Cultural Passport gets students off campus
While many Notre Dame students may decide to study abroad and travel to far-off places, a new program on campus is encouraging students to seek out the marvels in the local community. First created last spring, the Cultural Passport program was developed through a partnership with the College of Science and Mayor Stephen Luecke of South Bend. The program gives every student a cultural passport featuring 14 destinations in the South Bend area where students are encouraged to visit. “I believe that all of our students need to graduate with not only a great education but actually knowing something about the community that they’ve lived in for four years,” Dean Gregory Crawford of the College of Science said. When the program was conceived last year, it was initially only offered to a select group of students from the College of Science and was more of a “prototype” according to Crawford. However, the program has been expanded to include every undergraduate and graduate student at Notre Dame. Each passport features a description of the location, hours of operation and some destinations even offer special discounts for Notre Dame students. The goal of the passport format, according to Crawford, is to get students to visit as many of the destinations as possible. At every location a student shows the passport, they will receive a stamp on the passport for that organization. Crawford said he came up with the idea when he realized how few Notre Dame students ever venture into the South Bend community. “Before starting this program, I visited most of the places that are in the passports and I was fascinated by all these various organizations,” he said. “I started working with the Mayor’s office and together we compiled this list of fourteen locations that we encourage students to visit during their time here at Notre Dame.” Crawford and Mayor Luecke worked with each of the fourteen destinations to be included in the program. The Mayor’s Office agreed to print up a special certificate for any student who receives a stamp from every location in the passport. But Crawford hopes that students participate in the program for different reasons. “This is a nice and easy way to engage the community, and a very important one,” he said. “I would hate to think that they would participate in this simply to receive a certificate.” Each College has the passports and students are encouraged to go to their dean’s office and pick one up. The Class of 2014 received their passports during Freshmen Orientation. Many of the freshmen said the passports have made them see there is a lot more to South Bend than just Notre Dame. “I would have never thought to explore South Bend until I got my passport,” freshman Gina Rogari said. “I didn’t know we had some of those things around here.” Freshman Molly Shank said while she found the passport “helpful,” initially she wasn’t sure of its purpose. “There wasn’t a whole lot of explanation about the program,” she said. “They need to explain it better because I would definitely use it now.” Crawford said the program will be reviewed at the end of the year and feedback will be solicited from the students who participated in the program to see if any changes should be made. Crawford said he has little doubt that the program will help bring new outlook to the students who take advantage of the program and the city of South Bend. “Our students should be able to leave this community that they’ve lived in for four years and tell people all about it,” he said. “Besides, I think that when they visit some of these places, they will be blown away by what they see.”
The Off-Campus Council has set up an off-campus student ambassador program in order to increase communication with students living off campus. The program, which began at the end of last semester, assigns a student representative to each off-campus area where students live. These representatives, who live off campus in the same area, are able to be direct liaisons between the council and the students. Off-campus president Ryan Hawley said student government came up with the idea while discussing ways to increase the effectiveness of Off-Campus Council. “It’s really to gain better communication with off-campus students,” Hawley said. “It’s hard when there’s three members of the Off-Campus Council and about 1,800 students off (campus).” Hawley said the ambassadors are geographically based, with a student from each of the housing complexes surrounding Notre Dame as well as from different neighborhoods of student houses. The jobs of the ambassadors are mainly to distribute information to the students in their jurisdiction and to get student feedback on life off campus. Hawley said the group is mainly concentrating on security and safety issues. “That’s our primary focus right now, how do we alleviate that,” Hawley said. “Our initial thing is sending out crime alerts so they know if something happened near them.” Hawley said these crime alerts have prompted many students not only to become more aware of their surroundings, but also to report other incidents that the Off-Campus Council hadn’t known about. The Off-Campus Council recruited students for the ambassador positions by e-mailing all of the students currently living off campus. Hawley said the fact that a person responded to the e-mail means they will be perfect for the job. “Naturally, the people who responded were the people interested in solving problems,” Hawley said. Student will have bi-weekly meetings at Studebagels — an incentive to join — while others volunteered due to personal experiences with crime. Senior ambassador Deirdre Murdy said she was motivated because her neighborhood has had several security issues. “When I saw the opportunity to be more in touch with Off-Campus Council and hopefully increase security for our area I figured it would be helpful,” Murdy said. Lauren Hemington, the ambassador for Legacy Village, was also happy to join the program. Hemington said she was encouraged by the communal aspect of it. “I just felt senior year I wasn’t really doing as many activities as I could be,” Hemington said. “I just got an e-mail and thought, ‘Why not meet different people my last semester?’” In addition, Hemington said she hopes to present some of her own ideas to improve off-campus life, including the possibility of an off-campus dining hall. “I miss the whole social aspect of the dining hall,” Hemington said. “And I feel a lot of people aren’t using their meal plans, so I think it’d be really convenient.” Off-Campus Council is continuing to spread the news of the program to students. Hawley said while they’re still looking for more students to become ambassadors, they’d also like to encourage those who already have ambassadors to utilize them. “We really want students to use their ambassador and to contact people,” Hawley said. “We want them to know what’s going on.”
