VACCINE APPROVED FOR CHILDREN

Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival resulted in nine deaths and hundreds of injuries.

Shelby Hiens Student Writer

Astroworld Festival is the annual music festival held in Houston, Texas run by Travis Scott. This year the event was scheduled for Nov. 5 and 6. However, after a crowd surge on the first night caused the deaths of nine attendees and the injuries of hundreds more, the second night of the festival was cancelled.

Before Scott even took the stage, the Houston Fire Department had begun documenting concerns about the event as early as 9:23 a.m. At that time, the department logged, “Participants have breached main gate and bypassed Covid testing check-

Officials with the fire department stated that the location of the event, NRG Park, had a maximum capacity of more than 200,000 people, but the concert was limited to 50,000 guests. However, crowd estimates at around 9 p.m. reported 55,000 concertgoers with 3,000 to 5,000 of them having illegally breached the site.

Scott appeared on stage at 9:02 p.m. and within the first several minutes of the show, a massive crowd surge had compromised the main stage. Over the next 40 minutes, officials began receiving 911 calls and reports of trampled and unconscious concertgoers flooded in.

At 9:38 p.m. Houston officials declared that a mass casualty incident had occurred and event personnel were told to shut down the event. “The ultimate authority to end the show is with production and the entertainer,” Finner said in a news conference on Wednesday.

point.” At 10:02 a.m. the department reported damaged fences and having “no control of participants.” Reports of bolt cutters being used to enter the venue came later in the day. At 4:54 p.m. the Houston Police Department assessed “dangerous crowd conditions.”

Chief Troy Finner of the police department met with Scott to communicate concerns about the conditions in the venue that afternoon and decided it was safe enough to proceed with the concert. “I had no reason to believe it wasn’t going to be safe,” Finner said.

The concert continued for more than 30 minutes until it was officially stopped at 10:10 p.m. Scott’s team stated that he did not know what was happening and was not informed of the tragedy until after the concert ended. “It was hours and hours after the concert when they actually found out about the tragedy and how it unfolded,” said Scott’s spokesperson, Stephanie RawlingsBlake.

Multiple people attempted to get the attention of Scott and his production crew in order to stop the concert. Ayden Cruz, who attended the event with one of the victims, climbed a ladder to reach a platform where a cameraman was filming to plead for him to stop the show. A woman joined Cruz in yelling at the cameraman, but he waved them off and ignored their pleas. Scott seemed to notice something was happening 22 minutes into his performance as he said, “Make sure he good. Walk with him. Take him.” Six minutes later as a golf cart with flashing blue and red lights struggled to drive through the mass of fans, Scott said, “There’s an ambulance in the crowd,” and paused for about a minute before continuing the show.

Eight people were confirmed dead on the night of Nov. 5. A ninth victim died on Nov. 10 after previously being declared braindead due to injuries sustained during Scott’s event. The dead ranged in age from 14 to 27. There were 25 people hospitalized from the incident, the youngest patient being nine years old. The family of the nine year old boy disclosed that he has been put in a medically induced coma after injuries sustained to his heart, lungs and brain.

Authorities have opened a criminal investigation but have not assigned any fault as of yet. “This is a very, very active investigation, and we will probably be at it for quite some time to determine what exactly happened,” Houston mayor Sylvester Turner said at a press briefing Nov. 6.

Scott started Astroworld Festival in 2018. courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The approval comes after a study showed strong protection with no serious side effects.

Sports Editor

On Oct. 29, the United States Food and Drug Administration granted approval for children within the age range of 5 to 11 years old to receive the Pfizer vaccination for the COVID-19 in emergency-use situations. The FDA described the approval vote as overwhelming,, 14-0, as the vaccine was shown in studies to be 90.7 percent effective in preventing the virus in children of this age group with no serious side effects.

This decision has been received very well by many Americans. Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting Commissioner of the FDA, is quoted saying “As a mother and a physician, I know that parents, caregivers, school staff, and children have been waiting for today’s authorization. Vaccinating younger children against COVID-19 will bring us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy.”

Pfizer’s vaccination is significantly different to accommodate for 5-11 year olds, administering lower doses of only 10 micrograms (one third of the dose given to 12 year olds to adults) of the vaccine in two doses which are spread apart by three weeks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have demonstrated their support as well for the FDA’s decision that this meets the efficacy and safety concerns. Approximately 39 percent of cases of COVID-19 in the United States under the age of 18 fell within this age range, and a large amount led to hospitalization, giving strong motivation to get a version of the vaccine out as soon as possible to address such concerns.

