The Signpost: HAPPY FALL Y'ALL >>> WSU ATHLETICS DOES SOME HEAVY LIFTING ON ELECTION DAY

Friday | November 13, 2020 | Volume 93 | Issue 24

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WSU ATHLETICS DOES SOME HEAVY LIFTING ON ELECTION DAY

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By MARISA NELSON Section Editor

He was calling from inside the building On Sept. 14, an officer responded to threats at the Student Services Building. The complainant had received threats from an unknown caller.

Once the caller was identified, the complainant explained that Weber State University had called him multiple times, and he called back, adding a random extension and leaving a message out of frustration. The complainant did not want to pursue charges so long as the caller didn’t call back.

All toked up with nowhere to go An officer responded to a suspicious vehicle on Skyline Drive on Sept. 3. The vehicle was parked on the roadway and the officer made contact with the occupant, who was in possession of marijuana dabs. The officer issued a citation, and the driver was released.

Downtown theft The WSU downtown bookstore experienced a theft on Sept. 16. Items missing included computer equipment; the officer obtained video from the store and gathered witness statements Comment on this story at signpost.mywebermedia.com

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Reporter

The last time the Weber State University women’s volleyball team stepped on the court was during the NIVC tournament, where they fell to the University of Tulsa 2 to 3 on Dec. 12, 2019.

Little did they know there wouldn’t be another match held until 2021.

On Aug. 13, the Big Sky Conference decided fall sports wouldn’t compete until spring. For more than half their fall semester, the Wild-

cats went about practices with no notice of when a season would be announced.

On Nov. 5, the 2021 volleyball season was released by the Big Sky. Each team will play a 16-match schedule starting in late January and finish off in a conference tournament in April, where the top eight teams will complete.

Before their season was postponed, WSU was picked second and tied with Northern Arizona University in the Big Sky Conference preseason polls after coming off of a historic 2019 season.

Each Big Sky school will play one another

back-to-back between Sundays and Mondays.

The ‘Cats will host Eastern Washington for their home opener on Jan. 24.

The following week, WSU will travel to Missoula and face the University of Montana on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. A bye week will follow, so the Wildcats won’t face their instate rival — Southern Utah University — until Feb. 14 at Swenson Gym. Feb. 21 will find the Wildcats in Greely, Colorado facing Northern Colorado. The Wildcats are on a 4-loss losing streak against the Bears.

Sacramento State will travel to Ogden on

Feb. 28 before the following two weeks, when the ‘Cats will be on the road facing Northern Arizona, who is tied with WSU in preseason polls; following NAU, the ‘Cats take on Idaho State in Pocatello on Mar 14.

The conference match will be a home stretch facing Montana State starting on Mar. 21 before the ‘Cats see if they’ll qualify for the Big Sky Conference tournament.

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Weber State Athletics

By EMILY MILLER

4 | MyWeberMedia.com| November 13, 2020

By MILES SHAW

Asst. Section Editor

In the midst of the elections last week, voting was on the forefront of many people’s minds. At the same time, major parts of Weber State University’s Athletics were helping out in the community.

The Wildcat’s women’s basketball head coach Velaida Harris oversaw athletes from across all WSU’s sports teams help out with the voting process the day before and during election day at the Weber County Fairgrounds.

Harris was inspired by her mother — a regular at the ballots as a pollster — but because of the pandemic, her mom wasn’t able to be one this year.

With her mom on her mind, Harris decided to bring up the idea of helping with the voting process to her team, and one of the coaching assistants contacted the county to see where they could help out.

“My thought was, ‘why don’t we volunteer to help in any way we can?’ That’s not putting us in any jeopardy,” Harris said.

2020’s been a tough year for so many, and the Wildcat athletes

wanted to bring people together.

“How can we contribute to helping somebody else? My players have been really interested in action; what can we do to impact people, whether that’s through social justice or the election,” Harris said. “And with it being election season, how can we make that easier or safer for people?”

The opportunity for the Wildcats to spring into action in the community came, and while election week saw plenty of blue and red at the ballots, at the Weber County Fairgrounds, there was an abundance of purple.

Wildcat athletes did anything and everything from directing traffic to setting up polling stations and answering questions about where to drop off and pick up ballots, all while giving out snacks.