With the presidential election swiftly approaching, the Saint Mary’s Young Democrats Club is gearing up for the final preparations President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney make as the country heads into November. Senior London Lamar, president of Young Democrats at the College, said she realizes that a great aspect of this election has been social media and how it has taken the election process to another level. “I did my senior comprehensive on how President Obama won the 2008 election with social media. You have to look at how, generally, Republican supporters are older, middle-aged to older white Americans,” Lamar said. “Those who support Obama tend to be more diverse, young Americans. You have to realize that when it comes to social media and technology, the younger generation is adapting more than the older generation.” By looking at social media as a way of determining who will win the election, Lamar believes that most voters will see that Obama leads the race on Twitter and Facebook. “His supporters use technology more because they tend to be younger,” she said. “We are a generation that uses technology in our everyday lives, especially Twitter and Facebook. Those were definitely pieces of technology that helped Obama win because that is how young people are communicating.” Lamar noted that Romney supporters tend to continue to read the newspapers and read magazine. For them, she said, their generation is not adapting to social media because they do not use it as much. “For Romney, he’s trying to get the younger electorate with the social media; however, fewer supporters of his are actually using social media,” Lamar said. “He is definitely adapting to social media more though. For example, I was on Twitter Monday and I noticed that the Romney campaign had bought a Twitter topic as a way to get Romney to trend on the social media site. “With Obama, it takes one tweet with a hashtag to get a topic trending on Twitter. His supporters are more Twitter-savvy than Romney’s at this point.” While Lamar believes social media does have a huge impact on the voting process, she does not think it will necessarily determine the final outcome. “It definitely does help to determine how a candidate will reach out to the younger generation though. Our generation is moving to use more social media now and more newspapers and magazines are becoming heavily web-based,” she said. “As our technology is getting older and we are becoming of voting age, we have to adapt to what we like and what we use the most. The Young Democrats will also be holding some upcoming events for students before the election is underway. The club will be hosting another phone bank Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. in Regina Hall. “At the phone bank we call Ohio voters to encourage them to make sure they get out an early vote and to encourage them to vote on Nov. 6,” Lamar said. “Ohio is a big crucial swing state, so we want to make sure that we are helping the Obama campaign in South Bend contribute to calling Ohio voters.” A representative from the Obama campaign of South Bend brings the club members call logs and scripts for the phone bank. The participants then call the numbers and ask voters questions to help the campaign narrow down and see where Obama stands, Lamar said. “We are also partnering with Feminists United for an election panel we will be holding next Monday from 6 to 7 p.m. located in Conference Room A of the Student Center,” Lamar said. “We have professor Patrick Pierce coming to talk about the election. Students can come and ask the him questions about what he thinks about the election.” Students can also ask Pierce to help clarify items on the election that they are unsure of still. Pierce is the advisor for Young Democrats at the College. “It is a bipartisan event, so anyone can come and ask questions; kind of get a deeper perspective of what the election is about and what the stances are of the two candidates,” Lamar said. “This is a great event especially for those who are still undecided because the election is only two weeks away.”
