NORTHWEST MISSOURIAN THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2021
MARYVILLE, MISSOURI
NWMISSOURINEWS.COM
VOL. 109, NO. 29
@THEMISSOURIAN
Sustainabilty coordinator dies at 51 KENDRICK CALFEE News Editor | @calfee_kc MADELINE MAPES Assistant News Editor | @MadelineDMapes
ADDALYNN BRADBURY | NW MISSOURIAN
Northwest student Gabby Zahn sits in the observation area at the mass vaccination clinic April 7 after receiving her Moderna vaccine. The percentage of county residents that have completed the vaccination process, 21.8%, is lower than the percentage of residents that have started the process at 30.3%.
‘Good has been the theme’ Health officials optimistic after low COVID-19 cases, steady vaccines
MADELINE MAPES Assistant News Editor | @MadelineDMapes
Local health officials anticipate Nodaway County to be heading toward the turn that would put the county closer to normalcy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Mosaic Medical Center - Maryville President Nate Blackford said if Nodaway County continues to have low cases of COVID-19, and people continue to get vaccinated, then the county may start to return to normal faster than anticipated. Blackford has remained optimistic the past few weeks and has high hopes for the progress of the county. “Good has been the theme for the last several weeks,” Blackford said about COVID-19 cases. “That’s as low as it’s been since, you know, probably this time last year.” According to the Nodaway County and Northwest COVID-19 dashboards, only one person tested positive for COVID-19 April 11. The county has 11 active cases, five of which involve Northwest staff or students, while the seven-day rolling average of new COVID-19 cases is one. “We’re getting less and less people coming into the emergency room or the respiratory clinic with concerns of COVID, so that’s wonderful,” Blackford said. Blackford said these trends could also lead to the success of the University’s plan to return to fully in-person classes next fall. In order for this to happen, Blackford encourag-
es people to continue getting the vaccine and follow mitigation measures. In Nodaway County, as of April 13, 21.8% of local residents have completed the vaccination process, while 30.3% of Nodaway Countians have initiated the vaccination process. In order to reach herd immunity, according to the Mayo Clinic Health System, roughly 70% of the population needs to be vaccinated.
30.3
percent of Nodaway Countians have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. “The more the percent of population that is vaccinated allows us to reach that herd immunity, which … is the important next step for kind of opening things back up,” Blackford said. Recently, concerns have arisen about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which the Food and Drug Administration and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention have recalled due to a rare blood clot that was found in six instances out of 6.8 million doses administered. Mosaic - Maryville’s mass vac-
cination clinics held at the Carl and Cheryl Hughes Fieldhouse have never administered J&J vaccines. Community Health Nurse Bridget Kenny said at this week’s mass vaccination clinic April 14, 178 first doses were administered and 473 second doses were given as well. This week’s clinic was also the same clinic where President John Jasinski finished up his vaccination against COVID-19. Jasinski tweeted the process was “smooth as silk” and thanked all who have been involved in running the mass vaccination clinics. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services tweeted April 13 that all J&J COVID-19 vaccine administration will be paused in the state until further notice. In the thread, the MDHSS announced that anyone who has received the J&J vaccine and develops severe headaches, abdominal pain, leg pain or shortness of breath within three weeks of being inoculated should contact their health care provider. Walmart Inc., which did administer J&J vaccines, announced that it has paused administration of the vaccine per CDC and FDA recommendations. Despite not having a third vaccine to administer — which equates to fewer vaccines on hand — 21% of the state has completed the vaccination process, according to the Missouri COVID-19 dashboard.
