You want to make up for lost credits or speed up your college progress. Maybe you learned the course you’ve been eyeing is only offered during the summer. So, you decide to enroll in summer classes.

You feel like you’re signing away summer for textbooks. How can you make sure you get to enjoy the summer you’ve waited all year for?

Here are some ways you can still enjoy your summer if your classes are taking over your calendar.

Make a schedule for yourself
Look over your course load and decide what days and times you will dedicate to schoolwork. By getting on a schedule, it will be easier to prioritize the rest of your day. If you know you’re going to be doing homework every Monday and Wednesday from noon to 2 p.m., you know you will be able to have fun in the sun at 3 p.m. Guilt free.

Reward yourself
Create a reward system for your summer semester. Just finished taking a quiz? Treat yourself to the pair of shoes you’ve been wanting. Finally submitted that research paper? Have a beach day with your friends. Giving yourself something to look forward to as you conquer your small milestones will never allow your summer courses to feel like a chore.

Be social
Summer courses are usually more intimate than fall and spring courses. Use this time to get to know your peers and build relationships with your professors. You never know who you can connect with by simply putting yourself out there. You could end your summer with new campus friends or an even mentor.

Take up new activities
What’s a hobby you’ve been wanting to start but haven’t gotten around to? Use your free time to start something new. School can be a little draining, and we all need ways to take our minds off grade percentages. Filling your mind with a new, exciting hobby is a good way to give you a boost in creativity and motivation.

Switch up your location
Who says you have to study inside? You don’t have to miss out on the beautiful weather just because you’re getting ahead in your academics. Bring your computer outside and enjoy the breeze. Look into audio versions of your readings and take a stroll with your headphones. Do your discussion posts by the pool. Anything you can do to get out of the house is almost guaranteed to help you succeed. Don’t limit your summer semester to your desk.

The Federal Communications Commission approved a new three-digit dialing system in order to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.  Similar to dialing 911 to reach emergency services, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached by dialing 988 starting July 16, 2022. The hotline can currently be reached by dialing 1-800-273-8255 (TALK).  The lifeline’s longer […]

Brown athletics announced Tuesday that the playing surface at Brown stadium will be upgraded to artificial turf prior to the start of the upcoming season. The new playing surface will be named the Richard Gouse field at Brown Stadium in honor of the project’s lead donor, Richard Gouse ’68, who was inducted as an honorary member of the Brown athletics hall of fame for his contributions to the program.

Although the team has historically played games on grass, they already practice on the same model of turf that will be used in the stadium. “This will be the newest and best model,” Head Coach James Perry said. “It is what we practice on every day.”

Artificial turf is more conducive to speed compared to real grass, a point of emphasis for the current team. “Speed is a priority of Perry’s and this field will suit that kind of a team,” Gouse said. “Artificial turf really allows you to benefit from a team that’s fast as opposed to traditional grasses.”

“Having a perfect playing surface — which is what artificial turf is — is going to be an amazing thing for us as a team,” said quarterback and team captain EJ Perry ’21.5. “Turf definitely allows you to play faster, and that’s one of the things we train for. We want to play fast.”

Coach Perry agreed that speed was at the top of the team’s preparation for the upcoming season. “Speed permeates every decision that we make,” James Perry added. “That means recruiting players who are fast, and once they’re here at Brown, we’ve designed our player development program to cultivate speed. It only makes sense that then we’d play on a surface that would showcase that.”

Brown is the last of the Ivies to implement artificial turf in their stadium. The team’s previous playing surface was an irregularly shaped grass field approaching a century of heavy use. “The field was almost 100 years old and it was domed in the middle,” Gouse said. “It was a strange, non-traditional field. You could actually see it rise and fall from sideline to sideline.”

In addition to flattening the playing field, the new turf will be immune to the degradation common in grass as games wear on. “The grass field kind of gets beaten up throughout the game,” said halfback and team captain Allen Smith ’22. “Later on in the game, more slips happen and it’s harder to make some of those cuts that you could early on in the game. If the grass is torn up, you don’t have great surface traction.”

