The Weekly Journal - May 13-19, 2020

Puerto Rico and the Caribbean

www.theweeklyjournal.com

>Josian E. Bruno Gómez

Wednesday, May 13-19, 2020 / no. 055

Tourism Still on Hold P6 Refinancings Jump by 70 Percent P7 Jobless Numbers Surge P8

Universities Transition to

Online Education Amid the Pandemic Embracing new teaching tools raises concerns and opportunities

A

>Courtesy of Airbnb

Giovanna Garofalo

The Joys of Gardening P14

ggarofalo@wjournalpr.com

@giopgarofalo

s the Puerto Rican government gradually reopens the economy, under siege due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the island’s higher education institutions have been forced to transition their education models to offer their programs online, with no certainty on when they can return to normalcy — prompting both advances and setbacks to students and faculty alike.

Although institutions like Nova Southeastern University (NSU) already had a hybrid or fully online model for most of its courses, many other colleges and universities have had to venture into new territories to sustain the academic term from a distance. THE WEEKLY JOURNAL interviewed students, faculty, and administrative leaders to discuss how their institutions are faring amid the lockdown.

Dr. Eduardo Lugo, psychologist and professor at the University of Puerto Rico’s (UPR) Mayagüez GO TO PAGE 4

The Weekly Journal > Wednesday, May 13, 2020 > 2

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a week in review More Than 600 Puerto Rico Businesses Ready to Reopen Faced with the new Executive Order leading to the partial reopening of various economic sectors starting May 4, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Puerto Rico government received more than 600 selfcertifications in a 72-hour period from businesses that say they are ready to operate. >Archive

FEMA Approves 552 Project Obligations in April for Puerto Rico FEMA and the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience obligated roughly $95.4 million for 552 projects during April — more than the total number of projects approved between January and September 2019 combined. Municipalities across the island received the bulk of these obligations for a total of 458 permanent work projects as part of the Post-Hurricane Maria recovery. >Carlos Rivera Giusti

Powered BY El Vocero de Puerto Rico, 1064 Ave Ponce de León 2nd floor San Juan, PR Postal Address: PO Box 15074, San Juan, PR 00902

Puerto Rico Receives More than $8.55 Million to Expand COVID-19 Testing The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded more than $8.55 million to expand COVID-19 testing in 22 health centers around the island, including those in Camuy, Lares, Loíza, Morovis, Naranjito, Ponce and San Juan. Widespread testing is a critical step in reopening the local economy. >Archive

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 campus and the Ana G. Méndez University (AGM) system, said that professors were forced to seek different means to cater to their students. Some universities have preestablished online programs, such as Blackboard or Edmodo, but professors have nonetheless implemented a variety of tools to facilitate both the teaching and learning experience. Lugo, for example, likes to use Google Meets and WhatsApp. Dr. Jesús Santiago, professor at the doctoral level at NSU and bachelor level at AGM, also incorporates WhatsApp in his classes, as well as Zoom.

While these professors appreciate the new tools at their disposal, some colleagues were not as welcoming. Manuel J. Fernós, president of the InterAmerican University (Inter), said that some professors who were already close to retirement left early because they were inexperienced with digital technology. Their classes were thus reassigned to other professors.

Moreover, students’ reactions to long-distance learning have been mixed.

Karina Ramírez, an undergraduate student at Universidad Sagrado Corazón, said that her remote courses have been laden with distractions and organizational issues.

“In-campus classes offer a type of organization that you don’t have in virtual lessons. For example, if somebody begins to talk, everyone begins to talk and [the class] becomes unintelligible. Also, my Internet connection falters sometimes and I can’t understand what the professors say, whereas in the classroom I can understand everything and there aren’t unnecessary interruptions,” explained

that is not the reality.” According to Lugo, students Ramírez, who uses Blackboard and Zoom to take who don’t have equal access to resources are classes in real-time. experiencing a type of discrimination.

Alexandra Rosario, a student at Inter’s Law Students from the Inter’s School, uses Blackboard, Zoom, Metropolitan campus in San Juan Microsoft Teams and Twen. She alleged on social media that one said that she has encountered professor demanded they buy minor inconveniences, but her a computer just one week prior experience has not been entirely At least to a test’s due date. “If you do unsatisfactory.

27 colleges in the not have a laptop or webcam, I “This is a situation that varies U.S. mainland am letting you know in advance with every professor because are facing classso that you purchase one online there isn’t uniformity on the way or action lawsuits or to communicate with Mr. the platform through which longfrom students who Jairo Pulido so he may offer a distance courses are taught and are demanding solution,” the email reads. Pulido, this is because the administration reimbursements in turn, responded to one of the excuses them as academic for the academic students that it is up to her and freedom,” Rosario asserted. semester, citing the professor to seek alternative discontent with mechanisms.

Addressing Students’ Needs how the institutions Fernós clarified that this A recurring concern among have managed the mindset is incongruent with the some interviewees is the lack of transition to remote university’s policy, noting that accessibility offered to students courses.

