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THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2021 VOLUME 95 ■ ISSUE 21

A year like no other Looking back at COVID-19’s impact on Lubbock

FILE PHOTO/The Daily Toreador

Dr. Ronald Cook answers questions at the news conference regarding COVID-19 on March 11, 2020, at the Lubbock Emergency Operations Center.

Photo Courtesy of Tech Athletics

Texas Tech head football coach Matt Wells calls plays through his mask during a football game against Oklahoma State.

CHASE SEABOLT/The Daily Toreador

Katherine Wells holds a vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in the Lubbock Civic Center on Jan. 7, 2021.

Graphic by: Chase Seabolt

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NEWS

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COVID-19

Tech, City officials reflect year of COVID-19

By HANNAH ISOM News Editor

One year ago, citizens of Lubbock and the United States began to watch their lives rapidly change due to a novel coronavirus. As this milestone approaches, Texas Tech and City of Lubbock officials looked back on the difficult decisions they had to make and the chaos that is COVID-19.

Lubbock Mayor, Dan Pope, said he specifically remembered March 12, 2020, the day the University of Texas and Tech basketball game was canceled. He was supposed to go on a trip that weekend and canceled to monitor the COVID-19 situation, the next Tuesday, March 17, Lubbock reported its first coronavirus case.

“We’ve learned a lot,” Pope said.

As he reminisced the past year, Pope said he thinks if he and other Lubbock officials knew then what they know now, they would have come down hard on enforcing guidelines to slow the spread, such as social distancing and face coverings. Additionally, he said they would have left non-essential businesses open and advocated for occupancy limits.

Though Lubbock was never put under a shelter-inplace order, Pope said they still had to make some tough decisions in late March.

Pope is finishing his fifth year as mayor, prior to this position he spent nearly nine years on the Lubbock school board, throughout his career of public service, Pope said decisions made during this time were the hardest he has ever had to make.

“I’ve never made a more difficult decision than we had to make last spring,” Pope said. “Because we truly were impacting livelihoods.”

Pope was referencing the closing of nonessential businesses, though he said these businesses have found a way to flourish despite the challenges, offering curbside pick-up and delivery.

City officials were not the only ones faced with difficult decisions when coronavirus clawed its way to Lubbock.

Dr. Steven Berk, executive vice president of the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center, said the Health Sciences Center faculty and staff knew the virus was a problem in China but had no idea how severe it would be in the United States.

“Early on we talked about it as comparing it to influenza without realizing it was

going to be, you know, way worse,” Berk said.

The Health Sciences Center faculty and staff had to make decisions regarding medical students, nursing students and allied health students, trying to optimize their education while keeping them safe, Berk said.

For medical students virtual learning was primarily used for first- and secondyear students, while thirdand fourth-year students continued in-person, working with patients, Berk said.

In the beginning, Berk said there was a concern there would not be enough personal protection equipment, however they quickly realized that was not the case.

Additionally, they tried to get involved in as many experimental COVID-19 treatments as possible as a medical school, Berk said.

Joining the Mayo Clinic and taking serum from patients who had COVID-19 and infusing that into patients in hospitals across West Texas.

“Over time it became pretty clear that it didn’t seem to be working that well,” Berk said.

There was a mask wearing campaign and flu shot campaign within the Lubbock community, Berk said, with the assumption being the worst thing that could happen is a bad influenza season on top of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, influenza is at one of its lowest points, whether that

is through masks and social distancing, or individuals taking their flu shot.

Health Sciences Center President, Lori Rice-Spearman, discussed decisions she and her team had to make as a university leader.

The Health Sciences Center interdisciplinary and interprofessional team began planning or the worst in mid-February, as the virus crept its way inward from the West and East Coast, and decided they needed to have a plan in place just in case the virus found its way to Lubbock.

“Sure enough it did,” Rice-Spearman said.

The team had been meeting for a couple weeks when the decision was made to completely move online throughout all 108 counties the Health Sciences Center serves, Rice-Spearman said.

Additionally, daily phone calls were made to leaders of every Health Sciences Center campus. They were working hard to make sure decisions being made were not going to negatively impact any of the professions.

In the beginning. RiceSpearman said health, safety and ensuring healthcare workers had what they needed to respond to the crisis were the focus.

“We were spreading that personal protection equipment all over West Texas,” Rice-Spearman said.

In the past few weeks, they have shifted their focus to serving their communities

File Photo/The Daily Toreador

TOP: A volunteer nurse prepares a COVID-19 vaccine at 11 a.m. on Jan. 7, 2021 at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center. The City of Lubbock administered 1600 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, Jan. 7.

BOTTOM: Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec smiles while talking in his office on Aug. 21, 2020 on the Tech campus. through vaccine distribution, Rice-Spearman said.

