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The Northwood Howler VIEWPOINTNovember 6, 2020 11The happiest place on earth lays off thousandsBy Rahul KhannaStaff WriterIt was once regarded as the“happiest place on Earth,” one thatdrew in tourists from all over theworld like moths to a flame. Chockfullof attractions, shows and rides,Disneyland caters to nearly 18.6million people annually with a reputationas one of the most successfultheme parks in the world. However,today it has been reduced to a grimreminder of just how destructive CO-VID-19 truly is.It’s no surprise that social distancingguidelines have made sustainingthe park, which requires largecrowds to turn a profit, a nearly impossibletask. A central part of thenow staggering tourism industry, Disneylandremaining shut down comeswith clear economic risks that far outweighthe benefits. California GovernorGavin Newsom should allow forthe gradual reopening of theme parkswith adequate safety measures inplace.In comparison to schools andsmall businesses, theme parks havebeen placed in the backburner interms of reopening. For instance,schools reopened around August withsocial distancing maintained, andmany small businesses have graduallyreopened since September, if notearlier. In comparison, the majorityof theme parks have remained closedsince March.A lack of guidelines havecaused theme parks to suffer evenfurther: The Walt Disney Companylost nearly $5 billion in the monthsof April, May and June alone aftertheme parks closed down. To compensate,Disneyland plans to layoffnearly 28,000 employees, includingpart-time workers, salaried workersand executives.“We’ve cut expenses, suspendedcapital projects, furloughed our castmembers while still paying benefitsand modified our operations to run asefficiently as possible, however, wesimply cannot responsibly stay fullystaffed while operating at such limitedcapacity,” chairman of DisneyParks Josh D’Amaro said in a letterto employees.This spells out danger not onlyfor Disney itself, but also for Californiaas a whole. According to aneconomic study at California StateUniversity in Fullerton, Disneylandgenerated $8.5 billion in economicactivity for California in 2018 andcreated more than 78,000 jobs.Disneyland’s reopening is alsoessential for the tourism industry,which is expected to lose $78.8 billionthis year. Anaheim in particularrelies on Disneyland to draw in touristsfrom around the world, both forDisneyland itself, and for Anaheim’shotels, restaurants and other entertainmentcenters. The tourism industryhas taken a large hit ever sinceDisneyland closed, and it is unlikelyto recover for at least a few years.In hindsight, Disneyland’s economictroubles that forced the layoffof nearly 28,000 employees wasavoidable. California’s biggest failure?Miscommunication. The financialproblems Disneyland faced wereexacerbated by Newsom’s refusal toease restrictions on theme park reopenings.The lack of guidelines andlack of any indication for when thepark could reopen were particularlydetrimental. Without any dates, it isdifficult for Disneyland to plan for itsreopening in hopes of getting backCan we trick-or-treat in a pandemic?By Arya BhattacharjeeStaff WriterAs Halloween approaches, childrenand parents across the countryare preparing to go trick-or-treating.The age-old tradition of walkingaround the neighborhood wearingcostumes while collecting candymarking the beginning of the holidaysexcites almost everyone. However,with the current public safetyguidelines due to the COVID-19pandemic, a different future may beahead of us.In order to prevent the spreadingof the virus, rules should be putin place to prevent trick-or-treatingthis year, as the dangers created byit heavily outweigh the fun. Whileit may seem pretty straightforward,there are health effects of trick-ortreatingthat have recently come tolight with respect to the pandemic.Direct contact with someonewho has COVID-19 can occur at anymoment during trick-or-treating. Itcould be as insignificant as brushingshoulders with a fellow trick-or-treateror handing out candy to a strangerat your doorstep. Just minor contactwith a stranger can be enough tospread COVID-19 to your entire family,which is a risk that no one shouldwant to take.Indirect contact is a differentstory. When food is distributed duringa pandemic, it must undergo a veryspecific and sterile process. Restaurantorders and food delivery servicesall follow a strict code to prevent thespread of the COVID-19. When trickor-treating,however, there is no wayto enforce these restrictions. There isno guarantee that a house distributingcandy will properly sanitize andhandle it, which can increase the riskof spreading the virus.Additionally, Amanda Garrityfrom Good Housekeeping writes thatthe age range of most trick-or-treatersis between 3 to 13 years old. Thisage range is particularly vulnerableto COVID-19 since their immunesystem is still developing. Allowingthese young children to go doorto door for candy is irresponsible atbest, as protecting the younger childrenfrom the virus should be everyone’snumber one priority.Some may argue that those whodon’t want to go trick-or-treatingshould just stay at home, and thatthere is no need for regulations toprevent this activity; however, this isa selfish statement and the problemwill not fix itself. Without any rulesand regulations put into place by localgovernments, the people whowant to will go trick-or-treating. Wehave already seen multiple cases ofpeople throwing parties and travelingeven with rules in place to stop them,so without any rules, trick-or-treatingwould result in a large number ofpeople following unsafe practices.Having short-term rules, similarto that of school lockdowns, toprevent trick or treating temporarilymay at first seem like a terrible thingto do, but it will ensure children’ssafety. It will also protect immunocompromisedindividuals who