Suboptimal conditions during Providence winters exacerbated the grass field’s issues, putting players at higher risk of injury. “You would play late in the year and it would be a mud bowl,” James Perry said. “The amount of muscle pulls that you would have when the dirt kicks up is tremendous. And if you did catch actual rain, it would not be a good surface to play on — not a good surface to watch the game being played on.”

“I believe that this will enable a much longer seasonal use of the field,” Gouse added. “And there are other alternatives I think it could be used for and hope that it will be used for.”

Gouse, a member of the University’s sports foundation, has been involved with the football program for over 50 years and serves as a mentor for numerous players on the team. “I’ve known him for 25 years, but for even longer than that he’s been a central figure in a lot of football players’ lives,” Coach Perry said. “So that’s a neat aspect of him being the lead donor and the field being named after him — he’s just a really active guy in Brown football.”

A number of Brown alums contributed to the project alongside Gouse, including fellow athletic hall of fame inductee Paul Choquette ’60. “Paul was a mentor of mine when I was an undergrad here,” James Perry said. “So it was really nice that he stepped up.”

For Gouse, the new playing surface is emblematic of the University’s investment in the success of the football program. “Having observed Ivy League football for my whole adult life, I can tell you that Coach Perry is a winner, and that he’s going to make sure that this team wins,” Gouse said. “In order for him to have that happen, it takes a commitment from the University as well. And I think that what speaks most eloquently to that commitment is Christina Paxson’s hiring of (Vice President of Athletics) M. Grace Calhoun, one of the most respected and successful athletic directors in the country.”

“President Paxson has made a real commitment to doing things at a first rate level in athletics and across the whole school,” James Perry said. “Having that leadership that starts with her was huge and this project certainly would not be possible without President Paxson’s support.”

Although only first-years have been able to train on campus during the summer, the entire team is eager to prepare for their first game on the new field against University of Rhode Island Sept. 18. “Even the camp practices and every aspect of (training) is going to feel so amazing,” EJ Perry said. “There’s going to be a tremendous sense of gratitude and a tremendous sense of happiness for all the things that we’re going to be able to do next year.”

“We’ve made big strides since the last time we played in 2019,” Smith said. “It will have been almost two years (since our last game) when we kick off against URI on the new field. We’re chasing after a ring — the goal is to get a championship.”

Gouse, who also has Sept. 18 circled on his calendar, shares Smith’s optimism. “I’ve seen the history of athletics at Brown for a long time — the commitment to the program that was just made … is exceptional,” Gouse said. “And you will see big things happen in the next couple of years.”

In July 2020, Brown announced its three-term model for the 2020-2021 academic year. Sophomores, juniors and seniors were given the opportunity to be on campus for the fall 2020 semester, while first years were allowed to be on campus during the spring and summer 2021 terms. With the final semester of the three-term model currently in progress, first-years are now navigating a full workload of classes and the newfound constraints it puts on their job and internship opportunities.

Some first-year students hoped that being on campus during the summer would come with a greater sense of normalcy. But while some restrictions have been eased, many restrictions are still in place, such as those requiring mask-wearing indoors and “grab and go” dining options.

“On the one hand, there is an added social ability during the summer that would not have been there if we’d done a traditional fall/spring schedule,” Maddie Walters ’24 said. This summer is Walters’s second semester on campus, following the spring 2021 term.

Other first-year students also felt that the summer term added a social component to their first-year experience that they appreciated.

“The (three-term model) made me feel as if I would have a greater chance of making friends and attending class in-person,” Noah Stanton ’24 said.  

At the same time, taking a full course load this summer has created difficulties for first-years looking to take part in traditional summer work opportunities or internships.

“Taking summer classes has made it almost impossible to work a usual summer job,” Alex Dufort ’24 said.

“I planned on looking for a job either this semester or next year, but I am still acclimating to having such a heavy reading (and) studying load,” Stanton said. 

Some students cannot afford to give up summer work. “I think a lot of kids here want internships or work experience for resume building. For me, working over last summer and fall is how I paid for (freshman year). Now I won’t be able to pay for the next year’s semesters without working this summer,” Audrey Skehan ’24 said.

“I was fully planning on my summer job to help pay for my college, and, with taking classes, it simply is not feasible,” she added.