Out of the 108 counties the Health Sciences Center campuses serve, some do not have access to healthcare, so they are working to ensure they can still get the vaccine.

Additionally, the team is working on getting the Health Sciences Center

campuses back open, meeting temporary delays when extreme weather hit a couple weeks ago, RiceSpearman said.

The Health Sciences Center learned a lot this past year, Rice-Spearman said the most important lesson learned was what could be accomplished when people come together as a team and thinks the concepts of collaboration and innovation developed during this time will continue regardless of whether they open up completely or not.

“The level of innovation that occurred in the last 12 months is unprecedented for our university and it’s something that we want to continue,” RiceSpearman said.

Simulations were one of those innovations, RiceSpearman said. The Health Sciences Center in Lubbock served as a beta test site for a concept called Sim in a Box, and students have expressed interest in continuing this concept beyond the pandemic.

Though things seem to be on an upward trend, the modality of summer semester is yet to be determined, Rice-Spearman said. It is important to keep in mind that Health Sciences Center students are possibly at a higher risk than other students because of the nature of what they do in clinical settings.

Frontline workers have also carried a heavy weight throughout this pandemic, especially at the beginning when the coronavirus was new.

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OFFICIALS

CONTINUED FROM PG. 2 Dr. Ebtesam Attaya Islam, a critical care pulmonologist at the Health Sciences Center, said there is a lot of sadness, a lot of burnout and a lot of fear among healthcare workers. Especially at the beginning when no one knew what was going on.

“It’s been unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Islam said.

COVID-19 patients are on ventilators for long periods of time, Islam said. They are in the ICU for 30 to 40 days, which is much longer than the average ICU patient. Additionally, with COVID-19 patients their status can change rapidly, one day they are doing really well and the next day they crash.

When the pandemic started, the guidelines and recommendations for how to handle the situation as a healthcare worker were changing every couple hours.

“I think it was really bringing medicine back to its core,” Islam said. “You just do the best you can for those patients and help them in any way possible.”

Though she feels a little bit of relief with lowering active cases, Islam said she is still very worried about the variants. Additionally, she said she thinks a lot of healthcare workers upset

by Governor Greg Abbott’s decision to lift the statewide mask mandate, because many are still recovering from the last wave of COVID-19 patients and are experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

“Unless you’ve been inside the ICU or taken care of these patients, I think it’s unfair to speak for them,” Islam said.

Throughout this past year, two things were extremely difficult for Islam.

First, watching the suffering families went through as they were separated from their loved ones who were COVID-19 positive was difficult, Islam said.

Second is the fatigue, work does not end when these healthcare workers go home. They are constantly going over paperwork, updating families and checking the patient’s status, this makes it difficult to sleep after a 12 plus hour shift.

“I’m really tired,” Islam said.

“I mean everyone’s really tired.”

However, frontline workers in the critical care units have learned a lot about COVID-19 this past year and have started to adapt, Berk said, which he thinks caused the mortality rate of severe COVID-19 patients to decrease. Putting patients on their stomachs, waiting to put them on ventilators until necessary and therapy to diminish blood clots are some techniques healthcare workers have discovered.

Additionally, many hospitals expanded their bed capacity as much as they could, Berk said.

Much was learned about nursing homes and how they are handled as well because of early coronavirus losses in these communities, Berk said.

The Health Sciences Center has held virtual graduation ceremonies, virtual match days and plans to have match day virtual this year as well, Berk said. A face-to-face graduation ceremony may be attempted this May if things continue the upward trend.

The decrease in hospitalizations and active case numbers is a bit of a mystery though, Berk said.

“Hospitalizations have come down so dramatically that we’re really not that sure why,” Berk said. “Because it couldn’t be the vaccine, the vaccines is too early, and there’s not enough people that got it.”

Though the vaccines have presented a surge of hope among the community, Berk said experts, along with the Center for Disease Control are predicting this March to be difficult because of variants of COVID-19.

However, right now the antibodies used by the vaccine do neutralize the variants and

things are better than they have been in a long time, Berk said, and he expects the CDC to announce that a small group of COVID-19 vaccinated individuals can gather because the risk is low, giving families torn apart by the virus a chance to see each other again.

Mayor Pope discussed the COVID-19 vaccine progress and how they developed the plan that has led Lubbock to be the state leader in vaccinations per capita.

“We’ve got a really good team,” Pope said.

The Public Health Department, many other city employees, Health Sciences Center officials and Covenant Health System officials all came together to ensure the community got vaccinated, Pope said.

The team, made up of individuals in the organizations mentioned above, decided it was best to have one spot citizens could go to get vaccinated where there is plenty of space and parking, Pope said.

