Vol. 68, Issue 8
Est. 1981
March 19 - March 26, 2024
THE PAISANO
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio Community /PaisanoOnline
/ThePaisano
@paisanomedia
@ThePaisano
paisano-online.com
34th Annual Women’s March By Laynie Clark Editor-in-Chief
W
ith the progression of International Women’s Month, San Antonians took to the streets to embrace womanhood and empower one another. On March 10, the “Mujeres Marcharan” Coalition hosted the 34th Annual International Women’s Day March.
Staged in Milam Park, feminists gathered to listen to notable speakers and march alongside fellow supporters. As speakers expressed themselves into the microphone, attendees watched and participated in the discussed topics. Additionally, the event showcased memorable musical performances, an array of food and rituals. Visit paisano-online.com to see the photo gallery.
The state of COVID-19 in 2024
By Faith Koaudio Staff Writer
It has been four years since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The week following the announcement, institutions and organizations worldwide shut down to curb the extent of the virus, affecting billions of lives. Much has occurred since daily and weekly reports slowed down, despite WHO maintaining COVID-19 is still a pandemic. Here is a summary of events and the current state of COVID-19 at a city, state and national level. San Antonio The first confirmed COVID-19 case in San Antonio — and in Texas — occurred on Feb. 13, 2020, within a group of evacuees from China at Lackland Air Force Base. Mayor Nirenberg proactively declared a public health emergency on March 2, the same day city officials sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), demanding the federal agency raise standards for releasing quarantined people. Nirenberg banned future evacuees from entering San Antonio. Following the WHO’s declaration, the Spurs suspended further games, Fiesta was canceled and postponed until 2022 and many schools and workplaces went remote. On Dec. 14, 2020, UT Health received 6,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. By Jan. 9, 2021, mass vaccination sites were created at the Alamodome and the WellMed Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Center on the
By Laynie Clark Editor-in-Chief
In compliance with the Clery Act, UTSA keeps a public daily crime log that houses all on-campus crimes. The log summarizes the case’s date, time, location, incident and current status. The crimes detailed below are taken directly from the crime log, showcasing the trends premiered during the first month of classes. Public lewdness On Tuesday, March 5, a case of public lewdness took place in the Student Union. The incident occurred from 4:30 to 5 p.m. and was reported at 9:05 p.m. the same evening. The case is still active. Bodily injury assault On Friday, Feb. 23, a bodily injury assault took place at University Oaks. The incident occurred from 12:36 to 12:38 p.m. and was reported at 12:38 p.m. The same individual was charged with criminal mischief and the case was cleared by arrest. Assault by threat Three different assaults by threats happened on campus from Feb. 23 to March 14. The first took place at the Science and Engineering Building at 8:40 a.m. This specific case was closed by exceptional means. The others took place on the same day, March 14, at the Brackenridge Ave. Lot 1. Both were cleared by arrest. Assault by contact On Thursday, Feb. 29, an assault by contact took place at the Activity Center. The incident occurred from 2 to 2:40 p.m. and was reported on Feb. 7. The case was closed by
Dustin Vickers/The Paisano
south side. By the end of 2020, San Antonio had 118,057 total COVID-19 cases and 1,538 deaths from the virus. As of March 5, 2024, there were 754,187 cumulative cases and 6,262 confirmed total deaths. Bexar County stopped updating COVID-19 data dashboards on March 12 due to “COVID-19 no longer being a reportable condition as of March 1, 2024.” Texas “I am at this moment declaring a state disaster for all counties in the state of Texas,” announced Governor Abbott on March 13, 2020. The Texas Supreme Court halted evictions on March 19, and unemployment rates spiked 860% the following week. In June, Abbott insisted that closing Texas would be “the last option.” That November, Texas breached 1 million cases and Abbott reiterated at least twice that there would be no lockdown. In January 2021, the number of COVID-19 cases passed 2 million. By February, 1 million Texas residents were fully vaccinated, and on March 10, 2021, Abbott removed the mask mandate and re-opened businesses to 100% capacity. Several businesses maintained their COVID-19 policies. After California, Texas had the highest number of confirmed cases in the country. On Aug. 17, Abbott tested positive for COVID-19. The city of Austin announced the end of the COVID-19 National Public Health Emergency Declaration in alignment with national agencies on May 11, 2023. “The end of the national public health emergency
exceptional means. Duty on striking unattended vehicle Four different unattended vehicle strikes were reported from Feb. 22 to March 4. The first incident took place at the Tobin Avenue Garage at 11 a.m.; the case is inactive. The second incident occurred on Feb. 29 at Barshop Blvd Lot 1; the case is still active. The third incident happened at Bauerle Rd Lot 1 and is now inactive. Criminal trespass On Tuesday, March 12, criminal trespassing occurred at the Science and Engineering Building. The incident took place from 1:47 to 1:49 p.m. and was reported at 1:47 p.m. The case was cleared by arrest. Criminal mischief On Friday, March 8, criminal mischief took place at University Oaks. The incident occurred from 4:26 to 4:42 a.m. and was reported at 4:26 a.m. The case is still active. Graffiti On Monday, March 4, an incident involving graffiti took place at the Student Union. The incident occurred from 9:24 a.m. and continued for an entire 24 hours. The incident was reported on March 5 at 9:24 and is still active. Theft Dominating the crime log is theft. From Feb. 26 to March 9, six different theft instances occurred. Out of the six, three cases are inactive, two are active and one was cleared by arrest. The most prevalent theft location was University Oaks. To stay in the loop, visit UTSA’s Public Safety website.