Although on-campus jobs are available, those that are in-person are hard to come by, Skehan said. The difficulty of finding an in-person job has made her “Brown experience unfulfilling thus far,” she said. “I applied for an (in-person), on-campus job, but never heard back.”

Even for those who have found on-campus work, the pay and amount of work hours available do not always measure up to at-home opportunities. Walters, who works in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, said that she “strongly considered studying at home in order to continue working at the local produce store. It pays very well, and I would have been able to make a significant dent in my loans.” 

Walters felt that lowering tuition was the only solution to counteract the lost summer opportunities. “Since Brown did essentially mandate that we take summer classes, eliminating the ability for summer work, they should make it legitimately possible for students dependent on summer jobs to be able to pay their tuition,” she said.

In response to the announcement of the three-term model, CareerLAB is offering virtual programs during the summer of 2020 for all students, and specifically for first-years.

“We did get a lot of questions from students about how to navigate the summer (and) how to deal with the fact that (they) are going to be enrolled in classes … and there wouldn’t necessarily be the opportunity to do summer work,” Matthew Donato, CareerLAB’s director, said.

Summer workshops give students the ability to connect with alums and learn more about what CareerLAB has to offer. A session at the end of July 2020 addressed first years specifically and “tried to put the idea of summer internships and summer work experiences in context, to take the stress off first-year students,” Donato said. 

CareerLAB wants first-year students to focus on self-assessment, so that they can have an opportunity to think about what work opportunities to pursue in the future, Donato said. “There can be a lot of people in BrownConnect who you (can have) a really helpful conversation with … and (who can) give you insight and information,” he added.

Networking is something first-year students can begin doing throughout this summer and will continue doing during their time at Brown, Donato explained. “Networking is an essential skill we want students to have.”

Donato emphasized that “it’s okay not to have an internship during the summer of your first year, even (in) a normal year.” First years who do not have an internship or employment this summer are not lagging behind their peers, he said. 

While CareerLAB has offered many programs specifically catered to first-year students, including virtual workshops called “Getting Started with CareerLAB for First-Year Students” and “Awesome Resume Writing for First Year Students,” attendance has been fairly low, according to Donato.

“Attendance wasn’t great, but I think the students who participated really got a lot out of the ability to connect with alumni around a lot of different topics, (such as) how to explore your career options,” Donato said.

Despite Donato’s efforts, some first years felt unsure of how to use CareerLAB.

“I haven’t used CareerLAB. I barely know how to use it or what resources it offers,” Dufort said.

Skehan and Stanton both had similar thoughts about CareerLAB, having never used it and not considering it as a resource when looking for summer work opportunities.

Since 2014, the Chinese government has executed a relentless campaign of mass detainment, high-tech surveillance and religious persecution against Uyghur and other primarily Muslim groups in Xinjiang Province (often referred to as “East Turkestan” by Uyghurs). The Chinese authorities call their actions the “Strike Hard Campaign Against Violent Terrorism.” But the reality suggests a different goal: the complete elimination of the Uyghur people. In response to this crisis, the United States government must match rhetorical condemnation with targeted and globally cooperative sanctions against the Chinese government and direct aid to Uyghur refugees. 

Anti-Uyghur persecution in China is coordinated and alarming. While religiosity is generally discouraged in China, Islam is especially criminalized in Xinjiang Province/East Turkestan. Religious pilgrimage and Arabic names are banned. Mosques, shrines and cemeteries have been desecrated. In recent years, between 1 million and 3 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been detained in “re-education” camps, where detainees are forbidden to speak their native languages, indoctrinated in Chinese Communist Party ideology and frequently subjected to torture. Detainees have also been forced to eat pork. These camps feed a thriving forced-labor economy that produces textiles for domestic consumption and export — including to the United States. 