“We started the week right after Christmas, and we’ve tweaked it, and we’ve kept getting better and better,” Pope said.

The vaccine clinic is filled with smiles and hope, Pope said, with individuals devoted to giving time and effort into vaccinating the Lubbock community.

Adding to that hope, Pope said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been approved by the FDA and has committed to shipping 20 million doses to the U.S. this month and 100 million doses by the end of June, which will help make the vaccine more available.

The vaccine is not the only thing contributing to the falling active coronavirus case numbers in Lubbock, Pope said the spikes in the fall

NEWS made citizens more aware, and the community doubled down on efforts to try and mitigate the spread.

“Our students are a big part of that,” Pope said.

Though it is exciting to see efforts to thwart the virus succeed, Pope said he has lost friends to the virus and does not want to shortchange the disease. However, the vaccine is promising.

“Our job is really to safely get every one of those doses in the arm of a West Texan every week,” Pope said. “My job in particular has been to advocate and to make sure to hold our hand high and say ‘listen, you give us doses we’re getting them into people’s arms.’”

Tech President, Lawrence Schovanec, said the most important thing he learned this past year was the value of communication.

“People need to know what’s going on,” Schovanec said. “Silence tends to bring anxiety.”

Silence also allows for conclusions to be drawn that may not be correct. For example, Schovanec said Tech officials waited two days to release their response to Governor Greg Abbott’s lifting of restrictions, but to some it seemed like they waited a month.

When deciding how to proceed with the Spring 2020 semester, Schovanec said it was important they looked at the national situation and the advice and guidance of the Center for Disease Control. Additionally, Tech System officials met every day to share information.

“What we thought might be just a short-term adjustment turned into a massive transformation from face-to-face to online,” Schovanec said.

Even though COVID-19 case numbers were lower than they were in the Fall of 2020, Schovanec said the fear of the unknown contributed to the decision to move completely virtual. In addition, the concept of face masks was foreign.

As the fall semester approached, they began to discuss how Tech would return to classes and Schovanec said they had to be very respectful of different perspectives.

In the first three weeks of September, Tech had about 1,150 cases within the university. Though they reserved rooms to isolate students and provide for quarantining, they had to get additional rooms, Schovanec said.

“Even when we did that we didn’t know where it was going to end,” Schovanec said. “What that shows you is, sometimes you have to take calculated risks. If you wait for perfect knowledge and information, you’ll be paralyzed.”

However, Schovanec said Tech has emerged from steep case numbers in the fall in good shape financially, enrollment wise and believes the Tech brand is stronger than ever. Last semester the university reported record numbers of student enrollment and record research expenditures despite the circumstances.

Now, as Texas experiences a lifting in restrictions, Schovanec discussed Governor Abbott’s decision and its significance.

“The fact that he did it in Lubbock I think added a certain element of drama to it, but he did allow us to make decisions as to what was best for us, and I appreciate that,” Schovanec said.

In his statement made March 5 regarding Tech’s response to the announcement, Schovanec said Tech would

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CHASE SEABOLT/The Daily Toreador

A Lubbock Fire Rescue member administers a COVID-19 vaccine at 11 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021 in the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center. The City of Lubbock administered 1600 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. continue following guidelines, wearing masks and social distancing. He said some people came back this semester anticipating the fact there would be masks and social distancing, and it would be unfair to them to change the rules, especially when the vaccine is not available to everyone yet.

Additionally, Schovanec said when making the decision, it was very important to them that Tech student leadership spoke up, thanking Student Body President Hunter Heck and other student leaders.

“It was so useful and helpful to me to tell some of those who reached out, ‘Our students are not comfortable with lifting these safety precautions,’” Schovanec said.

As the summer and fall semester quickly approach, many students are wondering what modality Tech will choose to pursue. Schovanec said students will continue to have an option on what modality they prefer and thinks there needs to be a gradual transition to normal.

“We’re going to be mostly face-to-face or hybrid, but there needs to be enough op-

tions for those who haven’t had the vaccine or are concerned,” Schovanec said.

The availability of the vaccine will affect these decisions, but Schovanec said he anticipates that by September, October of 2021 Tech will be much more open.

It is important to note that no official decisions have been made regarding Summer and Fall 2021 semesters and these are all speculated answers.

As a university leader, Schovanec said he learned many things throughout this past year.

A great admirer of Abraham Lincoln, Schovanec said Lincoln could take criticism and use it to inform his decisions, which is something he said he has been keeping in mind.

When people criticize it is not always personal, they are just sharing their perspective.

“I think what this has taught us is, people at their core, and I always knew this, are good,” Schovanec said, “and just because they have a different view doesn’t mean they’re necessarily trying to be antagonistic, and you need to pay attention to those views.” @HannahIsomDT

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PROFILE

Cook shares personal, COVID-19 journey

By MATEO ROSILES Opinions Editor

A plane was engulfed in flames at the Preston Smith International Airport on March 11, 2020, as the City of Lubbock hosted an emergency exercise.

