Heel Talk: Campus re-entry and sports preview for spring - The Daily Tar Heel

In a special program on the first day of the UNC course, host Evely Forte talked with University Information Desk reporters Heidi Perez-Moreno and Rachel Crumpler to discuss the return of students this spring semester.

They also discussed the university's new COVID testing program and the technology used to implement the program. 

Sports editor Jared McMasters (Jared McMasters) previewed the spring season for the UNC sports team. 

This is when we were in March, April, and May last year, when the decision was to decide not to build a strong test platform. There is also concern about giving people a false sense of security. I think that if I were to admit that we made the biggest mistake, it would be that. 

I’m Evely Forte from The Daily Tar Heel, this is Heel Talk. Hello everyone, and welcome to the FDOC special program. Today, we are talking about the re-examination of students in this spring semester. We will discuss the university’s new COVID testing program and the technology used to facilitate it. We will also preview the UNC spring sports season.

Hi, I’m Rachel Crumpler, and I’m the senior writer of The Daily Tar Heel at the university desk.

Hi, my name is Heidi Pérez-Moreno and I am a staff member at the university desk. 

Therefore, the course officially begins today, and the students have entered the school since last week. But we know that not all students who wish to return to Chapel Hill do this because it delays the time to attend classes in person and extends the enrollment time. Heidi, what steps must those students take now?

For students who have not yet lived in Chapel Hill, no matter where they are, students need at least five days to take the test. They need to upload negative test results to the ConnectCarolina student needs dashboard.

Okay, to be clear, this is a requirement for all students who wish to return to the triangle, for example, not just those who wish to live in the dormitory. 

Yes, this is for basically all students who live in the Orange County area. 

Ok. And when the students arrive at Chapel Hill. What were the test requirements for these types of students at that time?

Yes, so in essence, once students return to campus, they will need to go to the UNC test site and take the test on the same day they return. This is called a reentry test, and they have three different sites to choose from: CURRENT Artspace on Franklin Street, the Student Union, and Rams Head Entertainment Center. While these spaces are open at the Student Union, some of them will not open until the 19th. Therefore, if students cannot take the test on the same day they return, all they have to do is to self-quarantine anywhere until they can pass the test. 

got it. Well, now to summarize what we just said, these requirements apply to re-entering campus and to students who wish to return to campus or the Chapel Hill area. But for now, I want to talk a little bit about shifting and talk about the new test plan that the university is implementing during the spring semester. So first of all, Rachel, what is the overall testing process for campus students this spring semester?

Yes, so the university implemented the Carolina Common Test Program, which requires college students and graduate students to take regular asymptomatic assessments throughout the semester. Students can visit three test centers to take the test.

How often do students take exams this semester? Did one of you discover this from the report?

Yes. Therefore, the frequency of student examinations during the semester does vary. Therefore, if a student wants to attend classes on campus, live in the dormitory, Granville Tower, or have 10 or more people outside the campus, the test needs to be conducted twice a week. However, if students live off campus in the Chapel Hill or Carrboro area, even if they are remote and have not entered the campus, they need to be tested once a week. Graduates, majors, and post-doctoral students who are about to enter campus must be tested once a week. However, in the course of monitoring daily symptoms, graduate students are an exception. The off-campus faculty and staff and off-campus graduate students do not have to take the exam. For them, they can take the test voluntarily, but it is not necessary for them. 

And, if I can add, I talked to Dr. Barzin and he explained to me why the university decided to let teachers and faculty members take the exams voluntarily. He said that in their background research, they found that across the country, the number of teachers and staff does not have such a high infection rate as students, so this is why they have increased the detection rate of students. Housing in high-density locations or dormitories and campuses, as well as Granville and other things. 

Okay, got it. Rachel, I know from your report that you have studied the new technology that the university will launch this semester to promote the test plan. Can you talk about it, how it looks and how to use it? 

Yes, therefore, the main component of the Carolina Together test program is Hall Pass, a mobile-based web-based application that campus members will need to use to make appointments to the test center. The Hall Pass app also sends notifications about when the test results can be prepared for students to review and when the next test will be taken.