Inter is making an effort to allow from low-income backgrounds its campuses to lend computers who don’t have the equipment to students in need. required to pursue their classes, “Through the Association of or whose access is limited.

Private Colleges and Universities, “I know of classmates who live with seven I am proposing for La Fortaleza, through the people in one home and have to take the class Executive Order, to allow students who have issues under those circumstances. Likewise, I’ve also taking their tests from home to take them in the learned of single mothers and others who have universities with prior appointments, maintaining to care for their elderly parents, among other social distancing protocols,” he said. problems caused by this emergency,” Rosario Rosario stated that it would be premature to detailed.

From a psychologist’s standpoint, Lugo remarked, make such a determination, but affirmed that the faculty and student leadership have helped “life became exponentially complicated and the low-income students by distributing food and university thinks that life remains the same, and

In fact,

Inter President Manuel J. Fernós said he is advocating for the reopening of computer labs and similar facilities under strict health protocols. >Josian E. Bruno Gómez

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Some students’ experiences with virtual classes have been disconcerting.

800 pounds of produce. Moreover, student organizations have developed scholarships to assist students in need, while the faculty has managed these donations. “However, direct aid from the administration has been few,” she added.

Regarding student support, University of Puerto Rico (UPR) President Jorge Haddock said in a televised interview on “Jugando Pelota Dura” that the public institution requested the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) to suspend any tuition spikes for the next two or three years.

“We estimate that we will lose $54 million in revenue this semester on top of the $333 million that was already cut [by the FOMB]. We asked… to be provided those $54 million and to eliminate [budget] cuts... That will allow us to help students,” Haddock said.

Under the U.S. Cares Act, the UPR was assigned an $81.1 million economic stimulus, of which half will be distributed to its undergraduate and graduate students, although this process has not started yet. Private institutions were assigned a total of $324 million under the same law and some have already begun disbursing these funds.

Students Challenge Reimbursements

The Associated Press reported last week that at least 27 colleges in the U.S. mainland are facing class-action lawsuits from students who are demanding reimbursements for the academic semester, citing discontent with how the institutions have managed the transition to remote courses. Because on-campus facilities are closed, with few exceptions, some universities in Puerto Rico are offering refunds for certain fees.

The Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico — with campuses in Arecibo, Mayagüez and Ponce — made headlines in late April when it announced that it would reimburse between 50 percent and 100 percent of fees, including labs,

parking, housing and field trips. The university’s vice president, José A. Frontera, explained that if students have debts to the institution, the refunds would be applied to that balance.

On April 29, students of the Inter’s Law School received an email addressing Catholic University’s decision.

“In that [email], rather than giving us the information on how the… refunds would be distributed or any other relevant information, the entire missive was focused on clarifying that Catholic University was not going to reimburse 50 percent of tuition costs, but university fees and that these would be applied to the upcoming semester,” Rosario affirmed.

Rosario said that the institution categorized $415 as fees in her enrollment, so she expected to receive more than $200. However, she expressed dismay in a public Facebook post when she only received $22.50, roughly 11.25 percent of what she expected, with other students voicing similar concerns on social media.

Asked about this particular, Fernós said, “if [she] received $22.50, I surmise that it is from the parking fee of $45 and they received a credit for half of the semester... Given that the physical closure occurred on March 15, that is half of the semester. Whatever [she] paid in fees that semester will be reimbursed by half.” Alas, the Law School’s website confirms that fees amount to at least $415, the exact sum detailed in Rosario’s enrollment rundown.

Likewise, Ramírez received a refund for the parking fee in Sagrado Corazón but asserted that she and her classmates should be reimbursed for the entire cost of enrollment this semester.

“As one of the people dissatisfied with the change in courses, I would like the option of receiving a reimbursement [for the semester] because my grades have been severely affected

throughout the process,” she stated.

Meanwhile, students at Inter’s campuses who were enrolled in lab sessions or supervised practice — such as in Natural Sciences, Communications, internships and others — are able to take the main class remotely but will face an “incomplete” on these complementary courses. While they won’t be reimbursed for these programs, Fernós said that students will not be charged when they re-enroll once the pertaining premises are open.

Adopting New Tools For The Long Run

Although universities’ predominantly remote offering may be temporary, the tools espoused while under lockdown have persuaded academic communities to rethink traditional learning models, urging some to consider their use post-coronavirus.

THE WEEKLY JOURNAL asked if the present scenario could also shift the mindset of those who may dismiss the quality of online learning.

“There are countless science-based studies… that have proved the effectiveness of online learning as a tool for the university training process,” Santiago said. Indeed, the “2020 Online Education Trends Report” conducted by Best Colleges revealed that 95 percent of students surveyed in 2019 said they would recommend online education.

“I believe it has been a learning process for many. I know of professors who have dared to try tools they didn’t know of and I am sure that they will look at them as enrichment alternatives once face-to-face teaching resumes… Students have also been able to learn different alternatives that could facilitate the learning process,” Santiago added.

