ROUND OUNDUP www.theroundupnews.com
Woodland Hills, California
Volume 132 - Issue 7
A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION
Thursday, May 7, 2020
One copy free, each additional copy $1.00
Fall goes Looking COVID-19 in the eye online Frontline healthcare workers risk their lives to help patients during the pandemic
Remote instruction continues
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BY ARIELLE ZOLEZZI
he Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) has decided to keep courses in their online format through the fall 2020 semester, but some professors are hoping to return to in-person instruction. No future plans have been solidified, according to Pierce College President Alexis Montevirgen. “We’re working with the district on what they call a recovery plan,” Montevirgen said. “We’re at phase one right now where we’re responding to the situation. Phase two would be seeing who we need to bring back on the campus, who we absolutely need to bring back.” Montevirgen said phase three is to start thinking about the 5% of classes that were unable to convert online and how to try to get those courses to have some classroom time while respecting social distancing. “I know many students are like, ‘Well, I need this to graduate’ and I understand that” Montevirgen said. “We’re trying to move as fast as we can, but we want to do so in a way that’s very intentional and thought out.” Sociology professor James McKeever said via audio recording that although he gets the logic behind the decision, he is afraid that Pierce and LACCD might lose student enrollment because of this pandemic. “I understand why they made that decision, because they don’t want a bunch of people in one place,” McKeever said. “But I am worried about our most vulnerable student population, which is working class Black and Brown students, who may go to work and never come back.” Performing arts professor Garineh Avakian wrote in an email that this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and that the school will look back at this time of instruction in awe and see that people persevered mentally, physically, emotionally and socially. “With the situation being so fluid, I think it was a wise decision, though it poses a lot more issues and concerns from various departments on campus,” Avakian wrote. “In regards to the performing arts, music area, it is unfortunate to not have live performances, concerts, lessons, and classes.” Avakian has been getting ready to shelter in place by setting up an art studio in her home office with a Yamaha keyboard, professional microphones, tripods, music software for video and audio editing and hightech speakers. “I am able to supply my students with tracks for them to sing to,” Avakian wrote. “I am utilizing Canvas to ask them to record their songs. As for the fall semester, I have asked and invited contacts from my own network to join me in my classes at Pierce to talk about their own journeys as professors, performers, agents and producers.” Political science professor Denise Robb wrote via email that when campus closed, she was in the middle of taking a class that certified her to be an online teacher for a second time. “I’ve been certified already for a few years, but I was putting off creating an online course because I really like teaching in person,” Robb wrote. Robb wrote that because of her online certification, she is familiar with Yuja, Zoom, EDPUZZLE, and knows how to create video quizzes. In terms of plans beyond the immediate future, Montevirgen said that department chairs are thinking about what courses will be offered for spring 2021. “I think what we’re doing is trying to learn as much as we can, and understanding that those things may change,” Montevirgen said. “Even for the fall, we’re going to plan for it to be online because that's the safest and most responsible way to plan.” azolezzi.roundupnews@gmail.com
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BY SHEHREEN KARIM
man alone on his deathbed looked over at his wife and son. He wanted to be able to hold them close, but he was forced to say his final goodbye through a glass door. Joy Gerales, 34, witnessed this. She is an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse at a Los Angeles hospital who declined to give the location for safety concerns. “That was the most depressing thing that I’ve ever seen because this is not the norm,” Gerales said in a phone interview. “I’ve been an ICU nurse for 11 years and I've seen a lot of deaths, but this was totally a different feel.” Gerales said hospitals normally accommodate families by letting them stay in the room as they’re close to dying. But because of COVID-19, hospitals are forced to take precaution and limit how many medical personnel enter the room once the patient dies to limit exposure. “It was so different unlike any other cardiac arrest because when you see the patient is in cardiac arrest, you can’t even drop a needle in the room because everyone is there like doctors and nurses,” Gerales said. “Now we cannot even jump in the room because it has to be contained and controlled.” Despite these precautions and limiting how many nurses go into a COVID-19 patient’s room to preserve their protection gear and to limit exposure, Gerales managed to contract COVID-19 and was required to self-isolate in a separate room and bathroom from her family for a month. At first her fever wouldn't go above 100.4, but within a matter of days Gerales started to experience shortness of breath. “If I start panicking, my breathing problem will get worse. I'll probably end up calling 911. I'll end up tubed in the ER. I will never see my family,” Gerales said. “That's what I'm thinking and debating alone at 3 a.m. in my bed.” Gerales said what kept her going and remaining calm was the thought of her husband and 4-year-old son waiting on the other side of the door for her to get better. “I know my son missed me so much because everytime he passed by my room he would say, ‘Mama I love you and miss you’ outside the door,” Gerales said.
