reduced. “If you are familiar with the Hayfield or the RO lot, you know that they are towards the outskirts of campus,” Lastinger said. “We’re hoping that [the scooters] will drive students to realize ‘Hey, it’s okay if I can only park in C-lot or RO, because even if I park a little further away, I have an alternate motive of transportation to get to central campus.’” The scooters will be regulated by the University through a technology that controls the speed of the scooters when they are on campus. Defined geofencing locations will be set on campus property to prevent the possibility of scooters being driven off campus and left somewhere in the City, as they will essentially “die” and will not be drivable upon going outside their programmed area. Students will need to download an app that will allow for them to enter a code to ride the scooter. Students can then ride them anywhere on campus and, when they are finished, drop them off at any of the drop-off locations. If enough students are supportive of the scooters and incorporate them into their campus life during the spring semester, Parking Operations will add more scooters for use as needed, according to Lastinger.
community THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020
6 THEPLAINSMAN.COM
COMMUNITY
CITY
CONTRIBUTED BY THE CITY OF AUBURN
The proposed Publix will be located on South Gay Street, across from Auburn United Methodist Church.
Council approves new development plans for downtown By CHARLIE RAMO Section Editor
During Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, the Council approved plans for Guthrie’s Restaurant on the corner of East Glenn Avenue and South College Street. During the proposal’s public hearing, some residents commented on a drive-thru restaurant not belonging in Auburn’s Downtown Master Plan. The Planning Commission believed that the drive-thru’s 11-car capacity should keep traffic to the restaurant out of the street. Griswold noted that downtown Auburn currently looks nothing like the Downtown Master Plan. He also believes the property may be the worst location for a drive-thru. A law office next door also objected to the project at a planning commission meeting, Griswold said. “[I do not] object to Guthrie’s,” Griswold said. “It would be a nice addition to downtown. I simply object to a drive-thru restaurant.” Hovey noted that the building, the parking lot and the drive-thru are all pre-existing. The Council approved the restaurant in a 5-4 vote. Griswold, Ward 1 Council member Connie Fitch-Taylor, Ward 6 Council member Bob Parsons and Ward 5 Council member Steven Dixon voted no. At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor
Ron Anders announced the employees of the month for June and July. The City also highlighted various employee milestones during Tuesday’s meeting. Anders congratulated the six members of the Auburn Fire Division who received promotions. He also congratulated the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center, which was announced as the best performing arts center in Alabama. City Manager Jim Buston announced that there will be consequences for businesses and individuals who do not comply with the Safer at Home Order. Those who receive citations will receive a fine and will have to appear in court. “Lee County was once a ‘hot spot’ for COVID-19,” Buston said. “Unfortunately, we’ve had a lot of people come to town with the start of school at [Auburn University], and many of them are not adhering to the governor’s orders.” Multiple businesses have not adhered to the health order, Buston said. The University is now requiring masks everywhere on campus, and the policy will be actively enforced. “We’re just asking for the public to hang with us a little bit longer,” Buston said. “We’re on a downward trend … but we will be punitive if you do not comply.” Anders reminded residents that Auburn has routinely been voted as a great place to live, retire and go to school. He wants residents to
go out of their way to be respectful and careful. “My challenge to everybody in the community is to treat each other as the Auburn Family,” Anders said. “[Our actions] impact the health and welfare of others in the community.” Ward 3 Council member Beth Witten reminded residents that Tuesday’s meeting fell on the 100th anniversary of the passage of the United States’ 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Witten also thanked Auburn City Schools for opening in a safe manner. She acknowledged that the reopening of schools was not perfect, but it was commendable. Fitch-Taylor announced that she is holding a back-to-school event at 11 a.m. on Aug. 29 at Sam Harris Park. Residents will be able to drive through and pick up needed school supplies and senior citizen lunches. Ward 7 Council member Jay Hovey asked that the Pledge and a moment of silence be added back to the Council’s meeting agenda, which were both a part of in-person meetings, and Hovey wants to see their return now that meetings will be held over Zoom for the foreseeable future. The Council approved an extension of the student housing moratorium by 120 days. All Council members approved the ordinance except for Ward 4 Council member Brett Smith, who abstained. Ward 2 Council member Kelley Griswold
asked that the ordinance last indefinitely. It would allow for the Council to vote to end the moratorium at a later date without having to renew it. Buston said not having an end date is possible, but the Council was originally advised to have an end date included. The ordinance was not altered from its 120-day expiration. The Council unanimously approved a grocery store and retail space on South Gay Street. According to planning documents in the Council’s agenda, a Publix is planned to enter the location. The Council also unanimously approved for a third phase of construction of cottages in Midtown Auburn at 1200 Opelika Rd. Griswold brought concerns towards the development being used as unofficial student housing, which would bypass the student housing moratorium. Cotten stated the project will consist of 41 single-bedroom dwellings, and the City cannot prevent students from living in them. Ward 8 Council member Dawson said he appreciates the positive change in the property he has seen over the years. He believes the current development is better for the City than some previous uses of the property. After a discussion on zoning for the area, the Council also approved an affordable housing development on Mimosa Avenue and North College Street in a 8-1 vote. Griswold was the only Council member to vote no.