On Aug. 1, Campus Ministry launched a smartphone calendar application that features faith-based campus events and provides access to the Alumni Association’s daily prayers, saints and gospel reflections. Kate Morgan, associate director of communications at the Office of Campus Ministry, said the app, called ND Daily Faith, is available for free download on all Apple and Android devices. Morgan said the app already has several hundred users. “We really want students to be able to have access to all the faith-based events that are happening on campus in one location,” Morgan said. The calendar features occasions like upcoming masses, retreats, fellowship group meetings, lectures and various other events, Morgan said. She said links to registration forms will also be available through the app. Morgan said users can tailor the app to meet their preferences in terms of display, as well as enable reminders for upcoming activities. ND Daily Faith lists not only upcoming Campus Ministry events, Morgan said, but also includes the events of other University departments, including the Congregation of Holy Cross, the Center for Social Concerns, the Center for Ethics & Culture, the Institute for Church Life, the Department of Theology, the Alliance for Catholic Education, Multicultural Student Programs and Services and the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. She said this makes the app a single comprehensive Notre Dame faith-based calendar. Morgan said no other Notre Dame department has a comprehensive smartphone application like Campus Ministry’s new app. “This is the first of its kind and we’re pretty proud of that. We didn’t want to create one more website for students to have to go to if apps are things more commonly used with smartphones. We wanted to try to do something a little bit different,” Morgan said. The idea for ND Daily Faith was originally conceived in January, Morgan said, and she hoped the app would allow for greater awareness of and participation in Campus Ministry events and activities. “Through this app, Campus Ministry hopes to meet students where they are,” she said. Morgan said that overall, Campus Ministry aims to increase its presence on campus. “I think that, at the University of Notre Dame, faith development and formation is just as big a part of students’ experience as is football, and it should be embraced as such,” she said. “We need to provide easier, more accessible ways for students to become more involved in our programs and learn more about us.”
Notre Dame MBA student Jordan Karcher has combined a love of coffee with a dedication to animal welfare to create Grounds and Hounds, a 100 percent fair trade and organic certified coffee brand that provides financial support to “No-Kill” Animal Shelters.Karcher said he became interested in helping the animal community after adopting his dog in Santa Monica, Ca., which led him to become more active in animal adoption organizations.“I’ve always been a dog person, but the reward you got from having an adopted dog mejores trading plataforma and the way they looked at you was really incredible from a personal standpoint,” Karcher said. “I started spending more time with the rescue community in general, and I saw a lot of the issues going on, and a big piece of it is that there’s not enough awareness about what’s happening in the humane society.”Karcher said he began developing this initiative three months before attending Notre Dame as an MBA student.Grounds and Hounds currently donates 20 percent of its revenue to various partner “No-Kill” shelter organizations across the country, he said. Grounds and Hounds has already partnered with ten “No-Kill” animal shelters across the country, including Pet Refuge in South Bend.“Fortunately, Pet Refuge in South Bend was one of our first partners, They got on board right away and they’ve been incredibly supportive of us since day one,” Karcher said.“They [animal shelters] do a good job of trying to find homes, they’re just limited by time and money,” Karcher said. “I started working on different ways that I could create a business that was enticing and really beneficial for the community yet still financially feasible.”Karcher said the company attempts to make sure the revenue from the coffee sales stays within the community in which the product was bought, so customers can see a direct impact in their communities versus donating money to national organizations.“From my background in business, I was looking for a way to come up with a solution that creates a more steady stream of revenue and dependable donations versus having to rely on single events or adoption fees,” Karcher said.Christopher Stevens, a lead investor in Grounds and Hounds, said he became interested in Karcher’s company due to his background in the coffee industry and his personal experience with dogs. Stevens said retailers have continued to contact the company during the year and hopes the company can achieve partnerships with 12 organizations by the end of the year.“We’re really excited that by the end of this month, we’ll cut our first checks to the refuge shelter,” Steven said. “This summer we’ll take it to the next level.”Stevens said he believes the company has been able to succeed due to both its product and its mission.“Every brand and product you service has to have a why to it. People don’t want to just buy what you’re selling, people buy what you believe, what you stand for,” Stevens said. “2.1 million dogs are euthanized a year because you can’t feed them. Our goal is to cut that in a half within the next five years, that’s a worthy cause.”Tags: “No-Kill” animal shelters, fair trade, fair trade coffee, grounds and hounds, MBA student Jordan Karcher, organic coffee, pet refuge in south bend