“We set up line markers for people to line up and maintain a safe six feet from each other,” said Dominique Williams, redshirt senior forward on the women’s basketball team. “We set up the actual stations they would walk up to vote at with glass barriers,

and we wiped everything down and made sure everything was sanitized.”

WSU’s men’s and women’s basketball, women’s golf and the volleyball teams all contributed and pitched in their efforts at the fairgrounds.

“We did all the set up for the fairgrounds, which was the biggest location they had and where they needed the most assistance,” Harris said.

Harris wanted her team to see the importance casting a vote has in causing change.

“In the summer, our coach helped us all get registered to vote and let us all know the importance of voting,” said Daryn Hickok, sophomore guard on the women’s basketball team. “She explained to us how to get the most information possible about what we were voting for and on, and helping out at the polls really pieced that all together for us,” The Wildcat athletes enjoyed making a difference in the lives of people in the community.

“A lot of people show us love, in terms of Weber State Athletics, and we wanted to go out there

and the do the same, and show the community these young people are very interested in the future and making a difference in their community,” Harris said.

The team felt they made a difference not only for the community members, but for themselves as well.

“My favorite part of it was how involved we all felt, and it was very empowering to be that involved in the community and in a process that’s so important to our country,” Hickok said.

A new tradition may have begun for the Wildcats because the athletes want to continue serving the community through the voting process in the future.

“Helping out this year, I think, inspired our program to get out and do this more often,” Williams said.

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Members of WSU Athletics helped direct trafďŹ c on election day at the Weber County Fairgrounds.

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Reporter

Los Programas de Diversidad en Weber State celebran el Día de Muertos con exhibiciones de altares en el campus y múltiples eventos en Zoom el 1 y 2 de noviembre.

WSU Ballet Folklórico, Hispanic Area Council (HAC) y Latinos in Action (LIA) dirigieron los eventos del Día de Muertos. También se trajeron miembros de la comunidad para las presentaciones.

Los eventos consisten en lecciones sobre la creación de altares, calientamanos de calaveras, galletas en forma de calavera hechas de azúcar y pintura facial de Catrina.

El Día de los Muertos es una fiesta mexicana en que la gente celebra y honra la muerte de sus seres queridos. Se celebra el primero y el segundo de noviembre. Si bien es un festejo mexicano, también se celebra en países de Centroamérica y Suramérica.

Como se indica en la página de Programas de Diversidad de Weber State, uno de los principales artefactos utilizados en esta celebración son las ofrendas. Se utilizan para dar la bienvenida a los espíritus de vuelta al reino viviente con ofrendas de comida, agua, fotos de los difuntos y velas. Los altares también pueden presentar los artículos favoritos de los espíritus de cuando vivían.

Hay tres niveles diferentes a los altares que, de arriba abajo, representan el cielo, la tierra y el inframundo.

María López, un miembro de la comunidad, instaló una ofrenda para los miembros de su familia que han pasado, incluyendo las mascotas de la familia.

“Nuestros antepasados indígenas tenían la creencia de que nuestras mascotas, los perros especiales son los Xoloitzcuintle, nos espera-

ban en la orilla de Mictlán para ayudarnos a guiarnos al Mictlán”, dijo López.

Mictlán es el inframundo en la mitología azteca, donde llega la mayoría de los muertos.

La fiesta tiene orígenes español católicos y aztecas. La iglesia católica celebra el día de todas Almas, en el que se conmemora a los fallecidos. Mientras tanto, los aztecas honrarían los espíritus de sus antepasados.

“En muchas de las tribus indígenas mexicanas, la muerte no se veía como algo triste. La muerte era vista como una especie de etapa de la vida ”, dijo Salvador Ceja-Monroy, estudiante de WSU y miembro del Ballet Folklórico.

Otros objetos utilizados para los altares son incienso para mantener alejados a los espíritus malignos, un plato de sal para purificar el alma y un camino de flores para guiar las almas a las ofrendas.

Hay diferentes altares instalados en WSU para que los estudiantes y el público los vean en el Shepherd Union Gallery. Housing and Residence Life también construyó una ofrenda en Wildcat y University Village para que los residentes incluyan y celebren a sus seres queridos. Los altares estarán en exhibición hasta el 9 de noviembre.

