COVID-19 on the brink of summer
Inside: COVID-19 in India, Senate GBM recap, softball, recent science news, and more!
It is now the last week of classes and one of the busiest of the semester as professors hastily cram in last-minute assignments and due dates begin stacking up. If you find yourself backed into a corner, just remember how far you have come and how close you are to the end. With summer break right around the corner, finish strong with one last push!
Stateside, COVID-19 vaccination numbers continue to rise, with more than 240 million shots administered. However, the situation in India continues to deteriorate as hospitals are overwhelmed and deaths exceed 200,000. In response to the humanitarian crisis, students at Carnegie Mellon have been circulating a petition to get President Jahanian to direct university resources towards the cause, hoping to aid the country through donations and government advocacy.
The Senate convened for a general body meeting this past Thursday, April 29. Since we are approaching the end of the semester, meeting topics included academic advising, an end-of-the-year report on student organizations, and a vote regarding the existing fund for student course materials.
The Carnegie Mellon softball team defeated the Allegheny Gators this past Tuesday in a double-header, with the Tartans winning both games cleanly. This brings the softball team’s record to 12-5-1 for the season.
Despite the pandemic restrictions, Buggy still happened, though it was pushed back from Carnival. Although no spectating crowds were allowed, the teams still gave it their all, keeping the proud tradition alive.
Read on for the rest of this week’s stories!
For this past week from April 27 to May 2, there were 14 on-campus student cases and 8 off-campus student cases. This is an improvement from the week of April 20 to April 26, where the number of on-campus student cases was 16 and the number of off-campus student cases was 13.
From April 27 to April 29, the Tartan Testing program received a total of 1,998 results with 9 positive outcomes. This gives a positivity rate of 0.45 percent. As of April 29, 11.36 percent of isolation and quarantine housing is in use, and the number of isolation and quarantine beds available has remained steady at 220.
In Allegheny County, the number of cases has increased to 97,521 with a total of 1,867 deaths. The weekly positivity rate is beginning to decrease along with the weekly rate of confirmed cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.
News of the Week
COVID-19 crisis in India
Another surge of COVID-19 in India is wreaking havoc, with the death count now totaling over 200,000. In response to this crisis, students at Carnegie Mellon have been circulating a petition calling on President Jahanian to do more to support those students affected by the crisis and to direct the university’s resources to help the affected country. As Operations Manager Kaitlyn Ho reports:
Carnegie Mellon students have been circulating a petition asking the university’s administration to take action in response to the COVID-19 humanitarian crisis in India. The petition, which has over 250 student and 60 faculty signatures, was created on April 25 and asks Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian to help India deal with the COVID-19 surge in four main ways.
Read more about the petition here.
Senate GBM recap, April 29
The Undergraduate Senate met again this past Thursday. The three key issues discussed were academic advising, the end-of-the-year status of student organizations, and the existing fund for student course materials. As SciTech Editor Kaylin Li reports:
Vice Provost for Education Amy Burkert updated the Senate on academic advising, student success, and equity. She discussed how academic advising had been consolidated from various different departments into the Student Academic Success Center (SASC), allowing students to refer to one location for academic advising and resources. She mentioned that the university was moving toward having all advisers have a baseline knowledge of the different areas of advising while still preserving major and expertise-specific advising.
Read more about the Senate recap here.
Softball recap
The Carnegie Mellon softball team won both games in the double-header against the Allegheny Gators this past Tuesday thanks in part to a standout performance by junior Gwen Delacruz and first-year Addy Sewack. As Sports Editor Cynthia Xu reports:
In game one, neither team made substantial progress in the first inning, but Delacruz’s hit at the top of the second allowed junior Io Jette-Kouri to score Carnegie Mellon’s first run. A huge, base-clearing hit by sophomore Tessa Bruneau then added three more runs to the scoreboard. The Tartans did well to hold onto their lead, limiting Allegheny to a single run in the bottom of the second, and headed into the third inning leading 4-1. Another big hit from Delacruz at the top of the third added two runs to the Carnegie Mellon tally, and the Tartans quickly closed out the inning, giving Allegheny no chance to score. The fourth inning swung in favor of the Gators, with the visitors unable to capitalize in the top, and the home side recording four runs in the bottom to make it 6-5.