Two Saint Mary’s seniors, Bailey Shrum and Sam Moorhead, and one recent Belle graduate, Clare Maher, as well as one Notre Dame senior, Brooke Kovanda, were recently named incoming fellows in The Governor Bob Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship.“The Orr Fellowship is holistic,” Kovanda said. “It gives me even more real-world skills, a chance to hone my business education from all sides and the opportunity to create a new network.”The Orr Fellowship was established in 2001 and offers recent graduates the opportunity to work for select Indiana-based host companies for two years. The program ultimately allows students to build professional networks, receive mentorship from leading executives and refine their skill sets, according to Saint Mary’s Director of Media Relations Gwen O’Brien.The Orr Fellowship website defines its fellows as students who have demonstrated strong leadership skills throughout their undergraduate career and who take interest in business, entrepreneurship or technology.“My parents’ greatest wish for me is to ‘love what I do, so it’ll feel like I’ve never worked a day in my life,’” Kovanda said. “I think the Orr Fellowship combines these values of doing what you love and knowing that there is more to your life than just your career.”For the incoming class of 2015, 45 new fellows have been selected out of a record 724 applicants to work at 32 host companies.This is the fourth consecutive year Saint Mary’s students have been selected as Orr Fellows. O’Brien said four College alumnae have served as Orr Fellows since 2012, including current Orr Fellows Nichole Clayton ’13 and Sara Napierkowski ’14.“Essentially, it’s a two-year, postgraduate opportunity, regardless of what your major is — we’re just interested in people that are really willing to do really good work,” Clayton said. “It does have an entrepreneurial feel to it, and it really builds on future business leaders.”Maher, who has worked in Indianapolis since her graduation in fall 2014, said she first applied for the fellowship due to a visit by Clayton and Napierkowski to her senior seminar course. She said the women’s positive experiences inspired Maher to look into the opportunity. Maher said she was grateful for her Saint Mary’s education as she went ahead with her application.“Saint Mary’s as a whole gave me the the education and experience I needed to present myself as an asset to the companies I interviewed with, knowing I had the qualifications to back me up,” Maher said. “It’s not a coincidence that Saint Mary’s produced three Orr Fellows this year and has had past success with the program; a Saint Mary’s education absolutely gives you everything you need to succeed, and the Orr Fellowship is one example of the outside world recognizing that.”Maher is currently the head of the Human Resources Department for CloudOne, a company that specializes in the Internet of Things, personalized cloud data analytics and Software as a Service.Being an Orr Fellow, Maher said she not only gets to interact with CloudOne’s CEO and COO daily, but she gets to be an integral part of the rebuilding of a new and innovative HR system to fit the company’s growing needs.“Really, you couldn’t ask for a better first job out of school,” Maher said.Both Shrum and Moorhead said they are looking forward to the many opportunities this fellowship will present, along with the occasion to showcase and utilize all they have learned the past four years.“The diversified education that a liberal arts curriculum provides will allow me to approach issues from a variety of different perspectives with knowledge gained from a many fields,” Moorhead said. “I am most looking forward to being challenged on a daily basis in my first job and meeting all of the new Fellows who will form a great community for the next two years.”Shrum said she is grateful to be chosen out of a group of so many qualified individuals, and she is going to take the opportunity to both grow as a leader within an unrivaled network of peers and give back to the community.According to Shrum, it is essential for students to recognize these types of opportunities that strengthen and support the way that college can transform students into leaders.“Programs like Orr are looking not only for talent, but driven individuals willing to lead, something Saint Mary’s is known for helping to foster in its students,” Shrum said.Tags: 2015, 2015 orr fellows, Bailey Shrum, Brooke Kovanda, Clare Maher, entrepreneurship, fellowship, Indianapolis, orr, orr fellows, Orr Fellowship, Sam Moorhead