Outside the camps, Uyghurs are subjected to a dystopian surveillance regime. Facial recognition cameras, vehicle checkpoints and civilian monitors support a “predictive policing system” that can identify and detain Uyghurs regardless of whether they have already committed a crime. In an eerie echo of eugenicist sterilizations of minorities and people with disabilities in the United States during the early 20th century, Uyghur women have even been forced to have intrauterine devices implanted and undergo sterilization and abortions. Ilham Tohti, a Uyghur economist and refugee who left Xinjiang/East Turkestan in 2017, described the Chinese government’s intentions as nothing less than the complete elimination of Uyghur identity: “What they want is to force us to assimilate, to identify with the country, such that, in the future, the idea of Uyghur will be in name only, but without its meaning.” 

An American response to this crisis has already begun with recognition and condemnation. In response to calls from diaspora Uyghur activist groups, both the Trump and Biden administrations have recognized this crisis as a genocide. Under the U.N. Genocide Convention, genocide includes “causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group” and “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group” with the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.” Internment and forced sterilizations fulfill the first two clauses. The criminalization of Uyghurs’ religious and cultural identity proves intent. 

While rhetorical condemnation is important, it is an insufficient response by itself. The American government must also impose direct targeted sanctions to emphasize the severity of its opposition and compel meaningful policy shifts. So far, American sanctions have only been applied against a handful of Chinese officials for Xinjiang/East Turkestan human rights abuses. These actions must be expanded and further institutionalized. 

Fortunately, recent legislation promises to do just that. The Uyghur Forced Labor Act, which was introduced on March 11, 2020, would preemptively ban all Xinjiang/East Turkestan imports until they are certified as free from forced labor. The bill would also require publicly traded American companies to disclose ties with firms complicit in Uyghur human rights abuses. Furthermore, it would authorize the President to apply targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for Uyghur forced labor trafficking. While the UFLPA initially passed the House by a margin of 406 to 3, it never received a vote in the Senate and now must pass both chambers. However, large corporations with suspected lucrative ties to Uyghur forced labor, including Coca-Cola, Nike and Apple, are lobbying to water the bill down. Passing the UFLPA is needed not only to impose costs on human rights abusers, but also to motivate multinational corporations to join the fight against Uyghur genocide. 

Of course, sanctions must remain focused. New American sanctions must avoid the mistakes of Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy against Iran, which proved the futility and danger of wide-reaching sanctions that implicitly seek regime change and disincentivize negotiation. American sanctions must combat Uyghyur genocide within a strong bilateral U.S.-China relationship — not use them as an excuse for unilateralism and militarization. 

While condemning and sanctioning human rights abuses, the American government should also aid victims of Uyghyur genocide. The Uyghur Human Rights Protection Act would allow Xinjiang/East Turkestan residents to apply directly for American refugee resettlement without United Nations referral. While the American immigration system is far from ideal and is in need of reform, dire circumstances demand swift action. Beijing is already exerting severe pressure on Turkey, home to the largest Uyghur diaspora community, to deport human rights activists to China, where they face certain internment. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have recently deported numerous Uyghur refugees. 

A truly impactful response to Uyghur genocide requires global cooperation.The Chinese government has demonstrated a relentless commitment to cultural erasure and reaps the benefits of many powerful allies willing to look the other way. However, if enacted as part of a global campaign, America’s full investment in condemnation, sanctions and refugee assistance might force Beijing to end its most repressive policies. This crisis provides a critical opportunity for the Biden administration to recommit to multilateral international human rights advocacy. Re-joining the UN Human Rights Commission and using it as a platform to hold Beijing (and itself) accountable is a good start. 

American opposition to Uyghur genocide comes with numerous political and ethical challenges. It must never justify discrimination against Chinese citizens or Chinese Americans, especially amid this dangerous time of increased anti-Asian American racism. The Chinese government is responsible for Uyghur genocide, not the Chinese people. Furthermore, the Uyghur genocide must not become a tool for American military and economic hawks looking to demonize China for domestic political gain. Nor should opposition to Uyghur genocide distract from America’s own human rights abuses, at home and abroad. Nevertheless, these valid concerns must not postpone American action. Continued commitment to vocal condemnation, targeted sanctions and direct aid to Uyghur refugees — ideally coordinated with international partners — provide an effective and responsible means to confronting one of our generation’s most egregious humanitarian crises. It’s time for America to step up.