But for digital tools to flourish in a postpandemic scenario, the consensus among students is that universities must ensure equal access to these platforms and their respective equipment, as well as a uniform teaching model.

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Dorado Beach Resort >Courtesy of Discover Puerto Rico

Tourism Industry Still in Waiting Mode

Travel should see better numbers by September

D Rosario Fajardo

rfajardo@wjournalpr.com

@RosarioWJournal

iscover Puerto Rico, the island’s destination marketing organization (DMO) does not expect stateside residents to start traveling again until the third quarter of 2020, as many people remain concerned about their health due to the COVID-19 crisis.

“Puerto Rico is facing two battles, the public health and the financial crisis this pandemic has caused around the world. For us, the most important thing is to speed the recovery cycle and save the 80,000 jobs that represent the tourism sector on the island,” said Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rico.

Other figures put the number of tourism jobs on the island at 65,000, such as those of the Foundation for Puerto Rico.

The DMO projects a loss of 1.9 million room nights for the island due to the coronarivus, which is three times what was lost months after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in Sept. 2017.

Based on what has occurred in the past two months, changes in air capacity is down 13 percent through the end of 2020.

An increase in seats starting September through

December is expected, a strong signal in the return of leisure visitors in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2020. “Every week we are seeing updated research from our partners based on facts and data, that are driving us the direction of what the consumer is thinking and if they want to travel after it is safe to travel,” Dean said.

Through research conducted by Destination Analysts, consumers said they are looking to relax on a beach or in remote spaces that connect with nature, which positions Puerto Rico in a product advantage. Monitoring consumer sentiment helps the DMO staff to understand the messaging, as well as the correct audience and timing, segmenting consumers by geographic and demographic differences.

“Following our COVID-19 Action Plan, we are still on the Regroup Phase. It is important to understand that before entering the next phase, we’ll be looking for key benchmarks like a decline in the number of new COVID cases on the island, travel restrictions into and on the island are lifted or reduced, and of course, we need to see a critical mass of tourism-related businesses reopen in order to accommodate tourists,” explained Leah Chandler, CMO of Discover Puerto Rico.

Family Visits And Leisure Travel To Bounce Back First The travel industry, including major airlines like JetBlue, which serves Puerto Rico and the rest of the Caribbean, are expecting family visits and leisure travel to bounce back before business

travel.

JetBlue President and COO Joanna Geraghty said she projected family visits and leisure travel would return more quickly than business, which would be a benefit to JetBlue, which has a smaller share of business versus leisure than many of its competitors, according to businesstravelnews.com.

“Although the overall number of bookings remained extremely limited, we believe that we reached the bottom in terms of demand around mid-April, and expect to have a better sense of third and the fourth quarter of 2020 by early summer,” Geraghty said during a recent earnings call.

A recent global poll by the Northstar Meetings Group, suggested that meeting planners continue to work, reporting that 83 percent are still working full time. For this reason, the DMO sales team is working on leads for future events and travel to the island, Dean indicated. Although there is no doubt that lead volume is substantially down, the DMO said it is still seeing activity and has produced 40 new leads for over 23,000 rooms, which would translate to $20 million in economic impact since the lockdown began in mid-March.

On the leisure side, Discover Puerto Rico is working with partners to create a variety of promotions via social media that calls the attention of future travelers to the island. “While this is not a time for paid advertising or customary sales activities, we will continue to keep Puerto Rico topof-mind with our future visitors… For those who are dreaming of their next vacation, we want them to be dreaming about Puerto Rico,” Dean said.

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Residential Property Refinancings Increased During the Lockdown less than with a rented property. We have to do it now because interest rates go down when there is a crisis like this and when it is resolved, interest rates go up again,” Levis added.

Although in a very limited way, the company has recorded cases in which some clients who ran out of income were unable to close their mortgages. However, in this regard, he maintained that they can conclude the purchase of the property once clients show consistent incomes.

“I have two clients who lost their jobs and these closings had to be canceled, but if the company where they worked recruits them again, we will continue the case. For now, they are on hold. This is happening, but the cases are minimal,” Levis said.

Minimum drop in closings due to job losses

M

Brenda A. Vázquez Colón

bvazquez@elvocero.com

any Puerto Ricans are looking for alternatives that translate to savings during the COVID-19 crisis, so they are evaluating refinancing their residential properties to obtain cash or more comfortable monthly payments, given the significant drop in the interest rate.

This situation has had the effect that mortgage refinancing has begun to rise due to the fact that interest rates are at historically low levels, starting at 3.25 percent.

“Refinancing has increased by 70 percent.

Generally, 80 percent of our loans are for property sales, but we understand that during this month this will change to 50 percent for property purchases and 50 percent for refinancing. The client is seeking financial relief during the crisis,” said David R. Levis, president and CEO of Money House.

The calls that Money House is receiving are from people looking for moratoriums on their monthly payments and also inquiries about alternatives that will help them have more money in their pockets.