North Carolina was one state that jumped at the opportunity of having a vaccine for this age group. 24,000 children were vaccinated in the state within 24 hours of its opening, although this is only 3 percent of the state’s total population that is under the age of 11. This is likely to change as more and more children receive the vaccine, and concerns regarding safety of this vaccine have been alleviated. According to Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, the clinical trials for this vaccine were very extensive, and we should not cite the young age of these children as a reason to not get a vaccine.

CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walenski echoes these sentiments, stating, “I encourage parents with questions to talk to their pediatrician, school nurse or local pharmacist to learn more about the vaccine and the importance of getting their children vaccinated,” Pediatric professor Dr. Sarah Long also agrees with this view of the situation, saying, “We have one more vaccine that saves lives of children. And that we should be very confident to deploy it to the maximum to do what it is meant to do without significant concerns of serious adverse effects.”

This vaccination approval is still relatively new as we reach the middle of November, and there is still much to be seen as to the effects it will have upon the dynamic of the U.S. as a whole in the fight against COV-

ID-19, but this is just the beginning in North America, as Canada will likely be following suit within the next few weeks of approving the Pfizer vaccine for 5 to 11 year old children. For updated and accurate information and research into the coronavirus and vaccines among other medical questions, please visit both the FDA and the CDC website in order to be informed on issues surrounding health and medical treatment in the United States.

Authorization came after the FDA similarly approved booster shots. courtesy Wikimedia Commons

While Scott did not directly harm any individuals, he has encouraged violent behaviors without regard for safety.

Social Media & Web Manager

On Oct. 5, a deadly crowd crush occurred at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival, a music festival hosted in Houston, Texas. This disaster left nine dead, 25 hospitalized for serious injuries—two of which are still in critical condition—and over 300 injured. The crowd crush began moments before Scott took the stage, worsening with each minute he performed; the mass casualty event continued despite cries for help and an ambulance driving through the audience to save concert-goers who were being trampled to death.

Despite all this, Travis Scott kept performing. In a viral video, as the ambulance tries to make its way through the crowd, Scott sees the vehicle and says, “put a midScott performing for another 42 minutes, then attending an afterparty with Drake after the concert ended.

While many people share the blame of what happened that night, such as security, the executive producer of the festival and the festival director, no one is more to blame than Travis Scott himself. According to a police report, Scott was personally warned by the Houston chief of police about the possibility of “lack of crowd control” hours before the concert began. In addition to this, a 56 page document obtained by The New York Times depicts the security plan arranged by concert organizers that clearly outlines the possibility of “The potential for multiple alcohol/drug related incidents, possible evacuation needs, and the ever-present threat of a mass casualty situation.” Knowing all this, Travis Scott chose to perform.

Even his conduct during the performance itself is incriminating. Security placed at the front of the barricades that block the crowd from the stage can only see what is happening directly in front of them. Travis Scott, however, was performing on an elevated stage—elevated enough to see an ambulance in the crowd. Scott could see everything that occured in the audience. Perhaps he did not truly know the extent of what was happening, but when he has a long track record of encouraging violence at his own shows, then can he really be so innocent? Travis Scott has been arrested twice for inciting violence and riots at his concerts, one of which occurred in a nearby venue, the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers, Arkansas. Scott has long idolized the cruelty and injuries of his fans as he posted pictures of seriously injured individuals on his instagram throughout the years—some of these are still up, though some have been deleted in the aftermath of Astroworld.

dle finger in the air … Two hands in the sky. You all know what you came to do, Chase B, let’s go. I wanna make this motherfucking ground shake.” Rather than asking the audience to make way for the ambulance or better yet ending the show, he immediately starts another song as the ambulance attempts to aid dying individuals. This occured only 26 minutes into his set, with

Travis Scott’s decision to continue performing despite pleas of help and an ambulance in the audience shows that does not care for the well-being of his fans. It is extremely easy for an artist to stop a show and help fans. For example, Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters has kicked out violent fans mid-song. Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day once noticed a woman getting sexu-

courtesy Wikimedia Commons Starting in 2012, Scott has become a prominent rap artist with a large sway over his audience.

ally assaulted in the audience of his concert. Armstrong immediately took matters into his own hands by missile drop kicking the perpetrator, and then proceeding to not miss a beat by ironically introducing their next song, “Nice Guys Finish Last.” Another example is Frank Iero stopping mid-song to pick up an unconscious woman from the front row, taking her backstage to receive medical attention. Afterwards, he passed out water bottles to the audience. These artists are not heroes for helping their fans; they are doing what any person in a position of power should be doing in this situation. Travis Scott, on the other hand, did nothing.