So, from your report, do you know what the impact will be on students or campus community members who do not comply with the new guidelines this semester?

Therefore, participation in the testing program is part of the COVID-19 community standard, and returning students must be admitted upon admission. Therefore, they must follow this test. Repeated or continuous non-compliance with the test plan may result in administrative and/or disciplinary action, such as removal from campus housing, restricted use on campus, or even cancellation of university admissions. The real purpose of the Hall Pass is to promote compliance with the university’s mandatory exam plan. In fact, if you miss the exam window, it will issue a notification to remind you.

I just want to summarize. The last question I would love to hear is whether you two know what the university hopes the test plan will have for the upcoming semester.

Therefore, several administrators believe that the program is essentially a way to overturn and fix what happened in the fall. Of course, as we all know, the sudden transition from in-person classes to remote classes in autumn caused students to have to go home. The administrator hopes that the program can prevent this from happening and reduce the number of cases. Provost Bob Blouin pointed out at a meeting of the Academic Affairs Executive Committee last month that the program can correct the "biggest mistake" of the test program starting in the fall.

Yes, we absolutely hope that these procedures and agreements can truly achieve these goals and help the campus maintain a livelihood while keeping the number of COVID cases this semester low. That's what I want as a student, and I'm sure you two will feel the same. Well, thank you very much for participating in Heel Talk today and sharing the knowledge you learned through the report. For this, I really appreciate it.

Thank you very much for having me.

I am very happy to be here.

Next, we will discuss sports in the university this semester. But first, the words of our sponsor. 

Today’s podcast is sponsored by Tar Heel Verses and the UNC English Department. This is Jones Wilbanks (Jonesy Wilbanks), a sophomore from Richmond, Virginia, reading her poem about motherhood:

How to cry

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When she took me to the pediatrician.

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Hi everyone and welcome back. Now, back in the sports world, Jared and I talk about what this season looks like. 

Hey, I’m Jared McMasters, I’m the Daily Tar Heel sports editor, thank you, Evely let me participate today.

Thank you Jared for being here today. Starting from the spring semester, we are happy to talk about all things in sports, and this is where I want to start from you. I’m sure you know that the university decided to postpone face-to-face learning this semester, and I’m curious, does this have any effect on the practice or competition this season?

Yes, so there are still some unannounced spring schedules for spring sports, we are still waiting to hear, but other than that, the decision to go online in the first three weeks did not have much impact. We kind of saw that in the fall, some basketball players even took to Twitter to ask a question: “Why are we treated differently and told that we can stay on campus to practice and practice everything. These students are in online classes. "I think one of the interesting things for me is that they don't have golf and tennis teams. Usually they play sports all year round, but they haven't really completed the fall part of the schedule. Winter, but now it seems that this spring, they will start competitions, competitions and other activities. Therefore, I think it seems a bit safe for them to decide to restart the game now, which is very interesting.

Jared, so it makes sense. Have these students been training us to leave campus until now, last week, because students started slowly but surely moving into campus dorms?

Yes, absolutely, especially the winter sports athletes who are now in the middle of the season. I think that at some point, we have seen this phenomenon particularly hurt the basketball team and wrestling. You know, although the women's basketball team only announced that there is a problem with their COVID agreement, they have postponed several games or cancelled games. It was just announced on Thursday the 14th that the UVA women’s basketball team will suspend the season because they feel insecure and incorrect in all aspects of the safety regulations, and the Duke women’s team did it for a few weeks before the same, so we I'm a little beginning to understand how to play during this pandemic. Even during the winter vacation when people are at home, everything does cause losses to these shows. 

Yes, with the rescheduling of these games and the setting of this season, one question I want to know is my mind and the thoughts of many of my friends at school is whether fans can participate in these games in person? this term?

Therefore, many things are intertwined with what the state does in things like allowing indoor gatherings. So far, even in the large Smith Center, there are no fans in basketball games. I think that in the Syracuse game a few days ago, there were only three or four dozen relatives and friends, players and teammates, and stuff. Therefore, at most you will only see people who are in close contact with people, because I think they are actually just trying to limit as much contact as possible. In outdoor stadiums, the rule for allowing fans to participate in football matches is that these outdoor stadiums must have more than 10,000 seats, and football stadiums and similar things will not have so many available seats, unless Roy Cooper and North Carolina will Adjust their guidelines and everything in the future. 