Student Senate’s rollover budget for the 2020-21 academic year Unallocted funds
Spent money
$0
$30,000
The looming rollover budget
Student Senate might put leftover funding toward scholarships SIDNEY LOWRY News Reporter | @sidney_lowry
Student Senate’s $30,000 surplus lessened after only $5,000 was spent in the 2020-21 academic year, pushing $25,000 in unallocated funds onto the 99th Student Senate for the 2021-22 academic year. The first mention of a plan for the rollover budget happened in early February, consisting of possibly buying a net to protect people’s car windshields, some type of mural or making changes to the Bearcat Commons. Though this is the 98th Student Senate Treasurer Connor Thompson’s proposal, the responsibility of making sure the money will be used is now placed on the 99th Student
Senate Treasurer Jenna Lee-Johnson. At the Feb. 23 Student Senate meeting, they gave $1,500 from the rollover budget to a winter coat drive, but there has been a lack of use of the money ever since. Almost two months later, the plan for the unallocated $25,000 has remained quiet until one of the last meetings of the semester. At the April 6 meeting, Thompson proposed the idea of making the leftover money into a scholarship for international students who didn’t receive aid under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. “I definitely want to make sure it is a priority,” Lee-Johnson said. “I know we get our minds on other
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things and then put budget on the backburner, but it’s a huge amount of money, and I think we need to treat it with a big priority.” Thompson estimated that anywhere between 180 and 190 international students would receive the scholarship that is to be funded by the rollover budget. But with the international enrollment for the spring 2021 semester being at 364, this means these scholarships will be given based on need. Though the money has been proposed to go to the scholarship, it is still unknown when it would be given to students.
SEE ROLLOVER | A4
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His comforting smile could ease the worries of a stranger, but he knew no strangers. His kind, yet sturdy presence challenged people to do better each day — a true personification of Pumbaa from “The Lion King.” After all, he was Mr. Hakuna Matata. J o h n M a r k Vi a u , 5 1 , o f Maryville, Missouri, died in his home April 12. His family, friends and colleagues remember him as a kindhearted man always looking to help others. He worked harder than any of his friends knew and frequently challenged his peers to reach higher. “If everybody worked as hard as John, this world would be a different place,” said Mark Hetzler, a friend and colleague of John Viau. After surviving a stroke and other ailments in the past few years, John Viau died Monday with family at his side. At Northwest, he was a passionate advocate for recycling and sustainability efforts. He began work at the University in 2000 as a painter and maintenance staffer, then became a carpenter supervisor. Since 2011, he had served as the sustainability coordinator. His wife Rose Viau, vice president of student affairs: residential and auxiliary services, said he had an extensive knowledge and deep love for Northwest and that he always looked for ways to make others’ lives easier. “There were many days I don’t think he did anything that was his job,” Rose Viau said. “He was just helping somebody else with something they needed.” Deb Redmond, custodial supervisor at Northwest, worked closely with John Viau and has an office two doors down from where he worked. She said he always asked about her day, and if she was having a bad one, he made an effort to help. “The vending machine was in between our offices so every once in a while he’d stop and get a Diet Coke, pop in and say, ‘How’s it going?’ and I’d say, ‘Oh, it’s going,’ and he goes, ‘Are you having a rough day?’ I said, ‘Oh, yeah,’” Redmond said. “He’d come in, he’d sit down, shut the door and say, ‘How can I help you out?’”
SEE JOHN VIAU | A4
Student Senate considers adding academic positions SIDNEY LOWRY News Reporter | @sidney_lowry
In an effort to be more inclusive, the 98th Student Senate proposed adopting 11 new Senate positions for the 2021-22 academic year. Elizabeth Motazedi, freshman class representative for the 98th Student Senate, proposed these positions to bring in representatives from each of Northwest’s academic departments to represent students within their respective fields. These positions, if approved, would be appointed by professors and advisers within the academic departments and voted on by students in the fall during freshman class representative elections. A potential problem with the proposed positions is the ability to fill them. Six voting positions weren’t filled in the 99th Student Senate due to lack of people running for them. “I’d like to say they would be filled, but honestly, I couldn’t tell you,” Motazedi said. “These past two Senate elections have been so weird because of COVID-19, like having two executive offices run
unopposed. I definitely don’t think that it is because people aren’t interested. I think it is because COVID-19 has taken it out of everyone.” Though there have been challenges in filling positions, Motazedi has continued with the proposal to bring new members to Senate. “I think we should make them full senators, and they would have voting positions, be required to go to every meeting, but also I think they should even have higher requirements,” Motazedi said. Since these senators would represent their respective departments, Motazedi said they would be required to have passing grades in all major-specific classes and be held to the same standards as other voting senators, like having a 2.5 GPA and holding office hours. While Student Senate has organizational representatives like a Student Activities Council representative, Motazedi is looking to bring in more students from the academic side.
SEE SENATE | A4
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