Zachary Harris ’22 can be reached at zachary_harris1@brown.edu. Haadi Iqbal ’24 can be reached at haadi_iqbal@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

Berkeley police to increase presence at Civic Center Park after resident deaths

Nikhar Arora/Staff

Berkeley Police Department plans to increase presence in response to two deaths at Civic Center Park. Some members of the community believe these plans will negatively impact unhoused individuals living there.

Following the deaths of two unhoused men Sunday at Civic Center Park, the Berkeley Police Department announced a plan Tuesday to increase police presence in the park. 

According to BPD spokesperson Officer Byron White, the deaths and an additional hospitalization were likely due to drug overdoses. BPD plans to send officers from the Community Services Bureau, which consists of four liaisons each assigned to one area of the city. Additionally, White added that BPD plans to send patrols from the Bike Force, which usually works in downtown Berkeley.

“The department is sending people over there just to see what, if anything, we can provide to the public — just kind of reach out and talk to people,” White, who is part of the Community Services Bureau along with a crime analyst and two supervisors, said. “It’s not necessarily an enforcement matter. It’s really just to see what kind of assistance we can provide if people would like assistance.”

In the future, White noted that BPD hopes to increase the bicycle patrol to 12 officers per commercial district in the city, which was the case more than a decade ago. However, current staffing does not meet this demand. White added that BPD plans to foster community engagement through conversation and reaching out to the community. 

Ian Cordova Morales, lead advocate and president of Where Do We Go? Berkeley, disagreed with BPD’s decision to increase police presence in the park. Morales said the change will lead to harassment and arrests of the unhoused people in the park.

Morales instead emphasized the harms of criminalizing drug use and encouraged prevention support, such as opening access to mental health care. Where Do We Go? Berkeley has not collaborated with BPD in the past, according to Morales.

“I’m at a loss for words that Berkeley didn’t get the message that the war on drugs is over,” Morales said. “We need to approach these situations using proven methods such as harm reduction. Throwing police at these issues is just making things worse.”

David Showalter, president of the Board of Directors for Berkeley Needle Exchange Emergency Distribution, said the organization believes increased criminalization and policing as a response to substance abuse can lead to stigmatization and cause fewer people to seek supportive services for their addictions.

Instead, Showalter suggested overdose prevention education, naloxone distribution, supervised drug consumption, harm reduction services and noncoercive treatment as possible solutions to drug-related crises.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, people have been even more isolated and the drug supply has become more unpredictable,” Showalter said in an email. “Discussions and decisions about policies to prevent overdose deaths should be led by people who use drugs and others who are directly impacted by those policies.”

Contact Andie Liu, Claire Daly and Lianna Leung at newsdesk@dailycal.org.

The Daily Californian

May 25th, 2021 marked the one year anniversary of George Floyd’s death. The Black Lives Matter movement resurged following Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police officers. We asked the GS community if they believed things have changed since the resurgence of the movement last summer and what else they think needs to be done to ensure the safety of black lives. The results of the survey are below.

Gallery|6 Photos

As a lover of all music — and yes, that includes country — I was really excited when I first heard Willow Smith’s pop-punk song, “Transparent Soul,” the other day. It’s not often you see young Black women in punk and rock genres … or is it? 

Nowadays in the music space, people associate rhythm and blues and rap genres as being the basis of Black music. But, in reality, they’re completely disregarding the impact Black musicians have made on music in its entirety. In many cases, people don’t even mention Black artists in genres like country and rock. So, in honor of Black Music Month, now’s a great time to talk about exactly why this is. 

Let’s start with one of my favorite examples, “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X. After the song was first released back in 2018, it debuted at number 19 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and then was quickly relocated to the Hot Rap Songs chart. 

Though the song incorporated everything from a banjo-laced beat to lyrics about horses, boots and tractors, it just wasn’t country enough, as explained by a Billboard representative to Rolling Stone.

“While ‘Old Town Road’ incorporates references to country and cowboy imagery, it does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version,” the representative said. 

While some thought race had played a role in it (see: tweet from Ski Mask The Slump God), it doesn’t seem far off, especially when so many Black artists are allocated to rap and R&B. It’s crazy to think that, in a genre paved by Black musicians, country music is so white-centric now that many blamed discrimination for “Old Town Road”‘s removal from the country charts. 