Later that day, the City received the first COVID-19 case, and Dr. Ronald Cook came to the forefront in helping guide the city during this time as the local health authority.

Before becoming the health authority for Lubbock, Cook said he had always wanted to be a physician from a young age.

“The human body is a fascinating piece of artwork and all of its inner workings and how they have to work together,” Cook said.

His fascination with medicine only grew once he was an upperclassman in high school. He pestered his local hospital into becoming an orderly, he said.

Donning his white shirt, white pants and his white

band shoes, Cook became a self proclaimed “trauma junkie” while working in the emergency room.

After graduating high school, Cook said he enrolled at Odessa College to start his EMT training.

Later he would transfer to Texas Tech University while also being enrolled as a paramedic at Lubbock Christian University where he would go on to be a paramedic for eight years.

He would later enroll in medical school at the University of North Texas Health Science Center and complete his residency at the Tech Health Science Center.

“My goal and my calling is to make people feel better and to avoid people getting sick,” Cook said.

Cook said he joined the Health Science Center faculty in 1996 and now serves in several roles in the Lubbock and Tech community ,such as the chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine in the School of Medicine, Tech

Health Sciences Center chief health officer, medical director of Health Department, local health authority as well as a professor.

“I looked at private practice when I was finishing residency in family medicine, but I decided I want to stay on faculty because I really enjoyed teaching,” Cook said. “Both my parents were school teachers, and I guess it rubbed off on me.”

When it comes to his role as local health authority, Cook said that the position comes from Texas state legislation that mandates every municipality to have a health authority. He further said that the position is a non-paid, sworn-in position appointed by the City of Lubbock.

The local health authority works with the Texas Department of State Health Services and is responsible for the health of the community, Cook said.

As well as the local health authority, Cook said he sits on the City of Lubbock’s

Board of Health as an exofficio member.

He said the board creates plans for natural and man-made disasters such as plane crashes and even novelty viruses like COVID-19.

The plan even covers where and how to vaccinate a large quantity of people.

“It’s just, we’ve never really had to do it for real until this happened,” he said.

When it comes to juggling the various roles in the Lubbock and Tech community, Cook said it is because he has a good team that he works with.

“All kinds of things that we know but it’s how do I stay sane is I have a fantastic team in each one of them doing their job at their most level, helps me do things better too, so it’s just, it’s a matter of teamwork, and we have a great team here in the city to do those sorts of things,” Cook said.

He said that he feels accomplished in keeping the Lubbock community informed during this time and

Photo Courtesy of the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center

Dr. Ronald Cook, local health authority, poses in his office at Texas Tech Health Science Center in Lubbock, TX. Dr. Cook has played a pivotal role in informing the Lubbock community. being able to recommend guidelines to city officials.

Things got bad for a bit, he said, but the city responded well to the recommendations that were made.

Cook said that it is very clear how much Tech Systems Chancellor, Tedd Mitchell, chief financial officer at Tech, Noel Sloan, Dr. Edwards at student health, and the rest of the

Tech leadership care for the mental and physical wellbeing of students.

“Thank the students for doing a good job of being socially distanced and wearing their masks and not spreading this virus,” Cook said. “We know that it’s hard. Everybody wants to be social, and people want to go do college life.” @MateoRosilesDT

PROFILE

Wells describes experience with COVID-19

By MALLORY ROSETTA Managing Editor

Katherine Wells, director of public health for the City of Lubbock, has played a key role in managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s just been a journey.

I think it’s a journey for everybody,” she said. “I mean, everybody’s going to have their COVID stories for their whole life; we’ll be talking to our grandkids saying, ‘Back in 2020 when everything shut down.’”

Wells has been with the Lubbock health department for six years and previously worked at the National Institute of Health and the Department of State Health Services in Austin. Wells said she moved to Lubbock to look at rebuilding Lubbock’s public health system, which had been

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significantly cut back in 2012.

The pandemic began differently for the health department, starting in January of 2020. Wells said that is when the health department started monitoring what was going on in China, what was happening nationally and what other states and other health departments were doing.

The health department employees started going through tabletop exercises where they practiced what would happen if Lubbock got a case and would sit together as a group to brainstorm for what would happen next, Wells said. One thing they did not foresee was the length of time this pandemic would last.

“Usually, the health department does more with outbreaks, so you’ll see a cluster of disease, but that only lasts for a couple of weeks at most that we’re working something, and then it kind of goes back to normal,” she said.

“So, we weren’t expecting this to be a year-long process. I just think nobody knew what we were getting into or what was, you couldn’t foresee what was happening.”