“They call a lot for moratoriums, but when we guide them, they end up choosing to refinance in which they do not have to invest, because there is a huge opportunity with interest rates that are lower than ever in history. This means relief for those clients who can continue paying. They want to cancel or reduce personal loans and credit cards with the money they can get from financing. Those who cannot pay are offered a

Property Values Expected to Drop

>Archive

moratorium,” the executive explained.

Good Time to Qualify

Levis said that 80 percent of customers who call Money House do not qualify for a loan because of their incomes and expenses, but that situation can change because there has been a 1.0 or 1.5 point drop in interest rates.

“For those cases that don’t qualify, we prepare them so they can buy in about six months …

This would have a domino effect for the sale of houses, real estate brokers and an increase in values, helping the economy of Puerto Rico,” he indicated.

“I urge people to call now because it is a good time to qualify or follow the plan to achieve it later with a substantial drop in interest rates.

When they [the clients] do an analysis and prequalify themselves, they realize that they are saving money by buying, because they pay

In related matters, property values, which had rebounded in some areas such as Dorado, Condado and Old San Juan after Hurricane Maria, could see a general drop again around the island.

“We should expect values to drop, at least, just as it happened with Maria, when weeks later, property values fell between 10 percent and 12 percent. The only way to analyze this is with a similar situation, and the only reference we have is Hurricane María,” said Migdoel Rodríguez, who has been a property appraiser since 1994.

The local economy’s development will be decisive for Puerto Rico residents to decide whether to buy residential properties, which results in market movement and therefore, in the permanence or change in property values.

“If the economy and population shrink, people will not have money to spend and values fall, but there is also a lot of money coming into the country from federal aid, which could stimulate work. This money could balance the situation.

We will be observing everything to see how we adjust the values,” Rodríguez said.

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/ Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Unemployment Surges to 31.4 Percent

More than four times the February figure

T Rosario Fajardo

rfajardo@wjournalpr.com

@RosarioWJournal

he coronavirus crisis is taking a heavy toll on Puerto Rico’s businesses and workers.

The unemployment rate in Puerto Rico could be hovering around 31.4 percent, according to preliminary calculations on different data compiled by the local Labor Department.

By contrast, the island’s unemployment rate was 7.8 percent in February, before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The agency has received some 238,934 claims of unemployment insurance since March 16, which is added to the estimated 94,000 people who were unemployed in January of this year, for at least 332,934 people without jobs today.

The island’s labor force is just over 1 million is about $20,296 a year, which means that people, which means that nearly one in three with the temporary addition of $600 a week in workers are now without a job. Puerto Rico’s strict unemployment benefits, a newly jobless person lockdown began on March 15, could be making more on with the majority of businesses unemployment than he or she closed, with the exception did while working. of those deemed “essential services.” While the lockdown U.S. Unemployment Rises To has been eased since last week The median and hundreds of businesses have 14.7 Percent annual income in made plans to reopen, thousands The U.S. unemployment rate Puerto Rico is about of people have been laid off or has also risen more than four $20,296 a year, which furloughed. times since February to at least means that with the Through the CARES Act, the 14.7 percent, a level last seen temporary addition federal government has been when the country was in the of $600 a week in trying to mitigate the economic throes of the Great Depression unemployment costs of the coronavirus through of the 1930s. In February, the benefits, a newly billions in forgivable loans to nation’s unemployment rate was jobless person could small businesses, payments of just 3.5 percent. be making more on $1,200 for each taxpaying adult The U.S. Labor Department unemployment than and an additional $600 a week reported that 20.5 million jobs he or she did while in temporary unemployment vanished in April in the worst working. benefits until July 31, among monthly loss on record, triggered others. by the coast-to-coast shutdowns Based on various calculations, of factories, stores, offices and unemployment benefits in Puerto other businesses.

Rico could reach $790 a week until the cutoff date.

The breathtaking collapse is certain to intensify Generally, the average unemployment benefit in the push-pull across the U.S. over how and when Puerto Rico is $190 a week. to ease the stay-at-home restrictions.

The median annual income in Puerto Rico “The jobs report from hell is here,” said Sal

In fact,

Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, “one never seen before and unlikely to be seen again barring another pandemic or meteor hitting the Earth.”

The nationwide unemployment report indicated that the vast majority of those laid off in April — roughly 75 percent — consider their job loss temporary, a result of businesses that were forced to suddenly close but hope to reopen and recall their laid-off workers.

Whether most of those workers can return anytime soon, though, will be determined by how well policymakers, businesses and the public deal with the health crisis. Economists worry it will take years to recover all the jobs lost.

The meltdown has occurred with startling speed. In February, unemployment was at a more than 50-year low of 3.5 percent, and the economy had added jobs every month for a record 9 1/2 years. In March, the unemployment rate was 4.4 percent.

“In just two months the unemployment rate has gone from the lowest rate in 50 years to the highest rate in almost 90 years,” said Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial.

