Two local universities adopt two different approaches

In response to a large number of international flights and routes being canceled under Covid-19 coronavirus, the Chinese Consulate abroad decided to distribute epidemic prevention supplies to overseas Chinese nationality students stranded abroad. In order to ensure the safe distribution of supplies, Chinese Students and Scholars Association from Washington University in St. Louis and St. Louis University in Missouri adopted two different approaches. One was through a centralized main distribution point in a parking lot, and one was multiple apartments as distribution points.

Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Chicago posted a notice “Notice on sending ‘health packs’ for overseas students in the consular district” on April 13, which mentioned that they will deliver items to designated universities in nearby states separately. The Chinese Students Association of these universities will be the main point of contact in the state. The point of contact for Missouri is Washington University in St. Louis. After receiving the supplies, they are responsible for distributing them to other universities for further distribution, such as Saint Louis University and University of Missouri-St. Louis. More information can be found in their website:http://www.chinaconsulatechicago.org/chn/zytz/t1768866.htm

“There are four things in total, includes disinfecting wipes, masks, disposable plastic gloves, and drugs for flu,” Jiaqi Li, chairman of the CSSA of Washington University in St. Louis, said. These items are unpacked by volunteers and packed in sealed bags in prescribed quantities. 

After Chinese students at a California university were robbed at gunpoint while handing out anti-epidemic items outdoors. Li still decided to use a parking lot near the university as a centralized distribution point after discussing with several other leaders. However, they contacted the campus security department and requested two police officers to assist the scene to ensure that there was no chaos. “In order to maintain social distance, we placed a traffic cone every two meters in the queue.” Li added.

Students at Saint Louis University in Missouri chose multiple apartments as distribution points rather than one outdoor place. They contacted Chinese students in apartments around the campus and chose one of them to let him act as a distributor to count how many ‘health packs’ are needed in the apartment. In this way, the distribution work can be done inside each apartment. “Students only need to find the person in charge of their apartment through a chat software WeChat, which can minimize the risks of going out.” Lina Liang, chairman of the CSSA of Saint Louis University, stated. 

Even though the students from the two different universities adopted different approaches of distributing ‘health pack’, the process for students to get supplies was the same. All students needed to show their student ID and Chinese passport.

“I love the idea of being able to use Journalism and human rights together. Whatever I end up doing I just really want to help people.”

Lauren Morby, a freshman at Saint Louis University and majoring in Political Science and Communications with minors in Spanish and Women’s and Gender Studies, was growing up in a small town in Illinois called Aledo. Her hometown only has about 3,500 people in it; however, this does not prevent her from becoming a great person with such an expansive and empathetic world view. 

Morby has always enjoyed speaking for justice. Back to a few years ago, in Mercer County high school where she graduated from, she was the co-leader to plan a student gun violence walk-out. The school administration warned them that they will suffer an unexcused absence, in response to the unilateral decision, Morby and other leaders went to a local media in Aledo for help in publicizing their situation. 

The reason she chooses to come to the SLU was that the school offered the best finical aid and she got approved from MLK Scholarship. Another factor attracting her was the feeling of the campus and the commitment to serving the community as a whole.

For her, it was quite an adjustment coming to St. Louis to study after growing up in a small town. One of the biggest struggles for her is the stereotype people have about the small town. A lot of people are still having a preconceived idea that people from small town are not as smart and are rednecks, which she has worked for years to not be. One of the big differences for her between a diverse city and small town is people, that the way to apologize and communicate from both sides is a way different. “This is not necessarily a negative for cities that are more diverse, and people are free to be who they really are.” Morby added.

During campus life, Moby volunteers weekly in a homeless shelter providing tutoring and child care for the kids at Gateway 180, St. Louis. “This so far has been my favorite part of SLU and the kids have changed my life and made me more empathetic to people experiencing homelessness.” Morby said. The 2016 election of Donald Trump played a big role in her mind in wanting to serve the underdog community. Morby stated that his election made her really nervous that hate and bigotry were going to come back in full swing. 

Morby also involved in various groups on campus. She is currently on the committee for sexual assault prevention of the Student Government Association, and the Communications chair of an MLK Scholar. She is also a member of the Learning Communities Activities Board and represents the learning community of Diversity and Global Citizenship.