FILE PHOTO/The Daily Toreador

Lubbock City Manager Jarrett Atkinson, Director of Public Health Katherine Wells and local health authority, Dr. Ronald Cook speak at the news conference regarding COVID-19 on March 11, 2020, at the Lubbock Emergency Operations Center. Wells has played a key role in alleviating the pandemic in Lubbock.

Now, Wells said the biggest project the health department is working on is the public vaccine clinic, which operates four days a week at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center. On the days the clinic is not operating, the health department is figuring out staffing, making sure everything’s restocked, making sure the vaccine orders are coming in and working with the state.

Before the pandemic, Wells said the health department was working on rebuilding the capacity for mental health and substance use disorder. Unfortunately, that project was put on the back burner because of COVID-19.

One thing Wells said she misses from before the pandemic is having time for planning, meetings and working with her staff and

leadership development.

“I had a lot more control of my life. I probably worked closer to, you know, 40-45 hours a week and not 80 hours a week (and) only gave interviews on things like flu and Zika and mosquito-borne viruses,” she said.

Another challenge Wells said has come out of the pandemic has been adjusting to using Zoom as a main form of communication. She has had to get more comfortable watching herself on camera and dealing with the media, as those were her two biggest concerns going into this job.

Wells said being consistent and honest with people about what is going on and what the health department knows and does not know that people really want the answers to is also difficult.

“It’s hard because what you’re saying for this isn’t necessarily what’s popular.

You know, talking about masks and limiting capacity and what needs to happen, those aren’t popular choices right now,” Wells said. “I wish I could say, ‘Everybody run out and go out to restau-

rants and eat and go to the movies,’ and, you know, what you want and what needs to happen are different.”

Ultimately, Wells said she hopes that Lubbock gets through the pandemic and hopes the contact tracing and investigations the health department is doing saves lives and controls the spread in some areas.

The work with immunizations and having a large clinic functioning in Lubbock is another factor Wells said she hopes is getting Lubbock through the pandemic quicker, so everyone can get back to the daily activities that many people miss.

Wells also is thankful for her staff and the work they are continuously doing to ensure the measures in place to mitigate the effects of the pandemic run smoothly.

“I’m glad to be able to lead this department and, you know, I really think we did some good in the community,” Wells said. “And I have awesome staff. It’s not just me, there’s a huge group of people, there’s an army of people behind me to keep me going.” @MRosettaDT

SOCIAL MEDIA

TikTok trends create community during COVID-19 isolation

By AMANDA HAMPTON L a Vida Editor

The video sharing social media app, TikTok, has started countless trends since the start of quarantine. From the Carole Baskin “Savage” remix to “My Type,” students have begun to reminisce on quarantine and how life was at the start of COVID-19.

Isabella Rogers, a freshman pre-nursing major from Lewisville, said she started using TikTok when she was in eighth grade before the app rebranded and was known as Musical.ly. She now has an account with 91,500 followers.

When quarantine first started last year, the dance to Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage’’ was a popular routine for TikTok users to learn, Rogers said. Other users created what they eat in a day compilations and vlogged their daily quarantine routines consisting of Chloe Ting workouts and family walks.

Food trends became popular on the app during quarantine, Ale Salazar, a sophomore journalism major from Frisco, said.

TikTok users learned to master whipped coffee and new smoothie bowl recipes.

Other trends during q u a r a n t i n e o n Ti k To k included “Rags 2 Riches” and “Chinese New Year,” Addyson Ford, a freshman

fashion design major from Paradise, said.

“I feel like TikTok got way more popular because of COVID, so a lot of people started making more videos,” Salazar said.

TikTok was frequently used to share information at the start of quarantine, Salazar said. Some people made jokes on the app about being sent into lockdown, while others shared how to stay safe during COVID-19 by encouraging people to wash their hands, wear masks and social distance.

Because of quarantine, there were a lot more trends and a lot of new content, and it was relatable content, and that’s the thing about TikTok is it’s relatable.

ISABELLA ROGERS FRESHMAN PRE-NURSING MAJOR However, as the U.S. enters into one year since the start of COVID-19, popular trends on the app are not as focused on the pandemic anymore, Salazar said.

In Fall 2020, “Tech Tok” rose in popularity on the TikTok algorithm. Many Tech students were getting

featured on other Tech student’s for you pages, which helped them find other students at the school with similar interests.

Rogers said one of the reasons she enjoys using Ti k Tok i s bec a use she gets to watch other Tech students’ videos and gets excited to see people she knows on the app.

Ti k To k h a s a l l o w e d Salazar to connect with people while in college, she said. The app lets people link their Instagram accounts, which offers another way for people to meet during COVID-19.