Country music was born from genres that Black people created, like religious hymns and blues. But in many cases, as country music gained popularity, Black people weren’t credited for songwriting or in musical covers, and white artists graced posters and album covers instead. And funnily enough, country stars like Hank Williams and Johnny Cash were mentored by Black musicians like Rufus “Tee Tot” Payne and Gustavus “Gus” Cannon. 

This pattern isn’t only true for country music either — it can also be seen in the rock and roll music realm. Black progenitors of the genre like Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Sister Rosetta Tharpe each made great strides in the creation of rock and roll. 

But, just like the aforementioned country artists, the white artists that were inspired by Black originators got significantly more recognition. Back in the 1950s, white pop singer Pat Boone covered three of Black rock and roll singer Little Richard’s songs, like “Tutti Frutti,” and was met with substantially higher levels of success. 

This, unfortunately, was extremely common across the music industry. When The Beach Boys recorded “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” it was note for note Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen” with new lyrics. While “Surfin’ U.S.A.” became an instant classic, Berry’s music isn’t currently as recognizable. Berry got songwriting credit for The Beach Boys hit but not before legal action was taken. 

Black artists have historically been cast out of the genres that they originated and popularized, so much so that country and rock are socially considered white. 

Fast forward about 70 years, Black artists are seeing a ton of success in the genres that worked so hard to erase them out of. Willow Smith’s “Transparent Soul,” the song that instantly piqued my interest in all of this, features blink-182’s Travis Barker and has ushered Smith into her new musical era of punk and rock music. 

Following in her mother’s footsteps as a rock artist — Jada Pinkett Smith was the lead singer of the nu-metal band “Wicked Wisdom” — Willow recognizes the discrimination that her mom faced in the rock music space and explains in an interview with W Magazine that she was still willing to give it a try. 

“A lot of people weren’t happy about seeing a Black woman in that space. I saw her [Jada Pinkett Smith] gracefully do her thing while so many people were being racist and sexist and just not being nice,” Smith said. “I never thought I could do rock music, because I was trained since I was 8 to sing R&B. Then I was just like, You know what? Eff it.”

With more Black country artists on the scene like Jimmie Allen, who was recently met with a standing ovation by Garth Brooks while honoring him at the Kennedy Center Honors, as well as Black rock artists like the Black woman fronted band Alabama Shakes, who’ve won multiple Grammys for rock and alternative music, it’s pretty safe to say that the future of these genres is in good hands. I look forward to the day where music better reflects its Black roots in history and Black artists aren’t left fighting for a rightful spot. So for now I simply say, it’s not “white people music.”

Marlize Duncan is a rising junior writing about Black social issues and their intersection in the entertainment industry. 

In March, a Minnesota Student Association (MSA) resolution requested that the University of Minnesota purchase only electric-powered vehicles when adding to its vehicle fleet.

In addition to only purchasing electric vehicles (EVs), Jack Flom, author of the resolution and MSA’s representative to the Student Senate Consultative Committee, requested that the University define EVs as battery-powered (not hybrid or biodiesel) and provide an updated sustainability report each year going forward.

“The future is, obviously, electric vehicles,” Flom said. “I think that my mindset was that instead of doing incremental stuff that costs a lot more, we could just jump right to the destination that costs about the same, if not less, to just buy electric vehicles.”

Flom met with Ross Allanson, the director of Parking and Transportation Services (PTS), and Michael Berthelsen, the vice president of University Services, along with other administrators in May to discuss the feasibility of MSA’s proposal.

Challenges to an all-electric fleet

Both Allanson and Berthelsen demonstrated support for more EVs in the fleet, with Allanson adding that the University will start to gradually purchase more EVs “over the next few years.”

However, Allanson said challenges such as charging infrastructure for a fleet, upfront costs, manufacturing limitations, harsh winters and market availability create obstacles to only purchasing EVs, as the MSA resolution requests.

There are 35 charging stations for EVs available for public use on the Twin Cities campus, according to Shane Stennes, the University’s director of sustainability.

Although these stations provide adequate charging infrastructure for personal vehicles, Allanson said that the University does not have the capacity to charge a whole vehicle fleet.