BridgeND, Student Government, NDVotes and the Center for Social Concerns hosted a discussion called “How Did ND Vote?” on Tuesday analyzing the results of a post-election survey of students conducted by the Center for Social Concerns (C.S.C.), as well as data from the mock election held before the presidential election.According to junior, Clara Yang, a student assistant for the C.S.C., the C.S.C.’s survey had a response rate of over 30 percent and gathered almost 3,000 responses. Sophomore Prathm Juneja, the current student government chief of staff, helped organize the mock election and said it had about 857 participants.“Of the overall sample [of the C.S.C. survey], we have 61 percent undergraduate students, 47 percent are female, 22 percent are students of color and 61 percent are Catholic students,” Yang said.Sophomore Aileen Markovitz, also a student assistant for the C.S.C., said this year, more students voted third party than in past presidential elections.“I just want to point out one thing in particular with the 2016 vote — you can see we have a much higher third party vote, at 18 percent, versus between two and four percent in the other years” she said.Surveyors noticed various demographic differences which correlated with how students chose to vote.“In the College of Arts and Letters and Architecture, there’s a higher percentage of Clinton supporters, while in College of Business, more students tend to support Donald Trump,” Yang said.Markovitz also said there was a marked difference between genders when it came to candidate choice.“There’s a really large gap in between the genders. Females are voting 70 percent for Clinton, versus 46 percent of males and we do see a much higher third party margin in male voters. 16 percent versus 9 percent of females,” she said.Students tend to vote for more Democratic candidates as they progress through their college experience; however, this correlation does not imply causation, Yang said.“It’s possible that they’re voting more independently of their family choices or it’s possible that they’re changed by their college education, et cetera,” she said. “There are many prospects.”Juneja said within groups of friends who participated in the mock election, friends tended to hold similar political views.“One of the really fun things we saw when we were analyzing the data is that when you went and looked at the spreadsheet as results came in, you’d see that there was like three Trump voters in a row or three Clinton voters in a row and it’s because friends would enter the dining hall at the same time and do the mock election together,” he said. “So common groups of friends would share political ideologies, political beliefs. ”Markovitz said while students indicated on the C.S.C. survey that they felt comfortable discussing politics in their dorms and with their friends, the majority of students did not actually have political discussions with others.“77 percent of respondents said that they feel able to have political discussions in their hall, with only 23 percent actually saying that they did,” she said. “So you have the proportions exactly flipped on people who feel they can and people who actually do.“Even with friends, we have 89 percent of people saying they feel comfortable talking with their friends about politics, with only 45 percent of people actually doing so.”Young voters have a low turnout rate, especially during non-presidential years — a fact which prevents youth voices from being heard, Juneja said.“In 2014, youth aged 18-29 had a 19.3 percent turnout rate,” he said. “ … Just think about the fact that not even close to a majority of youth voices are heard in turning out.”Juneja said this was disappointing considering the levels of engagement in politics by other means“It’s really sad because we have such high levels of civic engagement when it comes to social media engagement, protest engagement,” he said. “ …When we want to have our voice heard, we are neglecting to put the connection between speaking and discourse to action.”Tags: 2016 Election, Center for Social Concerns, ND Votes
Observer File Photo Lewis Hall residents advertise their signature event, Lewis House of Pancakes, or commonly known as LHOP, in South Dining Hall.“We have Crush Week every year, which is a week of celebrating Lewis women. We go around serenading all of our dates for a dance on Saturday,” she said. “For LHOP, every floor makes a different breakfast food, and all the proceeds go to a local food bank. That’s something that everyone’s involved it. It’s a great way to bond.”This year, LHOP raised $5,500 in one night for charity. Over 1,100 people came through the building. In fact, because of this year’s massive success, Brennan discussed another idea in the works.“On April 12, there will be an LHOP 2.0 with desserts instead: cookies, brownies, much, much more. We’re hoping to get dorms more engaged,” she said.For O’Connor, the best part of being a member of hall staff is community.“Because we are one of the largest, there’s 8 RAs and two ARs and a rector. It can seem intimidating, but the friendship and the fellowship we develop within the staff is so genuine and fun,” O’Connor said. “It’s translated very well to the residents of the building.”The mascot that made such an impact on those two freshmen was unofficially started by a student in the 1980s who called all of her Lewis friends “chickens.” The name stuck, and over 30 years later, the ladies of Lewis are still proud to be called chicks.Tags: Crush Week, Dorm feature, dorm features, lewis hall, LHOP When asked about their first memory of their dorm, freshmen Katie Lane and Emma Gran both answered resoundingly, “everyone was dressed in chicken suits.” Welcome to Lewis Hall.Built in 1965 through a donation by Julia Lewis in honor of her husband Frank, Lewis is the oldest women’s hall that has only ever housed women.Senior Alexandra O’Connor, a resident assistant (RA) in Lewis, said that the dorm was originally built to house Sisters of the Holy Cross seeking degrees. The dorm was subsequently opened up to graduate laywomen, and eventually the first women admitted to Notre Dame called Lewis home in 1972.