In reference to the belief that violent behavior is normal for concerts, it’s not. Mosh pits happen, but there is an etiquette that any decent person should know and follow, artist and fan alike, and for those that even have to ask what the etiquette is, they should not be joining a mosh pit. Travis Scott not knowing this basic etiquette and co-opting mosh culture into his live shows has created a fundamental issue with his performances; Scott has encouraged mosh pits with the expressed goal of injuring people, when in fact, mosh pits are a way of celebrating the music and releasing frustrations—not causing bodily harm to other individuals.

Travis Scott has also inadvertently profited over the tragedy at Astroworld. On the day of the incident, his song “Escape Plan” received almost two million streams on Spotify. His song “SICKO MODE” has also re-entered the top 200 list on Spotify. He’s even gained 500,000 new followers on Instagram since the tragedy. Despite this, and the fact that he is worth $60 million as per Celebrity Net Worth, he has done very little to make amends with his fans present at the festival. He has offered to pay for the funerals of the nine killed, and he has also given a month of free therapy via BetterHelp to those in attendance, but he has done nothing to help those who have been hospitalized by his festival. LiveNation announced they would start a fund to help pay the medical bills of those hospitalized, but have failed to announce exactly how much they are donating to this fund, or if this fund will fully cover the attendee’s medical bills. Travis Scott has done the bare minimum, driving home the point again about how little he cares for his fans.

tucollegian@tucollegian.com @TUCOLLEGIAN

Covert signals indicating personal danger have appeared in drink orders, codewords and now TikTok gestures.

Sports Editor

On Tuesday Nov. 2, a 16 year old girl from North Carolina was reported missing by family members, but found the following Thursday and later rescued from a kidnapper by the Laurel County Police Department of Kentucky. The authorities have attributed her escape to the use of a hand gesture wellknown on the platform TikTok as a signal of domestic violence at home.

According to the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, “The complainant was behind the vehicle and noticed a female passenger in the vehicle making hand gestures that are known on the social media platform ‘TikTok’ to represent violence at home—I need help—domestic violence … we don’t know how long coming down the interstate from Ohio that she had been doing this to other motorists hoping that they would notice that she was in distress, but finally someone did recognize.” The police arrested her kidnapper on multiple charges, such as possession of a matter of sex performance by a minor, and unlawful imprisonment.

While this gesture is specifically intended to express domestic violence, it is very impressive that the girl thought to utilize the same gesture in her situation. This is much more subtle than something that would be obvious like writing a note on paper and holding it up to passing traffic, or trying to send a text or dial 911, and the situation may have turned out much worse if she had tried something else. That being said, this situation raises questions about the implications of posting something on public social media platforms that demonstrates such techniques to communicate danger and signal for help.

One cannot deny that TikTok and other social media are not the best method to teach youth how to protect themselves or get help when in danger. The very publicity of the platform and how the vast majority of people today use these platforms point to the sad truth that child predators also lurk online, as well as others that desire to do violence to others. It is unreasonable and dangerous to live under the assumption that predators are not seeing these publicly broadcasted gestures to call for help, and that they are monitoring such information to serve their own twisted goals.

The people posting these videos and educational content on self protection are not the inherent problem. In fact, they are using these platforms as a tool that clearly helps people like this young girl. However, why is this not being communicated in other educational methods, such as in classes in school? There needs to be a push in public and private education to do better to communicate these techniques to young people that are victims due to their innocence and

editor in chief Piper Prolago

managing editor Zach Short

sports editor Logan Guthrie

variety editor Julianne Tran

commentary editor Adam Walsh

satire editor Anna Johns

photo & graphics editor Amy Polovich

business & advertising manager Madeleine Goodman

social media & web manager Maddie Walters

copy editor Ji Aldada

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impressionability. While there is still the opportunity for people seeking to do immoral things to receive this information, it would hopefully be more minimized than broadcasting that information to billions of people on the internet.

All said, there is not a great solution to the problem, and bad people will do bad things still, so the victims should never be blamed and the educators should not be harshly criticized for doing the best they can to help. We should all be proud of this girl, as she used the tools at her disposal to do the right thing and get the help she needed.