TikTok has also influenced the type of music Ford listens to, she said.

“I listen to a lot of rap music and every time that a song on TikTok that catches my eye, I always go look it up and that becomes my favorite song,” Ford said. “Sometimes a country song will come up, and I’ll be like, ‘Oh I like that song,’ so I’ll go find it and I’ll listen to it.”

“TikTok was kind of a joke when I was in high school,” Rogers said. “I didn’t think much of it, and then quarantine hit, and I was on there every day.”

When COVID-19 started, many people felt lonely and confused about the nature of lockdowns and quarantining, Rogers said. TikTok was a way for people to find joy in the midst of isolation and being away from their normal daily routines.

TikTok became a platform for people to find a community where everyone was experiencing the same hardships during quarantine and could realize they were not alone, Rogers said.

“I think the app became

super positive over quarantine,” Rogers said. “Because of quarantine, there were a lot more trends and a lot of new content, and it was relatable content, and that’s the thing about TikTok is it’s relatable.” @AmandaHamptonDT

SPORTS

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MARCH 11, 2021

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SPORTS

Athletics to look up following attendance policy updates

By ZACH RICHARDS Sports Editor

On March 12, 2020, Texas Tech and Texas men’s basketball were slated to play in a highly anticipated matchup in the annual Big 12 tournament.

11:30 a.m. was the determined start time for the game, and it was business as usual until about halfan-hour before tip-off.

During warmups, both teams were pulled off the court following an announcement from the AAC, canceling their own respective tournament.

And in suit, the Big 12 followed in cutting its own.

258 days passed in wake of COVID-19 without college basketball for the Red Raiders, and even upon returning to their home court of United Supermarkets Arena, they debuted to a different home court.

“For the longest time, we didn’t know if it’s going to be zero fans or what.”

Te c h h e a d b a s k e t b a l l coach Chris Beard said.

One of the top fan locations in all of college basketball was dwindled down to just over one-fifth of its capacity, as only 3,345 fans were admitted to the Red Raiders’ season opener against Northwestern State, according to Tech Athletics, despite the arena able to seat well over 15,000.

“Obviously a unique night,” Beard said in a news conference following Tech’s opener against Northwestern State.

“Kind of a different scene for college basketball.”

Prior to their game, however, Tech women’s basketball took the floor against UTRGV in a similar environment.

Head coach Krista Gerlich’s debut at the helm of Lady Raider basketball was met by an unorthodox atmosphere.

“It was very different,” Gerlich said. “I mean, with a mask on and it not being a packed house … With fans being so far away.”

COVID-19 had taken the world by storm, but athletics went on, and as a result, fans were limited.

But they made the most of their narrow entry to Tech’s home games, and the venue made fit as best as possible.

“We’ve been fortunate here in Lubbock, we’ve had the 25 percent occupancy to the games, we’ve sold out games at that 25 percent,” Beard said. “A lot of the teams – Baylor, just the other day, you know, had great crowds; wasn’t the 100 percent sold out

seats, but our guys have been blessed in that way.”

Beard said.

But optimism was at the forefront of the competition, and after nearly an entire season of strict capacities, the athletics realm is beginning to reshape day-by-day.

In fact, Tech recently revamped its attendance and game day status for spring outdoor sporting events.

“We did reach out to every season ticket holder that was not allowed in and were not sold tickets, due to capacity rulings, and we sold them their tickets,” Robert Giovannetti, senior associate athletics director at Tech, said. “We’re anticipating crowds of about 75 percent now for baseball and softball.”

With baseball season ramping up, both players and coaches are excited about the opportunity to play in front of family and friends. “ We h o p e w e g e t a s many as we can pack in there this weekend,” junior center fielder Dylan Neuse said about fans reentering Dan Law baseball field. “We love playing in front of our fans.”

Te c h h e a d b a s e b a l l coach Tim Tadlock added, “Best fans in the country right here in Lubbock …

We love our fans, love sharing our team with our fans, and they love playing for them.”

But the ruling could also extend for basketball, as the Tech men and women’s programs will enter their respective Big 12 tournaments.

The Red Raiders are scheduled for a Thursday night game against Texas at 8 p.m. The Lady Raiders are set for the same time of 8 p.m. against Kansas State.

In a sort of rerun from last year, Tech men’s basketball will prepare to play Texas again in the first round of the Big 12 tournament, a matchup that has been in favor of Tech the past two outings.

“Last year, we didn’t get to play these guys,” junior guard Kyler Edwards said. “So I mean, us to be able to get another chance at them and be able to get a chance at March Madness, it’s like, I mean, it’s just an experience that everybody in the country wants to experience.”

But despite the x’s and o’s, the team is just ready to play.