INDUSTRY
Lee County residents oppose second quarry in six months By CHARLIE RAMO Section Editor
After withdrawing their permit applications for a quarry site in March, Creekwood Resources is now testing viability of a new site in Lee County. The previous site, originally to be located just outside of Opelika’s city limits, was met with opposition from nearby residents, the City of Opelika, the City of Auburn and the Lee County Commission. During a recent Lee County Commission meeting, multiple residents brought concerns of a potential granite quarry to the Commission. The quarry is planned to be located near Highway 29 and Lee Road 177. Some opponents of the quarry cited endangered species living in Halawakee Creek, of which the proposed quarry may reach within 25 feet. The creek feeds into Lake Harding, which is the primary water supply for Lee County, Opelika and parts of Auburn. Residents also brought forward concerns of lowered water levels, increased traffic from upwards of 60 dump trucks per day, treated waste disposed into the creek, noise and silica dust in the air. “They’re going to be over there setting off explosive charges very close to a subdivision,” said Ryan Speir, a member of Protect Beulah Stop the Quarry. “Silica dust that a granite quarry puts off is another concern. My home is directly downwind … of where the quarry will be.” Lee County Commission Judge Bill English explained that limestone quarries cause more damage to the water table than granite quarries. The proposed quarry is a granite quarry, which will share more similarities to the quarry in Lochapoka than in Spring Villa. Speir has a hunting lease on the property. He was told on Aug. 5 that a gate to the property was left open. Upon further investigation, Speir found Creekwood Resources employees taking soil samples.
Residents had reported rumors of a new quarry since March, though it was not proven until Speir’s encounter. Speir met managing member Jeffery Major on site. The property is currently owned by Weyerhaeuser Company, which also owns the property where the quarry was intended to be built in March. Land rights are currently being leased to Creekwood Resources for testing purposes, English said. At the time of publication, Creekwood Resources did not have information to disclose to The Plainsman on the project. Creekwood Resources has not yet filed for an application to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, which will be required to complete the quarry project. During the permit process, ADEM may hold a public hearing concerning air and water quality. Though the project may affect local species and cause unwanted noise,
ADEM is only concerned with documented air and water concerns, English said. The Lee County Commission does not have the authority to deny any use on private property, English said. However, he would like to go on the record as against the quarry project. The Commission unanimously passed a resolution opposing the proposed Beulah quarry, citing damage to air and water, a decrease in property values, harm towards local wildlife, damage to the water table and increased traffic, among other concerns. The Commission also asked of Opelika, Auburn and Chambers County to pass similar resolutions in opposition of the quarry. The Commission opposes both the current proposal and similar proposals in the future. They also asked that ADEM holds a public hearing for the project. Out of opposition to the quarry, the Protect Beulah Stop the Quar-
ry group was formed from Beulah and other Lee County residents. The group has printed hundreds of signs, paid for by donations from local businesses. County Commissioner Robert Ham bought a significant number of signs as well, Speir said. The group is also organized on Facebook. The group has been in contact with local politicians in order to make the proper steps in opposing the quarry. They are also mailing letters to nearby residents. “I need to give a big thank-you to our county commissioners,” Speir said. “They were all super helpful in this.” The group has been in contact with biologists at Auburn University concerning endangered wildlife, Speir said. Without federal protection, the group cannot use the wildlife as an argument to stop the quarry, so they are primarily focusing on air and water quality issues.