findthemselves most vulnerable to thesymptoms of COVID-19. In order toprevent the possible harm that couldhappen on the evening of halloween,it is important that these rules are putinto place and obeyed.Should trick-or-treating be allowedthis year, it would be in everyone’sbest interest to just not go.Even though there are precautionsput in place, none of them guaranteesafety.The only way to make sure thatthe number of people infected doesnot increase, would be to stay insidethis Halloween, and not participate intrick-or-treating this year. If we workto prevent the spread of COVID-19then our chances of having a blastduring trick-or-treating next year dramaticallyincrease.Nicole Curtis The Northwood HowlerJoy Kim The Northwood Howlereven a portion of the money they lost.In September, Newsom promisedthat guidelines related to themepark reopening would be comingsoon. However, at a press conferenceon Oct. 7, he changed course.“There is no hurry in putting outguidelines… we don’t anticipate, inthe immediate term, any of these largertheme parks opening until we seemore stability in terms of the data,”Newsom said.Many argue that Disneylandshould remain closed in order to minimizesocial interaction and preventthe spread of COVID-19; however,there is no reason that Disneylandshould remain closed when otherplaces, most notably schools, arereopening. In fact, Disneyworld hasbeen open in Florida since July withsafety measures in place, and hasexperienced relative success. Therehave not been COVID-19 outbreaksconnected to theme park reopeningsthus far, and it is illogical to holdtheme parks to a higher standardfor reopening, when given sufficienthealth precautions, such parks shouldhave no more risk than schools or offices.“The State of California continuesto…mandate arbitrary guidelinesthat it knows are unworkableand that hold us to a standard vastlydifferent from other reopened businessesand state-operated facilities,”said Disneyland Resort president KenPotrock in a statement.Fortunately, an initial draft ofguidelines for theme park reopeningswas put out by Newsom in earlyOctober. Although it was a step inthe right direction, it was far too restrictiveto make tangible change.The guidelines called for reopeningat 25% capacity, and only when thepark’s county reaches California’syellow tier, which requires less thanone case per day per 100,000 residentsand a testing positivity rate ofless than 2%.“We ask the Governor not tofinalize guidance for amusementparks before engaging the industryin a more earnest manner, listeningto park operators’ expertise and collaboratingwith the industry on a planthat will allow for amusement parksto reopen responsibly,” said CaliforniaAttractions and Parks Association(CAPA) executive director ErinGuerrero in an official statement.For the sake of the thousands ofemployees that work at Disneyland,and for the sake of California whichso heavily relies on Disneyland, itis imperative that Disneyland be reopened.Maybe then, will Disney’smagic be finally restored.Why you need to voteBy Hari SreeramagiriStaff WriterWhenever the word “voting”emerges in conversations, peopletend to assume it’s about politics. Responseslike “I’m not a very politicalperson” are common.What these people don’t knowis that voting has less to do with politicalaffiliations and more to do withwhat the act of voting symbolizesfor our future. By placing power inthe hands of the people, it gives citizensthe autonomy to make decisionsabout the candidates that best representtheir needs and interests. Hereare three reasons why you shouldvote in the elections.1. You should have votedIf you’re afraid your vote willget lost in a sea of ballots, rememberthe closest polls in U.S. history.In 2000, the poll between then TexasGovernor George W. Bush and formerVice President Al Gore came down toa recount in Florida, where Bush wonthe popular vote by 537 votes. Accordingto National Geographic, “had600 more pro-Gore voters gone to thepolls in Florida that November, theremay have been an entirely differentpresident from 2000-2008.”A PortlandUniversity study showed thatfewer than 15% of eligible voters turnout to vote in local and national elections.If students voted in local andnational elections alike, they couldhelp raise this number.2. Unequal representationA study conducted by the Universityof San Diego titled “The VoteMatters: Race, Turnout and Representationin City Politics,” suggeststhat black Americans turnout in municipalelections at a rate 8 pointslower than white Americans, withVictoria Ta The Northwood HowlerLatinx 39 points lower and Asians36 points lower. A similar gap isshown between low income and highincome Americans. Due to unequalturnout, our election system fails toreflect the diversity of viewpoints andsilences the voices of many marginalizedcommunities.3. Privilege is not an excuseTo live in a country where thepeople hold the power to decide theirfuture is a privilege in itself, and anopportunity many can only dreamof. But every year, along with all theyoung people who work to stay informedand politically aware, there isa part of the population that continuesto be apathetic.As youngsters who live in oneof the wealthiest cities in the nation,we should utilize our privilege forpositive change rather than letting theIrvine bubble crowd out our empathyfor the world around us. Just becausethe impacts of the election might notdirectly impact some of us does notmean that we should remain ignorantof other impacts.Young people have gained abad reputation for being out of theAmerican political system. In the ageof information, it is easier than everto vote, and young people especiallyshould have no issue finding the confidenceto cast their ballots. If youare a student who is old enough votein the next elections, the impact youhave is greater than you can imagine.
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