La celebración concluyó con Yudy “La Catrina” Muñoz cantando canciones solicitadas por los asistentes.

Una de las canciones fue Cielito Lindo compuesta por Quirino Mendoza y Cortés. Es una canción popular en México que ha sido versionada por muchas artistas. Habla sobre la manera que uno debe cantar en lugar de llorar cuando está triste, ya que cantar puede traer alegría al corazón.

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By LISSETE LANDAVERDE

Family members are remembered by their favorite foods and photos.

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LEARNING AND LISTENING

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WITH LIVE FROM 136 ABOVE: The marimba ensemble is composed of Cole Barringer, Kylee Casey, Kindra Hunke and Izzie Herzog.

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ABOVE: Lily Chou plays a solo piano piece for last week’s episode of Live from 136.

By ALLY NELSON

Reporter

Live from 136 is a virtual concert series organized by the music faculty at Weber State University’s Department of Performing Arts as a way to keep students involved at school during the pandemic.

Assistant Director of Bands Daniel Jonas and Music Area Program Coordinator Carey Campbell formulated a plan to tweak their in-person performances to a video format this semester because of COVID-19 restrictions.

“Now more than ever, I think we’re all so isolated from one another,” Jonas said. “I want everyone to know our students are still here, still working hard and achieving great things.”

The videos showcase a variety of sym-

LEFT: Min Shan Tsai plays a piano solo composed by Beethoven

phonic instruments and even mainstream instruments such as the electric guitar and DJ turntables. They are uploaded every Tuesday morning onto WSU’s Arts & Humanities YouTube channel.

Performing in front of a camera has been an adjustment for students who are accustomed to performing in front of an audience. Campbell believes it to be a foreign, yet important skill for students to learn early on as technology continues to evolve.

Even though the pandemic has caused a strain on campus organizations, there has been an added benefit in compelling students to become more technologically advanced in the production of film and audio.

Another positive aspect of the concert series is that students are able to interact and connect verbally with their audience.

For example, on Nov. 11, pianist Min Shan Tsai demonstrated how the chords were being used in the piece “Appassionata,” by Beethoven.

Jonas believes there’s something for everyone within the concert series, which is why it’s important to him that the events continue.

“Thus far in the series, we’ve had everything from Beethoven to Jimi Hendrix,” Jonas said.

“I would hope that no matter what you’re feeling or what your personal favorite might be, you can find something that you’ll enjoy.”

In one of the Marimba Ensemble’s performances for the series, the musicians covered the late Richie Valens’ song “La Bamba,” which Campbell said often leaves viewers smiling.

As for the future of the concert series, there are no concrete plans. However, Campbell said in spring 2021, the program is projected

to have more student involvement, as well as feature original works composed by students.

“Our plans for next year are wide open,” Jonas said. “Students can use the series to showcase their talents however they choose.”

Jonas and Campbell understand COVID-19 has been hard on their students, but they’re proud of their continued dedication to the program.

“It’s very easy to want to quit or to have a cynical attitude in the face of the challenges of this year, but our students have worked hard and put on some great performances,” Jonas said. “Live music still lives on in Live from 136.”

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NEW COURSE WILL ARM STUDENTS

WITH COVID KNOWLEDGE

By JOSHUA KAMP Reporter

The Department of Health Administrative Services at Weber State University is offering a new course next spring: “Immunology of COVID-19.” The course will be an interdisciplinary effort to delve into the disease and the effects it can have on the human body.

The course is being produced by Jim Hutchins, of Health Sciences and Neuroscience; Matthew Nicholaou, of Medical Laboratory Sciences and Daniel Clark, of the Department of Microbiology.

The course title illustrates that it is crucial to understand both the virus itself and the immune system when learning about the disease.

The average person may not understand the bodily processes that occur when viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the medical term for this specific coronavirus, become severe or lethal in patients, Nicholaou explains.

“These kinds of viruses are good at eliciting an overactive, uncontrolled immune response, and that’s really what kills so many people,” he said.

The new coronavirus is not so different from some viruses already known to science and medicine, but the current situation is unique, partly due to the opportunity it offers researchers.