In a 2017 letter to the Minnesota Daily voicing support for EVs, Allanson noted that each charging station can cost between $8,000 and $10,000. That money will come out of PTS’ budget unless otherwise subsidized by state or federal grants, he added.

In the same year, the University purchased six all-electric Chevrolet Bolt vehicles as a pilot test to see if EVs would operate well in the fleet.

“One of the issues that we discovered through that process was that Minnesota’s cold winters significantly impacted the range of those vehicles,” Allanson said. “We also learned that charging those vehicles in the winter was a challenge.”

Environmental impact

Although the vehicle fleet does contribute to the University’s total carbon emissions, the contribution is small compared to other factors, Stennes said.

Less than 1% of the University’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from the vehicle fleet, while other factors like fossil fuels used to heat buildings and people commuting to and from campus make up the majority of total emissions.

Of the 823 University vehicles across all five campuses, 41 are hybrid and seven are fully electric. There are 559 vehicles on the Twin Cities campus used for purposes such as maintenance, rental services and construction.

Though hybrid cars emit fewer pollutants, traditional hybrids still operate with one electric motor and one gasoline engine.

“Instead of just baby stepping into the future, we should jump into the future,” Flom said. “Because hybrids are obviously, you know, baby steps, but we are going to have to replace them eventually.”

EVs run solely on a battery and do not use oil, gasoline or have an internal combustion engine. They are also shown to not only decrease air pollution, but drastically reduce the cost of charging when compared to average gasoline prices, according to the US Department of Energy.

More universities on the path to zero-emissions

The University of Michigan plans to acquire more EVs and have an all-electric bus fleet by 2035. Their plan would involve purchasing multiple Electric Bluebuses at the cost of around $750,000 each.

The University of California predicts that EV or hybrid vehicles will account for at least half of all its new light-duty vehicle purchases by 2025.

“There are some burdens and obstacles to overcome in that space as well, but we are optimistic about the trajectory that electric vehicles are on and the commitments that manufacturers are making to them,” Stennes said. “We do believe that this is going to be sort of the wave of the future and that we will be headed that direction. It is mainly a question about ‘when and what vehicles’ and ‘how’, and less about, ‘if.’”

Juana Garcia/ The Cougar

Recently a shortage of workers can be seen across the United States and businesses need to start paying those whom they employ.

There is an immense amount of help wanted signs as well as a raise in wages being offered by companies at this time.

Many have criticized workers for being ungrateful for not wanting to work anymore. However, workers deserve much more than what they have ever received. If we want to end this worker shortage, companies are going to have to start paying what these valuable people are worth. 

After the pandemic began, many businesses laid-off workers and many of those workers went on unemployment benefits. Now that businesses are reopening in full the want for workers is there, but many of those workers don’t want to come back.

In Texas, unemployed people can get up to $535 a week. That is only a little over $2000 a month, which isn’t much for people who may live in a big city and have to pay high rent. Also, $535 is the max. Many are getting less than that, so clearly the majority of people on unemployment were not living lavishly by any means. Many were likely living check to check just as they did before when they had a job.

It is simple logic. If there can be a certain amount earned by not working, why would someone work to get it? Just as the logic is, the solution is simple as well. Companies need to start paying their workers more. Clearly, labor is worth a lot right now with all these help wanted signs, so companies need to pay what their employees are worth. 

A lot of these companies can afford to pay their companies more such as McDonald’s, Goodwill and really any chain store or restaurant. These companies make billions a year and their CEOs could certainly survive if they had to cut their paycheck to pay their workers more.

Of course, many small businesses are concerned right now because their employees want to be paid more. While some may be of the opinion that businesses really shouldn’t exist if it can’t pay the workers well, there shouldn’t be any operating of a business.

However, there are many family-owned restaurants and stores that have struggled since the pandemic. Governments need to be financially supporting small businesses so that they can stay afloat and pay their workers a high enough wage. 

Many business owners may be upset about the shortage of labor, but they need to pay up. Our workers are valuable and deserve to be paid what they are worth. 

Anna Baker is an English senior who can be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com

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“Workers deserve better than low wages” was originally posted on The Cougar