Well, this is interesting. I actually want to ask you whether we have any meaning, in terms of the difference between allowing fans to participate in certain football matches at the end of the fall semester, and the possibility of not being able to participate in the games you mentioned, these are at the Dean Dome Basketball game. it's very funny. I don't know I want to ask you, Jared. You know, this pandemic first appeared in the spring semester last year, and it is crazy that people think we are approaching this new reality. However, in the spring semester last year, the spring sports season was shortened when the pandemic began, so I was curious to know if there are some breakthrough athletes that we have never heard of or seen before can achieve the desired results. Does the coming season matter?

Oh yes, absolutely. I mean, there are many people here, but to name a few, I am very happy to meet these people and everything. Austin Love is a pitcher for the baseball team. They are one of the spring sports for which the schedule has not yet been announced, but he is the team’s red-shirt junior. In 2019, obviously the 2020 season has shortened everything, but in 2019, he is a member of the team’s ace from The bullpen came out. I think he led the team to victory and ERA, and I think he is a potential pitcher team struggling in the concise 2020 season. He has the potential to really shine with Joey Lancellotti and some other guys. I think even in the shortened season, when they scored into a very good Dallas Baptist, he only allowed two hits and eliminated 9 or 10 players in about 5 or 6 innings, so he was A person of great potential. I think Bri Stubbs and Destiny Middleton have two players on the young star softball team. In this short pandemic season last year, they are really the first few years. I think they only participated in about 24 games, but they all set records in the mid-300s. They are fast players, they both have double-digit steals, they are both outstanding high school students, where they won the Defensive Player of the Year award and things like that, so I think they have the potential to explode like vitality The future duo. I think the other person who might be involved in the breakthrough sport is Carly Peck, a sophomore on the volleyball team. Destiny Cox is the best in the fall team. She actually announced in November that she would transfer to Texas A&M. This was a major blow to the team, and Carly Peck has already made a great contribution to the team, but since the fate of the team Cox (Destiny Cox) is gone, she will continue to play many roles, and I think she has a lot of potential to continue their 2020-2021 season in the team this spring. 

So, just to organize things with Jared, how do the athletes and coaches feel about the semester and season? We heard a lot about the reactions of fans and students, but I would love to know, we don’t even know how the athletes and coaches feel about them at the beginning of the season?

Yes, I think it is very difficult for athletes to know their true feelings. I wrote this story in the fall semester. The content involved the basketball players I just mentioned. When they had to justify keeping these people on campus to practice, basketball players like to use Twitter to question NCAA amateurs. mode. If the same student attends in-person class and everything else is not safe. But as far as coaches are concerned, I mean they keep speaking out in events like press conferences. I know Roy Williams said recently that he doesn't have to quit this season. He thinks that the virus should be broadcast, but obviously everyone should take the virus seriously, and he is very firm about it. But we have also seen UNC coaches such as Mike Fox of the baseball team and gymnastics coaches have also left the epidemic. They have been a nail in the school for decades. I think it is worth noting that this epidemic will obviously play a role in future decision-making. 

Yes, Jared, these are all the questions I want to ask you. Thank you very much for taking the time to preview us all this spring. But yes, thank you very much for participating in today's show.

Yes, absolutely, if you want to know more about the spring sports schedules I mentioned, the sports assistant editor PJ Morales recently wrote an article outlining all these recently announced schedules. You can find it on dailytarheel. View and get a summary of these schedules on com. 

Surprisingly, everyone should check it out. Thank you Jared very much. Thanks again for your time and insights. 

Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

This podcast is hosted by Evely Forte and produced by Praveena Somasundaram. The supervising producers are University Desk Editor Maddie Ellis, Digital Executive Editor Will Melfi and Chief Editor Anna Pogarcic. So if you like today’s episode, please consider subscribing, rating and viewing the episode, and share it with people you think you also like. See you next time.

university@dailytarheel.com

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