“We know that there are viruses out there that trigger the immune system to do weird things,” Nicholaou said. “It’s just that we have never encountered one before that we could track from the beginning.”

Inflammation is a key factor in any bodily response to diseases, wounds and infections.

“We are not very good at controlling inflammation, especially the kind that happens in SARS,” Hutchins said, referring to Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome, a wider term under which the disease caused by the novel coronavirus falls.

Inflammatory response can cause COVID-19 patients to quickly spiral as the immune system inflames the lungs, brain, muscles and other organs, before attacking the inflamed tissue.

Hutchins explained the vicious cycle is what is killing people.

The people known as coronavirus

“long-haulers” are the ones who have internal damage from this inflammation.

The severity of the symptoms may not have been enough to bring them to the hospital, yet the long-haulers do not seem to be able to fully recover.

The course is not just for advanced healthcare and science students. Those who want to expand their practical health knowledge and defend against misinformation should enroll.

A main goal is to promote informed conversations relating to COVID-19 between students of different departments. It will cover science fundamentals and aim to help students understand important medical literature and scientific vocabulary.

Nicholaou also emphasized the importance of understanding the underlying reasons for public health guidelines and restrictions that have come as a response to the virus.

The dissemination of public education regarding the virus may be more difficult than creating and distributing a vaccine.

“We have a responsibility as a university to, as best we can, educate our community,” Hutchins said.

Beyond convincing the public to wear masks and socially distance, public health officials will have a new crisis if they can’t convince people that a vaccine is safe, effective and necessary.

For example, the vaccine currently being developed by Pfizer may be one that reaches mass distribution, but it will not work in any conventional way that will be familiar to the average person. It certainly has the potential to cause skepticism among the uninformed in the same way CDC guidelines have.

“The biggest problem we have right now is that all of this is just voodoo to most people,” Hutchins said. “And it is easy to reject voodoo.”

The weekly course will be available to students registering for spring 2021 under the course number HAS 3980 for one credit.

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WSU men’s basketball returns on Nov. 25 in a game against Adams State University.

By EMILY MILLER Reporter

The Weber State University men’s basketball team steps onto the court for their first matchup of their 2020-21 season on Nov. 25, taking on Adams State University.

The last match between the ‘Cats and the Grizzlies was an exhibition game in 2013 where WSU won 85–77.

The schedule for this season was only recently announced by the Big Sky Conference.

The Wildcats will play Adams State and one other non-conference game with Dixie State before moving into conference play.

As of Nov. 11, the Wildcats were ranked third in preseason polls by coaches and fifth

by the media.

“We don’t compare anything to last year; the only thing we did was change our roster,” said Randy Rahe, head coach. “Defense and rebounding is our strength and we’re working on a system for our offense, we work a lot with ball movement.”

Moving into their 2020–21 season, the Wildcats are welcoming nine transfer students and one true freshman to the team this year. With an almost-completely-rebuilt team, they have been focusing on figuring out what will be the best way to approach these first few games.

A starting lineup has yet to be announced, but momentum in practice has increased since the schedule has been released.

“We’re just playing against each other in

practice. We’re trying to figure who comes off the bench first,” Rahe said. “Kids coming off the bench will have to figure out their roles, even though they know it can change.”

The major goal in rebuilding this team for Rahe was finding experience. You’ll expect to see many of these transfer players coming into their junior and senior years, with the goal of playing for each other and not individually.

The Wildcats, like the other Big Sky schools, faced months of practice with little word on what the season would look like. It was only a few weeks before they were set to play that they found out their schedules.

“We didn’t have a schedule for so long, and when you’re practicing and now there’s a schedule to it, the kids definitely have some-

WEBER STATE ATHLETICS

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thing to look forward to,” Rahe said. “We have a little bit more energy.”

WIth their first game on Nov. 25, the team will focus on learning what adjustments need to be made before they enter into Big Sky Conference play, visiting Portland State on Dec. 3.

Rahe stated he is aware that it can take three to four games before they figure out their groove for the upcoming season.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, spectators are not allowed in games, as of Nov. 9; the season anticipates keeping that decision until Dec. 31, when they’ll review the situation.