“Limestone County has an ordinance that bans any future quarries in their county,” Speir said. “We as a group are not 100% against quarries. They just have a place, and on our creek is not that place.” Speir said that Weyerhaeuser Company, the company in possession of the land, also owns land near the local waste management facility. He believes this location would be far more agreeable than the current proposed location. Speir also wants to see Lee County pass limited zoning laws for industry. He did not initially like the idea of zoning, but he now knows it can be done in limited settings such as industry or other business types. Residents who are opposed to the proposed quarry are asked by the Lee County Commission to submit concerns over air and water pollution to ADEM. The Commission will request for a public hearing if an application for a permit is sent.
MY LY / ASSISTANT SECTION EDITOR
Lee County residents who oppose the quarry have purchased signs to display in their yards.
The Auburn Plainsman
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020
PAGE 7
EDUCATION
Local elementary teacher named statewide finalist By CHARLIE RAMO Section Editor
In a competition against top teachers throughout the state, Ogletree Elementary’s Kathryn Knorr qualified as an Alabama Teacher of the Year Finalist. The third-grade teacher was one of four teachers to become finalists. On the school level, Knorr was nominated by all of her fellow third-grade teachers as well as other school faculty. The nomination process included faculty and parents. “Her grade level 100% block voted for her,” said Ogletree Elementary Principal Caroline Raville. “She’s the third-grade department chair, and I think they’re just really grateful for all the work she’s done for them.” Knorr’s position as her department chair gives her extra responsibilities such as mentoring new teachers and communicating between administration and her department. She frequently stays late working in leadership roles and serving on committees, Raville said. Knorr is currently taking a dyslexia course to better cater to her students. She is always one of the
MY LY / ASSISTANT SECTION EDITOR
Ogletree Elementary is home to multiple award-winning faculty members.
first teachers to volunteer for any professional developmental course, Raville said. “She is really selfless,” Raville said. “It’s one thing to work really hard, [but] it’s another thing to sacrifice your own time to help somebody else. I think that stood out to [the third-grade department], and I know they’re grateful for it.”
Knorr comes from a family of educators, deciding to become one herself at a young age. She has taught second and third grades in her career so far. Knorr’s class involves plenty of hands-on work and group work. She likes to ask her students questions and to ask for volunteers, keeping them engaged in the lesson.
“Her class tends to be a bit noisy, but in a good way,” Raville said. “It’s definitely not a situation where she’s talking and the kids do all the listening. The kids do a lot of talking in her room.” Knorr especially enjoys reading with her students, whether she is reading to them or they are reading in groups. She always enjoys ris-
ing to the challenge of a complicated lesson or a reluctant learner. “I [once] had a very reluctant reader,” Knorr said. “I took it as a challenge and made it my mission to find books he would be interested in. I found out he was a bit competitive, so I made it into a class competition. He just took off … competing with others. I felt like that was a breakthrough for me.” Knorr has held multiple leadership positions and has been recognized in the past, but the state’s Teacher of the Year competition has been the highest honor she has achieved thus far, she said. “The best honor of this whole process was when my colleagues chose me to be the Ogletree Elementary Teacher of the Year,” Knorr said. “These are the people that know me and work with me day-in and day-out. Everything past that has been a great honor, but knowing my colleagues chose me has been the biggest honor.” For the foreseeable future, Knorr plans to stay as a teacher. She has been told by colleagues that she would make a great school administrator, but she would rather continue making a community in her classroom.
EDUCATION
ACS quarantines 112 students after first week of in-person classes In a press release on Sunday, Auburn City Schools Superintendent Cristen Herring stated that since starting their first day of school on Monday, Aug. 10, the school district has seen nine new documented cases of COVID-19. As a result of this, students who had close contact with the individuals who tested positive for the novel coronavirus have now been quarantined in addition to the confirmed cases. “Due to close contact exposure, 112 students have been quarantined,” Herring said. “Students with a positive test must refrain from attending school for a minimum of 10 days including
a period of time without symptoms of COVID-19. Students in close contact to a confirmed case are quarantined for 14 days.” While remote schooling was available for students, the press release stated that 6,313 out of the school district’s 8,850 students attended school in person and received face-to-face instruction. Herring encouraged parents to continue to monitor their children’s symptoms before sending them back to school. “The safety of students, staff and families is the highest priority of Auburn City Schools,” Herring said. “Continued collaboration will be necessary in our shared effort to educate all students.”