Nearly all the job growth achieved during the 11-year recovery from the financial meltdown has now been lost in one month.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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>Archive

/ Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Economic Costs of the Coronavirus Crisis: The Domino Effect

Billion-dollar impact on debt service

I

Rosario Fajardo

rfajardo@wjournalpr.com

@RosarioWJournal

t is no secret that the coronavirus crisis has severely impacted Puerto Rico’s economy, as well as the worldwide economy. Prior to the lockdown, the Puerto Rico government had already been warning that the COVID-19 pandemic would severely hurt the island’s ability to service debt, due to big drops in tax revenues and tourism dollars.

The million-dollar question was just how much.

The central government’s newly revised Fiscal Plan, submitted to the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB), provides the figures.

According to Puerto Rico’s Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority (Afaaf by its Spanish acronym), the strict lockdown that began in mid-March could cut its tax collections by some $1.5 billion through the next few months alone, as much of the local economy had essentially stopped. As a result, Afaaf said the government’s debt-restructuring plan needs to be revised.

Based on its baseline scenario, the commonwealth government will only have $193 million to service debt for the current fiscal year to FY 2025. As reported by the Bond Buyer, this figure is just 2 percent of the total of $8.78 billion of contractual central government debt service due in the period, excluding Cofina, or the Sales Tax Financing Corp.

The baseline scenario is forecasting that Puerto Rico’s gross national product (GNP) will be -3.6 percent in the current fiscal year and -7.8 percent in FY 2021.

Afaaf provides two other scenarios. Under the positive scenario, the government would have a $2.48 billion surplus through fiscal year 2025, while the negative scenario would have a $3.27 billion deficit in the period. The gap between these two wildly different scenarios is a whopping $5.75 billion.

“In view of what most certainly will be significant changes to the current FOMB-certified fiscal plan for the Commonwealth dated May 9, 2019…, the Government strongly believes that the FOMB will have to reconsider its proposed plan of adjustment for the Commonwealth, dated February 28, 2020 (the Proposed Plan of Adjustment), which is founded upon the pre-COVID-19 economic assumptions contained in the May 9, 2019 Certified Fiscal Plan,” Afaaf said.

Afaaf mentioned other factors besides COVID-19 that have severely impacted Puerto Rico, including the January earthquakes, which caused an estimated $1 billion damages, as well as the upcoming hurricane season that is expected to be more active than usual. “Puerto Rico must be realistic and prudent in conserving its resources in preparation for unknown and unexpected events that are becoming increasingly inevitable,” according to the revised Fiscal Plan.

“We submitted a Fiscal Plan adjusted to the fiscal and economic challenges that Puerto Rico is facing as a result of the global pandemic. We consider the negative impact on the macroeconomic projections

for the coming years and the effect that this will have on the processes of public debt restructuring.

However, we recognize in the document the positive impact that federal and state funds will have from the various economic stimulus programs to address the emergency,” Omar Marrero, Afaaf executive director, said in a statement.

He added that he hopes to reach “reasonable agreements” with the Oversight Board in the upcoming weeks on the revised Fiscal Plan.

FOMB Outlines Various Initiatives

The FOMB has yet to issue a response to the revised document, but the entity is clearly aware of the impact that the coronavirus crisis is having on the local economy. The FOMB has created a specific COVID-19 section in its website, providing the public and businesses with various data and educational material on the pandemic.

“COVID-19 brings immense uncertainty — about our health, the economy and Government finances.

At this moment, it is simply impossible to say how long the crisis might last, how much funding will be needed to help the people and businesses most affected, how long the economic decline will continue, and how it will recover,” the FOMB says in its website. “Federal and Puerto Rico Government funds combined provide essential resources for individuals, families, businesses, nonprofits and others in this difficult time,” says the FOMB. These include $787 million in emergency financial aid from commonwealth funds and the federal government’s coronavirus aid package known as the CARES Act, the Oversight Board notes.

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By Anthony Maceira Anthony O. Maceira

Former Executive Director CEO and president of Insight LLCof the Puerto Rico Ports Authority

I T

Can Puerto RicotobeBuild the Next D’ Opportunity a Big Thing in eSports?

Better Puerto Rico

t’s no secret that Puerto $167.4 million. Another way players eSports revenues amounted to Rico’s economy has been earn a living is through salaries that approximately $950.6 million in badly hurt for over a are rapidly growing and are already 2019 and is expected to grow over 2019 Report through with the adequate decadehe and governments much higher than the Average Joe’s $1 Following billion in 2020, a year-on-year Puerto closure of non-compliant landfills,income. You can find examples of have allCard triedfor to find new growth of +15.7 percent. niches Rico’s that would help As an industry, eSports brings average wages of $300,000 or some Infrastructure, utilizing private capacity and available The Enchanted Island revenues from different sources. prepared by the federal funds is D’ Opportunity toplayers like Heo ‘Huni’ Seung-Hoon get back on her feet.