After graduating from college, Morby hopes to someday become a human rights lawyer or investigative journalist because she was recently inspired by Ronan Farrow’s work by exposing Harvey Weinstein. “I grew up in a rural homogenous town that was often racist, sexist, and homophobic. I want to be able to help people my hometown and society oppresses.” Said Morby.

Morby’s mother’s teaching played a great role in shaping her personality. Her mom always taught her to be kind to people from different backgrounds. One way she used was telling her people with different races and sexualities should be equal through movies and televisions they watched together. 

Due to the global COVID-19 situation and Stay at Home Order of St. Louis, Morby love to watch movies, TV shows, and read books to pass the time. Recently, she just finished the novel Catcher in the Rye which was her second time to read it. Morby admired the main character Holden’s personality on his attitude towards people who are full of themselves. “I like that he is able to see past the “phonies” and tries to find the true authentic people.” Morby Said.

Plans consist of lectures, games and practices

‘I sometimes say this is the biggest epidemic no one is talking about,’ said Thomas Insel, mental health czar for the new governor of California, in a TED radio hour, that kicked off Mental Wellness Week on the SLU campus.

The event was sponsored by Fraternity and Sorority Life, and Campus Rec and Wellness. First activity of the event, “TEGxTalks: Students Share”, which consists of three parts: TED Radio Hour, Students Speech, and Discussion, took place in Tageler Auditorium on Monday night.

‘There are 38,000 suicides each year in the United States. That means one about every 15 minutes. Ninety percent of suicides are related to a mental illness.’ Insel stated. 

Andrew Houston, event leader, gave some advice to participants, ‘Go talk with your family or roommates, to share how you feel… maybe reflect on something…don’t hide them all the time.’ He stated the courage to share is an effective way to relieve anxiety.

‘I always schedule a meeting with myself. Simple.’ This advice was shared by a student in the discussion session on the question about personal experience of overcoming mental stress.

Mental Wellness Week runs four days and the activities are: 

• Monday: TEGxTalks in Tegeler Auditorium, 7p.m. to 9p.m.
• Tuesday: Labyrinth by Campus Ministry in STL room, 10a.m. to 3p.m.
• Wednesday: Spring Expressive Arts Group in Wuller Hall 231, 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Behind Happy Faces in BSC 251, 6 p.m. to 7p.m.
• Thursday: Stress-Free Coloring all day in Student Involvement Center

People who collect the stamps of the four events get a free T-shirt. More information can be found at table in Busch Student Center from 11a.m. – 2p.m. 

Two Female Journalists Shared Their Working Experiences to Communication Students at Saint Louis University.

Sarah Fentem, from KWMU and Lauren Trager from KMOV, attended a Q & A session to share their work experiences as a journalist for Communication major students at Saint Louis University last Thursday.

Lauren Trager mentioned a trend that majority of the reporters on TV are female, and their hairstyle, makeup and dress has becoming similar, which means that it seems that there is a hidden industry standard on female reporter’s public image. Simultaneously, gender inequality has emerged among the news industry. ‘More males employed when it comes to news management.’ Trager added. Trager hopes that more women will become news directors and producers in the future. According to Sarah Fentem, however, that phenomenon of sexism is less happened than TV in public radio station. ‘I feel digital image thing give audiences more chances to judge and criticize.’ Fentem said.  

The Q & A was held in room 207, Xavier Hall and started at 9:30 a.m. lasted about one and a half hours. 

A student from Mercer County High School went to local media in Aledo town for help in publicizing their situation.

A student from Mercer County High School, IL planned a walk-out last Tuesday. Participants of the gun violence protest were told that they would suffer an unexcused absence which would lower their grades. In response to the school administration’s unilateral decision, leaders of the walk-out went to local media in their town of Aledo, Illinois for help in publicizing their situation.

‘It’s the right for students to speak out, and a similar situation also happened in other schools,’ Said Lauren Moby, 17, the co-leader of the student walk-out. In addition to the national gun violence issue, she also called on the school district to pay attention to student safety at Mercer.

‘My grandma made some ‘walk-out’ cookies for the participants.’ Moby said. It was a contribution to the student walk-out, showing her family’s support. ‘Overall, my parents admire things I am doing.’ Moby adde.

The school e-board of Mercer County held a meeting. The final decision was to allow an assembly instead.