Photo courtesy of Joy Gerales Intensive care unit (ICU) nurse Joy Gerales poses in a protective medical suit in May 2020. After more than two weeks in isolation from her family, Gerales said the moment she was finally able to hug her son felt like she was granted a second chance at life. But at the end of their shifts, the anxiety doesn't leave. Instead, they fear that they’re taking home COVID-19 to their family. Ryan, 38, is a full-time nurse at Kaiser Permanente and who declined to give his last name for safety concerns. He said he takes precautions by taking his temperature before and after every shift to protect his family.
He said preading COVID-19 to his wife and daughters would be the biggest regret of his life. “We [healthcare workers] all took an oath that we’re going to take care of patients, but our families did not take an oath,” Ryan said in a phone interview. “That’s our main fear: to bring the virus home.” COVID-19 stays in the back of his mind even while celebrating his daughter and wife’s birthdays. He must distance himself from his high risk elderly parents, which forced them to celebrate behind glass windows.
With healthcare workers working full time, many cherish the little moments they have with family. But even at home, the fear of COVID-19 doesnt leave their mind. For 24-year-old Lizbeth Rodriguez, being an ER Nurse during the pandemic helped her realize how precious life is and to appreciate each day. She also explains how even her intimate moments with her husband are clouded with anxiety from COVID-19.
“What if this kiss is my kiss of death and what if I give it to him through this kiss,” Rodriguez said in a phone interview. With the added strain of healthcare workers being at the forefront of the pandemic and having difficulty enjoying their private lives, people have deemed healthcare workers as “healthcare heroes.” For 34-year-old Ziska Arnold, a surgical ICU Nurse at Cedar Sinai, she understands why people call healthcare workers heroes but explains it’s part of the job. “It's nice they’re calling us heroes now, but we’ve been heroes all along,'' Arnold said. “Not many folks can do what we do and deal with what we do on a daily basis. I wish they could give us all this respect pre and post pandemic.” Despite the sudden praise for healthcare workers, Rodriguez says people who break social distancing rules are going against the efforts of healthcare workers. “People flocking toward the beach right now and not having any sentiments towards social distancing, feels like a slap in the face,” Rodriguez said. “We are working toward so much to get this to the point where we can go back to our normal life.” Although elderly people are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19, Gerales said healthcare workers are seeing elderly patients go on ventilators as well as young patients without any medical history. “It doesn't matter if you're over 65, we get patients in their 20s and 30s,” Gerales said. “This pandemic made me see that everyone is able to get sick and vulnerable.” Gerales sympathizes and explains that efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic must come from healthcare workers and the general public. ”If only people understood how emotionally draining it is to see patients dying alone in the ICU bed, and their families to be so helpless that they can't even be there with their loved one as they die,” Gerales said. ”I know it's hard right now, but everyone has to do their part and have to stay home for this pandemic to end.” skarim.roundupnews@gmail.com
Students of all ages
Pierce parents have become teachers at home
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BY ARIELLE ZOLEZZI
ince the shutdown of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), many Pierce professors and students have doubled as their children’s teachers while continuing to fulfill personal and work obligations. Communications professor Jennifer Rosenberg reflected in a Facebook direct message about the transition to homeschooling her children, while still maintaining her courses, which are now taught in an online format with Zoom and synchronous classes. “If you want to know what it is like to homeschool and teach at the same time, watch a three minute video and have someone interrupt you every 20 seconds,” Rosenberg wrote. “Homeschooling is both challenging and rewarding, but I am looking forward to summer.” Sociology professor James McKeever chimed in via voice recording that when he isn’t integrating quality time doing activities and sports with his son, homeschooling is a tag-team partnership with his wife who is also a professor.
“His mom does most of the homeschooling, and when she can’t handle it I step in and that has been really helpful,” McKeever said. “I feel in some ways this has helped me connect more with him, so I am grateful for the time to do that.” But it isn’t just professors who are feeling the effects of schools closing. There are students who have their families who now have to learn and teach all at the same time. Pierce student Ashley Shellmire (a Roundup photographer) said via Slack direct message that she has yet to go insane with balancing being a teacher, full time cook, cleaner, babysitter, coming up with new ideas to keep her 4-year-old busy, all while striving to maintain a 4.0 GPA. “I would compare it to trying to stand on a balance ball while holding 6 cups of hot coffee but only having two hands to use. You're gonna get burnt,” Shellmire wrote. “I take it day by day and try to make time for myself at least 30 mins a day. I call it my ‘Me time.’” azolezzi.roundupnews@gmail.com
Ashley Shellmire / Roundup Ari Shellmire colors during learning time at her home in Chatsworth, Calif., on April 23, 2020.