“The graduate women lived on the top two floors, and the nuns continued to live on the bottom two floors. So it was like half convent, half apartment building,” she said.Lewis’ courtyard overlooking the lake was a place of quiet reflection for the nuns living there. This focus on faith remains strong in Lewis Hall. Rector Rachelle Simon said the dorm has a unique tradition of Lucenarium, a candlelit evening prayer for reflecting on the Gospel.Dorm vice president and junior Amanda Bono said Lewis is also unique because its size has no adverse impact on the sense of community.“Even though we are a super big girls’ dorm, we’re close-knit like a small dorm would be. We’re really good at being welcoming and sharing life together,” she said.Assistant rector (AR) Megan Ball echoed this point, saying that Lewis’ larger size does not discourage, but rather builds community.“Lewis is like living in a big city — lots of people doing lots of different things. There’s something for everyone to do,” Ball said. “We can foster a lot of individual interests while still being part of a big community.”Junior and hall president Marissa Brennan said that Lewis is a dorm steeped in fun student traditions, from its week-long spirit celebration to the famous Lewis House of Pancakes, known colloquially as LHOP.
From Baking Club to the Lady Accountants of Tomorrow, the range of clubs available for Saint Mary’s students is seemingly endless. Recently, juniors Lauren Peterson and Megan King have tried to add their club, “Smicks for Choice” to the list, but have been unsuccessful. Peterson and King serve as president and vice president of Smicks for Choice, respectively.The mission of Smicks for Choice is threefold, King said. “First of all, it’s about the empowerment of women, we want women to know you can make your own choices,” she said. “Second, it’s to build a community. We’ve noticed a need for a group like this on campus, and how many students on campus were looking for something like this.”The club’s mission is also about bodily autonomy, King said. “Abortion is just one of the many decisions women make regarding their own body,” King said.The club came to fruition this semester through the aspirations that Peterson, King and their other roommates have for inclusivity at the College, Peterson said in an email. “My roommates and I are very strong-willed feminists and believe that our voices about the right a woman has to her body deserve to be heard,” she said. “We recognized about a year ago that there is quite a lot of representation for the Belles for Life club but no ‘Belles for Choice’ club. At first, we did not think we would be the ones to actually make this a reality.”The reality has yet to become official though, Peterson said, as they are working to fill their leadership board prior to sending a formal request for the club to be recognized by the College. Presently, the private club is active on social media spreading their mission and working to recruit more members.“Since we are not yet able to use names affiliated with the College such as ‘Belles,’ we are the Smicks for Choice,” she said. Their initial social media account with the ‘Belles for Choice’ name has since been taken down, but have since gained a following on Instagram.As for the club’s next step, Peterson’s plan is to find an advisor, which has proved difficult.“We have heard stories from professors and even some alumni that there have been situations in the past where faculty members have had their jobs threatened due to standing up for a club that promotes the view of pro-choice,” Peterson said. Being a Catholic institution has proved to be a hurdle in establishing the club as well. “A lot of people reached out to us and did not understand why a [Catholic] campus would need a pro-choice club, and that the College has the right to turn it down on religious grounds,” King said. “But the thing is not everyone is Catholic, and we’re put into this Catholic box –– that you don’t even notice until you leave campus –– which really affects how you view the world.”Peterson added that there is a distinct difference in beliefs among pro-life and pro-choice individuals, and that debates can be important and a valuable use of time –– a purpose which the club could serve should it be established officially. In addition to finding an advisor, the club has faced other obstacles, such as disapproval from many staff members and students.“We really want everyone to know that we mean no harm and truly only want what’s best for our school and for it’s students,” Peterson said. “We did not intend to have any conflict in starting this organization nor did we intend to disrespect any of the school’s wishes or policies.”Should the club not receive formal recognition, King and Peterson both agreed that they are passionate about continuing the existence of the organization. “We will still be a community and resource for people that need us, and that means we can be there for anything because we do see the need for this community on campus,” King said. Peterson added that another option should their request not get approved is to create a petition in order to get the attention of College President Katie Conboy. “That way we can bring our concerns to her and show her how passionate we are about our right to freedom of speech at our institution,” she said. “Especially since our mission statement does, in fact, align with the mission of Saint Mary’s College, which includes the call for justice and inclusivity.”Tags: Belles for Life, club creation, Pro-choice, smicks for choice