One that we For instance,the teams and of players American Society address impact landfills onmaking seven figures. haven’t explored enough and has primarily make money off of prize On the other hand, the largest of Civil Engineers, money, natural resources (including soil, air, great momentum is the eSports portion of revenues in the industry which in 2019 totaled includes grades and water quality) and therefore industry. for eight categories with an overall public health.

I recognize that my thoughts GPA ofambitious; D-. The grades are:Puerto bridges Ports (D): Puerto Rico’s ports are however, Rico has the potential of being this (D+), dams (D+), waste water (D+), infrastructure is fragile. ASCE industry’s heart the Caribbean, drinking water (D),inports (D), solid estimates the cost to repair ports just (D-), like Silicon is home to the waste roadsValley (D-) and energy (F). throughout the island at close to world’s biggest tech companies or In conclusion, according the Report $750 million. Before resigning as Hollywood is to movie studios. This Card, Puerto Rico’s infrastructure is executive director of the Puerto 100 x 35 piece of paradise could weak and at risk. hub in the center Rico Ports Authority, I left in place become a gaming Although apparently some certain initiatives that would allow of the globe. eSports is generally defined as were surprised, the content of the hundreds of millions in private competitive games.Puerto Just like Report Card isvideo no secret. investment, such as a P3 concession athletic sporting events, suchlacking as Rico’s infrastructure is weak, for San Juan Bay’s Cruise Terminals, basketball or baseball, eSports proper maintenance and yes, was and an RFP for a MegaYacht Marina, encompasses competitions in devastated by the blow of Hurricanes which in combination with publicly different genres such as RTS Irma and Maria. funded initiatives would reach that (real-time strategy), shooters, However, the ASCE states amount. Privatization and proper fighting games, sport also games and the MOBA (multiplayer online battle good news that there are solutions to management of recovery funds is arena), which can all that’s be amateur, these challenges and precisely D’ Opportunity to have better and professional or simply as a to hobby, what this short piece looks discuss stronger ports. and are often played before live as D’ Opportunity to build a better Drinking Water (D): The ASCE notes audiences.

Puerto Rico that supports growth and that PRASA has improved its nonIn case your mind is still not competitiveness. revenue water loss rate and, while wrapping around the idea, the best Idescription believe that we have the chance water quality continues to improve of how the eSports ecosystem works is this: teams to do what’s been needed for as new processes are implemented, play games, in leagues decades, if weorganized appropriately manage hurricanes aggravated an already tournaments, onPuerto difficult fiscal and operational theorrecovery fundsdistributed destined to platforms to fans. For example the Rico and facilitate private investment. situation for our water management.

Green Bay Packers (the team) plays Investors need political Closing the P3 concession in PRASA footballdon’t (the game), organizedfavors, in they policies thatdistributed are favorable and the continuation of adequate theneed NFL (the league), foron business, stability and management of recovery funds, is D’ ESPN (the platform) tothe fanspolitical (the consumers). will to do what needs to be done.

Opportunity to have a more resilient Contrary to what some Some solutions, such asmay those water system for our people. to believe, eSports forwant solidyou waste, drinking water, The wheel has been invented is not “symbolic of slackers or ports, and energy, are already at and this is not managing the stock teenagers killing time.” It is a an sport advanced stage on their road market. Puerto Rico can build and a multimillion (about to completion.

Government simply better infrastructure and support to reach a billion) dollar industry. should remove any roadblocks economic growth. Adequate According to Newzoo’s Global that eSports Market Report 2020, global might arise on the way. Let’s look at management, policies that favor

some examples: Solid waste (D-): Puerto Rico has

business, clear priorities, and the political will to do what must be

/ Wednesday, May 13, 2020

comes from media rights and sponsorship. According to the same Newzoo report, these alone are expected to produce $822.4 million in revenues for 2020. In addition, ticket sales from major events generated $56.3 million in 2019.

These are only some areas of opportunity within the industry, which we must seek to reel in.

Puerto Rico has the real estate, great human resources, some of the best universities, amazing weather year-round and the assurances that being a U.S. jurisdiction entails. In addition, with existing tax incentives for creative industries, the benefits of Acts 20 and 22, the island can be a tax haven for the video game and eSports industry. There should be nothing more to ask for.

I ask you this: Can Puerto Rico be The Next Big Thing in eSports? I say: Game on!

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< The Weekly Journal > Wednesday, May 13, 2020

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/ Wednesday, May 13, 2020 The Psychosocial First Aid phone line is receiving between 1,700 and 1,800 calls a day.

Puerto Rico Experiencing ‘Mental Health Pandemic’ Experts warn of pandemic’s toll on residents’ already vulnerable states of mind

N Giovanna Garofalo

ggarofalo@wjournalpr.com

@giopgarofalo

early two months into a government-mandated lockdown, experts warn that many of Puerto Rico’s residents have developed mental health complications — prompted both by the present coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as previous natural disasters and an economic depression that has been affecting the island for roughly 14 years.