FILE PHOTO
Auburn City Schools did not specify which schools had positive cases, though all cases appeared in secondary schools.
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By MY LY Assistant Section Editor
sports
8
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020
THEPLAINSMAN.COM
SPORTS
Auburn football 2020 schedule
Week Date
Opponent
1
9/26
Kentucky
2
10/3
at Georgia
3
10/10
Arkansas
4
10/17
at South Carolina
5
10/24
at Ole Miss
6
10/31
LSU
7
11/7
BYE WEEK
8
11/14
at Miss. State
9
11/21
Tennessee
10
11/28
at Alabama
11
12/5
Texas A&M
FILE PHOTO
Bo Nix (10) runs the ball during the Auburn vs. LSU game Saturday Oct. 26, 2019, in Baton Rogue, La.
lifestyle THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020
9 THEPLAINSMAN.COM
LIFESTYLE
HEALTH
JOSHUA FISHER/ PHOTOGRAPHER
Auburn students walk on the Haley Concourse on the first day of class on Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Auburn, Ala.
How to ease your mind with a return to campus By ABIGAIL MURPHY Section Editor
This year, students on the concourse will be further apart and wearing masks in order to comply with state and university COVID-19 guidelines. To help combat overwhelming feelings from these changes, the University has been encouraging wellness practices. Markie Pasternak, a coordinator of A Sound Mind — a campus-wide mental health initiative — emphasized that it’s normal to feel anxious and overwhelmed returning to campus. “I think everyone is going to have some amount of anxiety one way or another - depending on who you are,” Pasternak said. One technique that Pasternak recommended was to start a meditation practice, which can give tools to combat anxiety. Meditation uses breath and visualizations that are beneficial in calming the mind, she said. “It’s training yourself on how to respond
to anxiety-provoking situations,” she said. Practicing gratitude can also be beneficial as it helps keep the mind positive by appreciating the little things, Pasternak said. In addition to these practices, Pasternak also said that it can be helpful to talk about our anxiety, and through health promotion and wellness, wellness coaching is available. “Students can talk one-on-one with a peer health coach, who are other students that have been trained to be a health coach about any sort of wellness issues that are not clinical,” she said. However, if the anxiety or related emotions begin to disrupt daily life, that is a sign to seek a mental health professional, she said. It is important to check in with yourself throughout the day and notice how your emotions are affecting everyday actions. “If you can’t go to class or get your work done because you are feeling so anxious, that means you need to contact the counseling center,” she said Reita Clanton, a coordinator of mindful-
ness-based performance and health optimization, said that it’s important to focus on where energy is focused. “Energy flows where attention goes,” she said. Clanton said our energy is neutral, but our thoughts are what give it direction. Using our thoughts, we choose where we send our energy and, because of this, it’s important how we start our day. “How you start your day has a tremendous impact on the energy and awareness you carry with you throughout your day,” she said. Rather than reaching for our phones in the morning, Clanton said we should start by connecting with ourselves through our breath and setting an intention. Setting an intention can guide us throughout the day. If we get off track, we use our breath to center ourselves. “An intention is not a goal,” she said. “An intention is more energetic. It’s a purposeful awareness of how you want to show up.” Ford Dyke, an assistant clinical professor
in the school of kinesiology, said the mind and body are interconnected and we need to care for our body to care for our mind. “Whatever is coming into our system, it’s going to change the way in which we process, the way in which we have an output,” he said. Dyke said to take the time to question what we are eating and if it is fresh and from the earth. It’s also important that students make an effort to be physically active throughout the day, especially with most classes being online. “Between those sessions, you should get up,” Dyke said. “You should go outside. You should get some fresh air.” Dyke said to also keep in mind a consistent, quality sleep schedule allowing the mind and body to recover. Consider sleep as a way to prepare for the next day, he said. “To promote our cognitive wellbeing, we need to meet our physical needs,” he said. “By starting small in one area, it can create a positive impact overall,” he said.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020
The Auburn Plainsman
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