Read more about the game here.
Ingenuity: a glance at Mars
The recent launch of the Mars rover Perseverance by NASA made headlines, and with Perseverance came Ingenuity, a drone-like helicopter that was used to perform the first powered flight on a distant planet. This is a huge step forward for human space exploration, and will likely further our understanding of the red planet. As Staffwriter Lalithashruthi Rajaraman reports:
Along with Perseverance came Ingenuity, a drone-like helicopter that was attached to the bottom of Perseverance before its flight to Mars as a technological demonstration. Upon its launch into space, scientists were unsure of whether Ingenuity would successfully maneuver itself through Mars’ extremely thin atmosphere, even after performing many tests on the helicopter before its expedition. Their hard work paid off when the flight of Ingenuity became the first ever powered and controlled flight on a world beyond Earth.
Read more about Ingenuity here.
SciTech Roundup, May 3
From the growth of Duolingo to the remembrance of Charles M. Geschke, read about recent technology news in this week’s SciTech Roundup!
Voices of CMU
Precollegiate pandemic ponderings
This year has been a difficult one for everyone, especially for those transitioning between high school and college. With anxiety from the pandemic-imposed isolation and uncertainty from the grueling college admissions cycle, weathering that stress is a formidable challenge. Incoming first-year Annie Woo reflects on her precollegiate woes, and what she would have done differently:
However, even through the hardship and stress of the pandemic and all the unfortunate experiences that came out of it, I was still concerned about making sure my Common Application essay was perfect or that I listed all of my achievements during my interviews. But was all that really worth it? I ended up committing to a college I am more than thankful to attend but regretful of the time I lost not devoting it to my family and their health. The pandemic, and so many aspects of it, were and still are aggravating. Yet, it has shone a light on the parts of my life that were ignored under a pile of books.
Read more about her perspective here.
EdBoard: combating COVID-19 complacency
With surging vaccination numbers, pandemic restrictions are gradually loosening as many believe the pandemic is coming to an end. However, becoming complacent at this point is dangerous as reckless behavior will lead to another COVID-19 surge, thrusting us back into the lockdown that we are just now emerging from:
Indeed, some reopening plans are contingent on “a sufficient vaccination supply and stable and low hospitalization numbers,” such as California’s plan to reopen its economy by June 15. These plans understand that the situation is fluid and that many variables will impact our ability to reopen and move beyond a pandemic lifestyle. However, many relaxed measures are not being taken conditionally, and it is these that are most concerning. It can be expected that many will immediately resume pre-pandemic behaviors, including traveling without masks or social distancing, once restrictions are lifted or even just loosened.
In the opinion from The Tartan Editorial Board, we remind everyone that remaining vigilant and continuing to practice COVID-19 safety procedures is the only way to ensure the pandemic comes to an end.
For your consideration
April Meme Review
It’s the start of another month, and that means it’s time for Maddy’s Monthly Meme Madness! April brought about some great memes, and what better way to alleviate some of that end-of-semester stress than with a good laugh at some of the best memes out there, hand-picked by resident meme expert Madeline Kim:
1: “Priorities” by [Miles Williams] (10/10)
Williams absolutely dominates this month’s meme review with not just one, not two, but three memes. This one rightfully earned its place in first place. I’m especially impressed with the seamless blend connecting Farnam’s head and the frat boy’s body. Also, the accuracy: ow.
2: “Buildings” by Nancy Zuo (9.5/10)
As a Dietrich kiddo, I take offense in the implication that majors in Dietrich are secondary. Jokes aside, this is a solid meme. The use of Comic Sans is tastefully done, and it works especially well in the gradient rainbow title. Zuo’s caption, “non-freshman reacts only,” is a harrowing reminder of our… current circumstances.
Check out the memes here!
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postscript.
We are always looking for new people to join The Tartan. If you want to write, our editors and staff will help you through your first article, so don’t be nervous about reaching out or attending one of our all-staff meetings on Zoom. For interested artists, designers, photographers, social media-ers, and more, the editorial staff wants your help, too!