The Current 2020

September 22, 2020 | nsucurrent.nova.edu 3 News News Briefs Turn the Tide events grant open for applications Get the scoop on events happening on campus This semester, the Office of Campus Life and Student Engagement is partnering with the Office of Residential Life and Housing to offer multiple grants to undergraduate students and organizations who are interested in hosting events on campus for students. The grants are sponsored by Dean Brad Williams and are a way to keep students engaged and involved on campus despite current COVID-19 restrictions. The application for the Turn the Tide events grant can be found on SharkHub and is open to individual NSU students, social Greek life organizations and registered undergraduate clubs and organizations. Any student or organization with an event idea that will engage students on campus are encouraged to apply for the grant. Submitted ideas will be reviewed by a committee of staff from the partnering offices and will be approved based on meeting the grant criteria. To be eligible to receive grant money, an event must be held on NSU’s Davie campus during the fall 2020 semester and be open to all NSU students. Gerard Wheeler, the director of campus life and student engagement at NSU explained that grants are a great way to show that fun programming can still be done despite covid. “If you want to learn how to do programming or have a great, amazing idea that you think students will want to see, but don’t know how to do it or don’t know how to start it, apply for the grant and let our team help you get it accomplished. It’s beautiful to see an idea [come] to fruition, and to say your club, despite COVID-19 and what’s going on, was able to put on an event and it was successful [is pretty cool],” he said. Students and organizations who received the grant will work alongside theOffice of Residential Life and Housing and the Office of Campus Life and Student Engagement to organize the event and ensure it meets all required safety protocols. There is no deadline to apply for the Turn the Tide event grant, so students are encouraged to submit The Garden guest artist exhibition On Sept. 23 from 6-8 p.m., Gallery 217 and the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts will host a virtual opening reception for a guest art exhibition, free of charge. This solo exhibition will feature “The Garden” by New World School of the Arts alumnus Amanda Madrigal, a Miami- based contemporary artist. This mixed media installation will showcase Madrigal’s soft sculptures that explore interpersonal relationships, nature, architecture and the mind-body connection. Success Workshop Series As part of the Tutoring and Testing Center’s Fall 2020 Success Workshop series, on Sept. 23 at 5 p.m., the center will host a Zoom workshop on “Finding Balance in the New Norm” led by Academic Success coaches. For students who cannot attend the Zoom, the workshops will be recorded and saved on their website. Students interested can visit here to find meeting details. MEEC continues Webinar Series NSU’s Marine Environmental Education Center (MEEC) is collaborating with marine scientists to cover environmental topics through a Zoom webinar series every Tuesday and Thursday at 1 p.m. On Sept. 24, Matthew J. Scripter will host “Knowing the World - The History & Importance of Taxonomy” followed By: Emma Heineman Features Editor A look at the disparities in healthcare On Oct. 14, the NSU Shepard Broad College of Law will hold the Jay A. Ziskind Inaugural Health Law Lecture Series. This year’s lecture, titled “COVID-19 Has Devastated The Black Community. Here’s Why And What Needs To Change,” features a panel of presenters including Jefferson Shah as the primary speaker. Shah will present and discuss various topics revolving around bias and racism in the medical industry and clinical research. The topics being presented will be based on Shah’s article posted on the Huffington Post on June 8. Shah is not only an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, but is also an NIH-trained allergist, immunologist and expert in both health policy and bioethics. The majority of Shah’s work focuses on health disparities, health policy and ethics influencing the topics being covered during the lecture. The current schedule of topics includes why Black Americans are twice as likely to know someone who has tested positive from COVID-19, ignorance and misconceptions in medicine and clinical research, how new legislation could have an impact on the inclusion of minorities in non-NIH funded research and a Q&A portion. “I am really going to be talking about health disparities, how healthcare disparity on a system level has lead to the outcome that we are seeing today particularly with COVID-19 and people of color… Number two is to show how we can start to address things and hopefully make things better from a policy standpoint,” said Shah. Shah explained how she sees particular importance in healthcare policy when it comes to racial injustice within the medical industry. “There are policy mechanisms and regulatory mechanisms that can be taken to ensure those sort of outcomes that have not been taken yet and Highlight things we can do on the ground from a policy regulation standpoint to make things better for everyone,” she said. In regards to the audience that should attend this lecture, Shah explained that these topics involve everyone, not just a specific group. “What I am talking about impacts us all and I think it is easy for a lot of people to say ‘COVID-19 won’t impact me, disparate health outcomes won’t impact me,’ and in fact, it does. In the U.S., we have some of the worst health care outcomes worldwide for developed countries and part of the reason why is because we have such disparate healthcare,” she said. The panel will also feature Board of the Governor member, Jay Ziskind, and professor Marilyn Uzdavines of the Shepard Broad College of Law. The event will take place from 4-5:30 p.m., in person and over Zoom. The event is free and open to all students, faculty and alumni of NSU. It is asked that attendees RSVP for the event under the Shepard Broad College of Law section of the NSU website . More information on the event can be found on the Shepard Broad College of Law website or questions on the event can be directed to kr550@nova.edu . by Mike Mills presenting “Freshwater Turtle Research & the Implications on the Current Illegal Pet Trade” on Sept. 19. Flu Shots at NSU The Office of Human Resources along with NSU Pharmacy and ICUBA is providing free seasonal flu shots to all faculty and staff enrolled in the NSU/ ICUBA medical plan. The purpose of the flu vaccine is to minimize transmission of the influenza virus and to prevent transmission to other members of the NSU community. According to the CDC, getting a flu shot is more important this year as we learn to live safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Week 6: COVID-19 update at NSU Between the new BlendFlex model, classroom capacities, limited gathering sizes and masks covering the faces of every Shark, it’s hard to miss the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on NSU. As we head into our sixth week of classes, NSU continues to monitor the effects of COVID-19 on campus. As of Friday, Sept. 18, NSU has had a total of two “positive” cases within the residential halls on campus -- the second and newest case received an “inconclusive” test result (the first case was mentioned in our previous COVID-19 update ) . “We treat ‘inconclusive’ as positive. We err on the side of caution, so that would make our second positive case in the residence halls,” explained BethWelmaker, executive director for environmental health and safety for NSU. The student does not have any roommates or suitemates, and had completed their isolation this past weekend. Additionally, Welmaker said the university is not aware of anyone who has had to quarantine as a result of exposure to the student. Another campus resident had notified university officials of an exposure that required quarantine. However, the student decided to return home for this period. As of Sept. 18, there were no NSU students in quarantine on campus, although there are individuals living off campus that have notified the university that they are quarantining. If a student is having any symptoms, they are advised to reach out to NSU’s Telehealth line at (954) 262-4100, where they will be connected to a physician who will review their symptoms and, if needed, schedule a COVID-19 test on campus. Additionally, students can email COVIDcase@nova.edu to provide updates on their symptoms and test results, even if the results are still pending, and to get assigned a COVID-19 case manager to oversee the situation and offer assistance, if necessary. Emailing COVIDcase will also immediately provide students with the Telehealth number, as well as links to employee and graduate/ professional student report forms, the undergraduate student form and the form to report exposures. ideas throughout the semester. “We have students who are here. If you decided to come back to campus and be here, I don’t think that your experience should be compromised… We [want] to make sure that students still [feel] like they are getting that college experience,” saidWheeler. For more information about the grant, email campuslife@nova.edu . By: Madelyn Rinka Co-Editor-in-Chief By: Rick Esner News Editor