Share:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Photo: CDCALBANY – During a novel coronavirus briefing, Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday announced the state will institute limits on mass gatherings, directing events with 500 or more individuals in attendance to be cancelled or postponed. Public health experts agree mass gatherings with people making sustained close contact are a place where the novel coronavirus can easily infect many people quickly and continue its spread.As such, events, gatherings, or places of business with less than 500 individuals in attendance will be required to cut capacity by 50 percent, with exceptions being made for spaces where individuals do not make sustained close contact, such as schools, hospitals, public buildings, mass transit, grocery stores and retail stores.These new regulations will go into effect Friday, March 13th at 5pm, with the exception of Broadway Theaters where the limits will go into effect this evening at 5pm. In an effort to protect some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers, Governor Cuomo also announced only medically necessary visits will be allowed at nursing homes. This policy will be effective Friday at 5pm. The state is also asking nursing homes to set up skyping and other online communication capacity so families can tele-visit their loved ones. Additionally, the state will require health screenings for all nursing home workers each day when they enter a facility and require them to wear surgical masks to guard against any potential asymptomatic spread.In order to increase testing capacity, the State is contracting with BioReference Laboratories to run an additional 5,000 tests per day on top of what the state is already doing. These additional 5,000 tests per day will come online next week.This additional testing capacity is on top of that of the 28 private labs the Governor announced are partnering with the state in the coming days and weeks. Additionally, the Governor announced the first public drive-through testing facility on the east coast will start testing people tomorrow in New Rochelle. Testing will be done by appointment only. New Rochelle residents who have been quarantined will be tested first.Finally, the Governor confirmed 109 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 325 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 325 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:Albany County: 1 (1 new)Broome County: 1 (1 new)Delaware County: 1 (1 new)Dutchess County: 1 (1 new)Herkimer County: 1 (1 new)Monroe County: 1 (1 new)Nassau County: 41 (13 new)New York City: 95 (43 new)Orange County: 1 (1 new)Rockland County: 7 (1 new)Saratoga County: 3 (1 new)Suffolk County: 20 (14 new)Ulster County: 4 (3 new)Westchester County: 148 (27 new)“The spread of this coronavirus is not going to stop on its own, and we know that mass gatherings have been hotspots for the virus to infect large numbers of people quickly,” Governor Cuomo said. “To help contain it, we are instituting limits on large events as well as new measures to protect our most vulnerable populations — including people in nursing homes — and preparing our healthcare system to be able to deal with any future capacity issues. While the context is key and the anxiety is outpacing the facts of this situation, we will continue taking aggressive action to protect public health and prepare for any future spread of this virus.”“Our number one priority is protecting the public health and every action the Governor and the State of New York have taken thus far have been in furtherance of that goal,” State Health Department Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said. “Public health experts have been clear that limiting large public gatherings where there is potential for close contact is a critical way to slow the spread of this virus. This regulation will help keep people healthy and safe.”The Governor also announced that the State is taking measures to create a reserve workforce of health care professionals in the event of a staffing shortage and identify state facilities that can be used as temporary hospitals. The State is asking former doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to reconnect with their former employers and offer to work on an on-call basis in the cases of a staffing shortage. The State is also identifying National Guard medics for reserved staffing and contacting medical schools to identify possible reserve health care professionals. Additionally, the Department of Health is accelerating regulations to get more health care personnel trained so they can work in other areas.For all schools in communities with the highest rates of positive cases, the state will be taking proactive steps to implement protocols that limit mass contact. Today the Governor announced SUNY Albany will cancel in person classes for the rest of the semester effective tomorrow after a positive case was confirmed today.Additionally, any business that cannot accommodate rigorous cleaning standards should contact Empire State Development at (212) 803-3100 for a close order.