Dr. Eduardo Lugo, a psychologist and professor at the University of Puerto Rico’s Mayagüez campus and the Ana G. Méndez University, noted that in less than three years, local residents have experienced a Category 4 hurricane that caused islandwide devastation in September 2017 and a series of earthquakes earlier this year that ravaged southwestern municipalities, with displaced people still residing in shelters to this day. All this, combined with the current health concerns on the coronavirus and the ensuing economic fallout, are detonators for myriad mental health problems like depression and anxiety.

“There are people who are suffering, with anxieties that they never expected they would suffer. We want to transfer a world that was normal to us to a digital world without thinking

about factors; the humanistic component has been completely lost. We want to act as if nothing has changed when a lot of things have changed in people’s lives,” Lugo told THE WEEKLY JOURNAL. Suzanne Roig Fuentes, executive director of the Health and Anti-Addiction Services Administration (ASSMCA by its Spanish initials), said that the agency is receiving a drastically higher number of calls from distressed individuals to its Psychosocial First Aid line (PAS by its Spanish acronym).

“Between October and November of 2019, we received between 600 and 700 calls a day and when the tremors began [in January], we received between 1,400 and 1,500 a day. Now, we receive between 1,700 and 1,800 calls on a daily basis that are related to anxiety, uncertainty and fear,” she explained.

Roig said the government is helping to ease mental health problems through its hotline as well as virtual support groups on Zoom. The hotline can be reached at 1 800 981 0023.

According to Lugo, this growing trend reflects another pandemic that is mental in nature. “I would daresay that the [mental health] pandemic isn’t coming next; that pandemic has already made its way,” he added.

Patients Without Coverage

Mental health institutions reported that roughly half of their patients pay their expenses through Plan Vital, the government’s Medicaid program for the impoverished. While others have private health care, there is a significant percentage of patients who lack financial resources and hospitals end up financing their services.

“With the earthquakes crisis, many people who

did not renew Medicaid services became admitted without coverage. Hospitals are currently being reimbursed for COVID-19 patients, but mental health patients are finding it difficult to prove that they are affected by a virus-related situation. We will not charge those cases. Patients who lost [Plan Vital] eligibility continue going to mental health institutions,” said Astro Muñoz Aponte, CEO of First Hospital Panamericano.

Government “Doesn’t Care”

Lugo denounced what he perceives as the commonwealth government’s inaction in properly tackling the collective anxiety and trauma from consecutive disasters and an ever-weakening economy. He and a group of psychologists, community leaders and social workers created the People’s Social Task Force designed as a community outreach program to shift the discussion to the island’s mental health crisis.

The group, found as “Task Force Social del Pueblo” on Facebook and Twitter, is a solution to the alleged “lacking” response by the government to their deepening concerns on the population’s welfare.

“We have, particularly in Puerto Rico, where people have suffered trauma after trauma… We have a lot of children and youth who are managing these traumas and nobody is thinking about the mental health needs of these children and youth.

The government doesn’t care about the social aspect [of the pandemic],” Lugo said, who opined that the central government should incorporate a social and mental health task force to its team of third-party consultants throughout the pandemic.

Reporter Brenda A. Vázquez Colón contributed to this story.

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/ Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Climate Change Has Been Influencing Where Tropical Cyclones Rage Implications for Puerto Rico and the rest of the Caribbean

W

The Weekly Journal Staff

hile the global average number of tropical cyclones each year has not budged from 86 over the last four decades, climate change has been influencing the locations of where these deadly storms occur, according to new research published in “Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.”

New research indicates that the number of tropical cyclones has been rising since 1980 in the North Atlantic and Central Pacific, while storms have been declining in the western Pacific and in the South Indian Ocean, reported the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“We show for the first time that this observed geographic pattern cannot be explained only by natural variability,” said Hiroyuki Murakami, a climate researcher at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and lead author.

Murakami used climate models to determine that greenhouse gases, man-made aerosols including particulate pollution, and volcanic eruptions were influencing where tropical cyclones were hitting.

A tropical cyclone is a generic term used by meteorologists to describe a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has closed, low-level circulation.

Three Forces Are Influencing Where Storms Are Hitting

Greenhouse gases are warming the upper atmosphere and the ocean. This combines to create a more stable atmosphere with less chance that convection of air currents will help spawn and build up tropical cyclones.

Particulate pollution and other aerosols help create clouds and reflect sunlight away from the

Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in Sept. 2017 >Carlos Rivera Giusti

earth, causing cooling, Murakami said. The decline in particulate pollution due to pollution control measures may increase the warming of the ocean by allowing more sunlight to be absorbed by the ocean.

Diminishing man-made aerosols is one of the reasons for the active tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic over the last 40 years, Murakami said. However, toward the end of this century, tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic are projected to decrease due to the “calming” effect of greenhouse gases.

Volcanic eruptions have also altered the location of where tropical cyclones have occurred, according to the research. For example, the major eruptions in El Chichón in Mexico in 1982 and Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991 caused the atmosphere of the northern hemisphere to cool, which shifted tropical cyclone activity southward for a few years. Ocean warming has resumed since 2000, leading to increased tropical cyclone activity in the Northern Hemisphere.