“Last year, not getting an opportunity to play in the tournament, things like that, you know, I’m just super excited to be

in March,” sophomore forward Kevin McCullar said. “And, you know, this is what you play for.”

Even more so, the newfound opportunity at increased capacity lends an opportunity for more fans, family members an overall crowd presence to be available as the postseason moves on.

And at the best time possible, as well, with NCAA basketball’s biggest stage preparing to be one for the books after the first March Madness cancellation in history took place just last year, according to the NCAA, it had been held every year since 1939, prior. In fact, the tournament was still played during World War II in both 1940 and 1944 despite even the Olympics being canceled both years.

March is the climax for many sporting teams.

“I think there’s a little bit of a buzz like there always is. You know, it’s March, you know, we’re getting into survive and advance time.” Beard said. “As players, this is what you look forward to.

And certainly as coaches, you know, this is where

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TOP: Sophomore infielder/catcher swings at the plate during the Texas Tech vs. Rice baseball game on March 7, 2020, on Dan Law Field in Rip Griffin Park. BOTTOM: Redshirt Junior Karli Hamilton jogs around third base after teammate Senior Jessica Hartwell hits a home run to right field against University of North Texas at 3 p.m. on March 2, 2019. Rocky Johnson Field. The No. 18 Lady Raiders take down the Eagles, 8-1. you want your team to play the best.” @ZachRichardsDT

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VACCINES

City of Lubbock sets strides in vaccine administration

By ZACH RICHARDS Sports Editor

What was once one of the nation’s hottest spots for COVID-19 has taken a turn, and now, Lubbock is administering vaccinations among the fastest in the state.

In fact, according to Texas Department of State Health Services, Lubbock has administered first-dose vaccinations to 66,245 people. Of these, 39,169 people have received both doses and are fully vaccinated.

For reference, 156, 813 people reside in Lubbock who are 16 and older. This means nearly 25 percent of Lubbockites have received both doses, and 42 percent have received their first dose.

But it is important to take into account that Texas is still in phase 1A and 1B of vaccine distribution.

“We are continuing to follow the state of Texas guidelines for vaccinations,” Katherine Wells, Director of Public Health in Lubbock, said. “You must be in the 1A category, which are our healthcare workers, first responders and home health, or be in the 1B category, which is either that you are over 65 or you are between 18-65, and you have one of the state qualifying health conditions such as diabetes, obesity or cancer.”

CHASE SEABOLT/The Daily Toreador

Someone who just received the first dose of their vaccine poses for a selfie with a sign stating “I got the COVID-19 vaccine” at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021 at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center. Nearly 25 percent of Lubbock citizens have received both doses of the vaccine and 42 percent have received the first dose.

But the state and county are both looking forward, and with that, a broader audience will receive the vaccine in wake of fluid disbursement.

Texas is in the process of opening another category of vaccine distribution in coming months.

“Word on the street is that maybe the state will open up to 1C category maybe around the first of April, we don’t know yet, but that’s our best guess.” Dr. Ronald Cook, chair of the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center School of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine, said.

According to the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, Phase 1C includes people aged 65-74, people aged 16-64 with underlying medical conditions and essential workers, such as people who reside in transportation, food services, construction, finance and other branches.

As Lubbock rolls on, though, an up swinging, vaccinated county was not always the case.

In fact, at one point, Lubbock county’s death rate was in the same, top-10 national grouping as mass cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago, despite having significantly less people.

But, the City of Lubbock responded, and in prompt fashion, put forth efforts to negate the

spread, death and infection rate of COVID-19.

“Because of everybody’s efforts, our hospital numbers are very, very low,” Cook said.

He went on to emphasize the impact volunteers and workers had in regard to the quick and effective vaccination procedures Lubbock has undergone.

The city has transformed, and now lays host to several vaccine locations and clinics.

The next clinic, slated for Saturday, March 13, will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Lubbock Memorial Civic Center Exhibit Hall, according to the City of Lubbock website. The given vaccines have been allocated from The Texas Department of State Health Services, who administered doses of Moderna to the Public Health Department, the host of the clinic.

“The Civic Center clinic is set up for our entire community, and that’s not just Lubbock residents.

We want to see individuals form our surrounding counties also come in to access vaccines.”

Wells said.

But it does not stop there.

United Supermarkets, CVS Pharmacy and H-E-B have also expanded their respective foundations to host vaccination efforts in Lubbock. Walmart is looking to step in as well.

“We learned yesterday that

two of the Walmart locations in Lubbock will be getting vaccines through the federal program,” Lubbock Mayor Dan Pope said in a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “The Walmart on the West loop and the Walmart on the South loop.”

Pope said further details will be released soon.