unfortunately does not mean the end of COVID-19,” said Dr. Desmar Walkes of Austin-Travis County Health Authority. Between March 6, 2020, and the latest report published on Jan. 15, 2024, 9,030,821 confirmed and probable cases were reported in Texas. For 2024, 38,018 confirmed and probable cases have been reported. United States The CDC began investigations into the then-unknown illness on Jan. 5, 2020, following a report to WHO by China two days earlier. The first confirmed infections were reported in Illinois on Jan. 24. On March 27, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES), providing $1,200 checks to support Americans financially, expanding funding to state and local governments and more. Other federal acts paused student loan repayments indefinitely. By the end of August, new cases would average over 1,000 a day and total cases were over 5.4 million. On Oct. 2, Trump tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, Pfizer and Moderna progressed in a COVID-19 vaccine, testing to be at least 94% effective after several trials. Both options were authorized for emergency use by Dec. 18. The Department of Health & Human Services had announced in September that vaccines would be free of charge. By the end of the year, the death toll had surpassed 300,000, and 2.8 million people had received the first dose. By the end of January 2021, over 23 million
doses had been administered. In February, the death toll surpassed 500,000 and the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine was approved for emergency use. In January 2022, the United States reported the highest daily total worldwide, with almost 1 million new COVID-19 cases. June recorded over 84 million infections and slightly above 1 million deaths. As of March 10, the total number of cases is 103,804,263, or about 1 in 3 Americans, who have had COVID-19. The death toll is 1,123,836. Worldwide, 676,609,955 people have had COVID-19, and 6,881,955 have died. The total number of vaccine doses administered internationally is 13,338,833,198.
UTSA Athletics Department secures $153 million deal By Haley Aguayo Assistant Sports Editor
The UTSA Athletics Department has been approved to build a new $57 million facility to be used as a player development building by the softball and baseball teams. This new facility will include features such as batting cages, equipment storage spaces, pitching areas, updated separate locker rooms and student-athlete lounges, along with a nutrition-based dining hall that will hire staff to cook on-site for student-athletes as opposed to the previous method of shipping food. During their campaign to encourage students to vote yes to an increase in their athletic fees paid as part of tuition, Athletic Director Lisa Campos announced last fall that UTSA’s Athletic Department would be building a $35 million facility to house both the men’s and women’s basketball teams along with the women’s volleyball team. Despite the majority of students who participated in the voting process voted against the fee
increase, UTSA has acquired funding from The University of Texas System Board of Regents for three major athletic projects. “This is just the start. This is the kind of seed money to do these facilities so we are still going to heavily rely on our philanthropic support or our San Antonio community, our donors, our constituents,” Campos said. “Fundraising is going to be a huge part of this moving forward in terms of the basketball and volleyball facility.” This funding will not only cover the new basketball and volleyball facility but will also cover nearly 75% of the funding for the proposed softball and baseball facility, as well as the previously approved football training facility. While a previous approval for a $61 million facility that is set to be built near UTSA’s Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence (RACE), which sits adjacent to the nine student recreational, the Convocation Center and student parking lots, there are plans to place a
new football training facility near the RACE building. Now, with UTSA’s newest plan approved for the baseball and softball facility, Campos and president Taylor Eighmy look to keep the facility on campus between both the Roadrunner Field and UTSA’s Softball Field, which is currently home to the previously mentioned nine recreation fields used by students. If the Athletics Department cannot build near the fields, they can resort to the additional land owned by UTSA at Park West that is not taken up by the field, track and parking lot. “We’ve been talking about this for a couple of years, we’ve been doing conceptual designs and we’re getting to the finishing touches right now. I’m optimistic we’re going to break ground by December. Whether it be December 2024 or January 2025, we’re going to have a shovel in the ground,” Campos said. Official facility sites will be announced upon ground-break approval.
Miles Jones/The Paisano