Looking Ahead

Scientists are predicting fewer tropical cyclones by 2100, but the storms are likely to be more powerful.

Climate models project decreases in tropical cyclones toward the end of the 21st century from the annual average of 86 to about 69 worldwide, according to the new study. Declines are projected in most regions except in the Central Pacific, including Hawaii, where tropical cyclones activity is expected to increase.

Despite a projected decline in tropical cyclones by 2100, many of these cyclones will be significantly more severe. Why? Rising sea surface temperatures fuel the intensity and destructiveness of tropical storms.

“We hope this research provides information to help decision-makers understand the forces driving tropical cyclone patterns and make plans accordingly to protect lives and infrastructure,” Murakami said.

The yearly Atlantic hurricane season officially starts on June 1 and ends on November 30.

In the North Atlantic, central North Pacific, and eastern North Pacific, the term hurricane is used for tropical storms. The same type of disturbance in the Northwest Pacific is called a typhoon.

Meanwhile, in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, the generic term tropical cyclone is used.

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/ Wednesday, May 13, 2020

10 Gardening Tips

A garden in Corte Madera, CA >All photos courtesy of Airbnb

From Around the World

Create your own ‘masterpieces’

I

THE WEEKLY JOURNAL Staff

n this new coronavirus age, developing a green thumb and getting in touch with Mother Nature is one of the ways many people are seeking to pass the time, disconnect from the constant chatter of flooded screens and grow their own food during the general lockdowns, not just in Puerto Rico, but also around the world.

According to a recent nationwide poll in the U.S. by realtor.com, this is a good time for home improvement. Their data showed that many people are taking advantage of the extra free time during the lockdowns to update their homes and make their private spaces more comfortable. In fact, 32 percent of those surveyed have already undertaken home improvement or small aroundthe-house projects and an additional 15 percent plan to do so.

The most common projects mentioned by respondents were: • Clean out the closets or garage (21 percent) • Gardening and planting (17 percent) • Painting (13 percent) • Redecorating a room (10 percent) • Rearranging the furniture (9 percent) • Adding artwork or décor (7 percent) • Adding a home gym or workout space (5 percent) • Adding an office or workspace (4 percent) Many Airbnb hosts worldwide — in fact, one in five of them — have gardens and plant collections to complement their spaces, according to the company’s internal data.

Gardening experts and Airbnb hosts Maureen and Zdravko from Corte Madera, California, share their tips and tricks to cultivate greenery at home inspired by Airbnbs all over the world — whether it’s upgrading a backyard harvest or bringing more green to apartment window sills.

1. Go au naturale “To create a more relaxing space, go natural as much as you can. A garden doesn’t have to be manicured or time consuming, and maintaining a manicured look can be a bit stressful unless you

Loveland, CO

love gardening. We think of our garden as semiwild. We plant herbs in with flowers and mix all sorts of roses and other flowers together.”

2. Add color to your balcony or patio “For people with a small patio or deck, plant a lemon tree in a pot and geraniums in smaller pots for long-lasting color.”

3. Use light to create drama “We think of our patio as our summer living

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/ Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Santo Antônio Além do Carmo, Brazil

Tel Aviv, Israel

Mexico City, Mexico

Melbourne, Australia

An Hải Đông, Vietnam

“My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece.” — Claude Monet room with comfy seating, side tables and table lamps. Lighting also adds drama at night even if you’re not on the patio, but just looking out your window. “ 4. Shade is a fern’s best friend “If your space gets a lot of shade, plant ferns.

They grow well and are wonderful and dramatic.

For flowers, begonias and fuchsias thrive in the shade, and perk up darker areas with color.”

5. Use texture to attract nature “For those looking to spruce things up, look for different textures, shapes and colors to add interest. Let easily spreading plants like nasturtiums and irises grow and spread.

Plant flowers that attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds and nature will come to you.”

6. Tight on space or looking for low maintenance? Try succulents “If you want to try something different, create an indoor succulent garden, which can be just as lush as an outdoor flower garden. There are hundreds of colors and shapes and they require little to no effort.”

7. Opt for great beginner veggies “Most vegetables are pretty easy to grow, including the basics such as potatoes, onions, and

garlic. Squash, cucumbers, peppers and eggplant are also pretty hearty.”

8. “Grow up” “If you have a tall wall, search online for ‘wall garden’ ideas, or plant a vine like climbing fig or rose to cover the wall, surrounding your ‘room’ with green, and making the space feel private and cozy.”

9. Optimize space for herbs “Selecting the right edible plants depends on your setup. Call your local garden center or search online to learn which plants grow well indoors and pick what you like. For beginners, basil, mint, oregano, thyme, parsley and sage grow easily.”

10. Grow edible flowers “Don’t forget edible flowers to dress up your spring and summer salads, and after you plant, as they say, don’t forget to stop and smell the roses!”

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