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By ALEC CIPOLLINI Columnist

With the World Series just in the rearview mirror, this wild Major League Baseball season will soon come to an end, and it is one that we will never forget.

Opening Day in baseball usually kicks off every season in late March, but the pandemic pushed the start to late July.

In the meantime, people like me were watching ESPN-broadcast games from the Korean Baseball Organization because of the delay.

It didn’t matter who was playing. Hearing the first crack of the bat in months made me feel that we were slowly returning to normal.

Of course, the league had to make changes and jump over several obstacles.

All 30 clubs were to play 60 regular-season games against the teams in their division in the National and American Leagues.

Extra innings were different, since each team would have a lead runner on second base to start the inning. It would create better chances to score while also making the games end quicker.

Unlike leagues such as the NHL, NBA and MLS that had a bubble, Major League Baseball decided to have each team play at their home stadiums without fans until later into

the playoffs.

Since Canada has been very strict on how they are handling the pandemic, their government didn’t allow the Toronto Blue Jays to play at their ballpark, the Rodgers Centre.

So instead, the Blue Jays played their home games at Sahlen Park in Buffalo, New York.

It is the stadium that where their minor league affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons, play.

When it comes to sports, I want to feel like I’m at the game. Seeing a sold-out crowd and the whole place loudly erupting is what makes watching or going to games so special.

With the pandemic, however, we have had to settle for empty seats and listening to fake crowd noises on TV, which has ruined the whole experience of tuning in.

As predictable as this was, the biggest threat for baseball was players getting the virus, and it only took about two weeks until team members and staff began testing positive for COVID-19.

The Miami Marlins was the first team to have an outbreak as 18 players on the 30man roster contracted the virus, forcing them to quarantine and miss games.

Since the MLB knew there would be positive cases, they changed the rule on how double-headers worked. Instead of having two full-length ballgames in one day, both games would be seven innings and not the normal nine.

This way, the players would have a chance to recuperate and feel much better before they played again.

Another outbreak happened with the St. Louis Cardinals. Multiple players tested positive in August, causing the team to quarantine for 17 days. They eventually had to play 11 double-headers because of the games they missed.

It wasn’t surprising for me to see numerous cases throughout the league. There were only a few players and managers wearing masks or social distancing in their dugouts.

Despite positive tests and postponements, the regular season eventually finished and a new playoff format was born. There were still four playoff rounds, but the MLB modified it specifically for the pandemic.

The new format included the eight best teams from the American League and the eight best from the National League. Previously, there were eight teams in total.

In the Wild Card Series for each league, the top seed would play the number eight seed, and whoever finished second would play the seventh seed, and so on. The first team to win two games would move on to the next round.

After that, four teams from their respective leagues would compete against each other in a best-of-five series. Regular season placement determined who was seeded where, and in the post-season, the highest-seeded

team would always play the lowest remaining seed.

Despite the new changes, the MLB kept the formats for the championship series’ and World Series the same.

Even with all the excitement the playoffs have brought, the coronavirus has been an issue all season, but it still seems like they don’t know how to control it.

The biggest head-scratcher for me was back when the ALCS and NLCS started, and the league allowed fans back even though the MLB considers themselves being inside a bubble in Texas.

Why would they call it a “bubble” if spectators have returned to the stands?

I thought the MLB was trying to limit the spread of COVID-19, but it hasn’t seemed like they’ve been following the correct protocols.

If you’ve remember the games, fans hardly ever wore masks and aren’t social distancing.

They have made all these modifications to have a season during the pandemic, but it surely doesn’t seem like Major League Baseball cares about the virus itself.

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MLB saw outbreaks of coronavirus cases after players and managers didn’t wear masks and failed to follow social distancing guidelines.

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Adviser Jean Norman jeannorman@ weber.edu Ad Manager KC Sanders kcsanders@weber.edu The Signpost is a student publication, written, edited and drafted by Weber State University students. Student fees fund the printing of this publication. Opinions or positions voiced are not necessarily endorsed by the university. The Signpost reserves the right to edit for reasons of space and libel and to refuse to print any letters. Letters should be submitted online to thesignpost@weber.edu and read letter to the Editor in the subject box. Letters should not exceed 350 words.

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