The county also hosts all three COVID-19 vaccines in Pfizer, Moderna and newly instated Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which is a one-dose vaccine that has a 67 percent disease prevention status, and nobody who has taken it had to be hospitalized, Cook said.

On the individual spectrum, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded its eligibility for vaccinations in Texas to schoolteachers and employees (K-12 and daycare workers), Wells urged the newly instated group to receive their vaccines.

She also emphasized the need to get vaccinated, as the state takes note of the vaccinations per county, and distributes vaccines as needed.

But as much of a factor as the individual plays in getting vaccinated, the City of Lubbock has also increased measures to make the process easier.

“We also have some resources now to go out and vaccinate

people in their homes, so if you are home bound, call the health department.” Wells said.

Pope said he wants everyone who needs the vaccine to have access to the vaccine.

“I want to make sure there are no barriers to you getting vaccinated,” he said. “You can call 775-3640, we will get you a ride set up; it will be in one of our smaller vans.”

The combined efforts of Lubbock have left it among the top vaccine distributors in the state.

“It looks like Fort Bend County has nudged us out of first place,” Pope said. “We’re asking for a recount.”

But in all the increased vaccinations to go along with recordlow COVID-19 numbers in the city, Pope, Cook and Wells all said to remain safe and vigilant, as there is still a ways to go.

“Even if you’ve received the virus or the vaccine, you will still need to wear a mask,” Cook said.

“Don’t get lackadaisical about not wearing a mask.”

Wells shared Cook’s sentiment.

“We are not out of the woods yet,” Wells said, “but if we can keep our viral load in our community this low and continue to vaccinate at the rate we are vaccinating, we are going to get through this as a community.” @ZachRichardsDT

ONLINE

Online learning, technology operations evolved in year since COVID-19

By EMMA SIPPLE Copy Editor

Since classes went completely online in March 2020, both eLearning and Information Technology as well as other departments at Texas Tech have worked to ease the transition and assist students, faculty and staff.

“Everything that we had done in the past was helpful in terms of making sure that we had sufficient bandwidth

and things like that we did add some new tools, like we already had Zoom earlier, but we had a limited set of licenses,” Sam Segran, chief information officer and vice president for Information Technology, said.

Tech had licenses for M i c r o s o f t Te a m s a n d Skype as well, Segran said. Tech acquired more licenses for Zoom.

Zoom also works well for large groups like the town halls hosted by the president

or chancellor, Segran said.

Zoom also can be beneficial for outside lecturers to be able to communicate in the classroom setting.

In terms of online learning, Tech also had Blackboard Collaborate available for synchronous communication Justin Louder, associate vice provost and interim superintendent of eLearning & Academic Partnerships, said.

Zoom was also added in for faculty, staff and students.

“It’s a really strong plat-

form. And it allows faculty and students to continue having face-to-face conversations, even if they’re not, you know, in the same place,” Louder said.

In early February of 2020, the office of eLearning, the Office of the CIO and IT and the Teaching and Learning Professional Development Center all met to put plans in place for if Tech would make the shift to fully online learning, Louder said.

“So, the three groups had

already started to meet and put in place some plans that if Texas Tech made this shift, we would have things ready to go,” Louder said. “And so that’s why, as soon as, as the president announced the shift, we were able to launch a website for both faculty and students.”

Faculty and staff had two weeks to go fully online, Louder said. eLearning and other departments around campus sent resources to help make the shift from online easier.

The IT department also provided resources for students, faculty and staff as they adjusted to remote and online learning, Segran said.

They also increased bandwidth and cloud storage.

Once students, faculty and staff were back on campus, more additions were added to accommodate for online and hybrid courses, Segran said.

“So, when we had the outdoor classrooms or outdoor study areas ... instead of students all gathering, in the (Student Union Building) or the library or in any one area … everybody was working online, we actually created four Wi-Fi hotspots outdoors,” Segran said.

IT also purchased equipment for students, faculty and staff to check out for the semester, Segran said.

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About 600 of the 800 users were students.

Both IT and eLearning have also planned for the upcoming semesters. Moving forward, Segran said IT ran a survey of what other tools faculty needed.

“We’ve worked with lots of faculty that have never taught online before,” Louder said. “So, I hope many tackling they’ll see the benefits of online learning. But I also hope that the faculty, even when they go back to teaching face to face, they see the value in web assisted instruction.”

Louder said he hoped students were able to continue through their collegiate career with limited interruption because of the switch to online learning.

“I hope they felt supported by the university with the resources and things we provided during remote online instruction and hybrid and online instruction later on,” Louder said. “I hope they feel like that, you know, we’ve been there to listen to them and hear their concerns and work with them through concerns. And I hope that at the end of the day, the classwork and the interactions they have with faculty would just be as strong as it would have been, had they been in a faceto-face classroom.” @EmmaSippleDT

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