The Crimson White: Back to School Edition, August 2021

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6A BACK TO SCHOOL August 19, 2021
BACK TO SCHOOL August 19, 2021 1B ‘NOT EVERYONE WANTS TO GO BACK’: UA professors prepare for return to in-person classes ISABEL HOPE ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Returning to school is a chance for a fresh start — new year, new classes, new professors. Yet, something feels familiar about the return to campus this fall. As the University returns to in-person classes for the fall semester, professors have received mixed messages about offering online options to students. Some students and teachers are nervous about returning to face-to-face operations as COVID-19 cases continue to surge. In an email to University deans, UA Provost James Dalton stressed a return to “normal course delivery methods.” “Our goals are always for every student to succeed, and to maintain the highest level of quality teaching, while safeguarding the health and safety of all UA faculty, staff, and students,” Dalton’s email said. “We also want to ensure that the faculty are prepared — and have the latest information and resources — to play their part in the University meeting these goals.” Dalton said it’s important to stick to the planned in-person teaching method unless otherwise instructed by him. Peter Edgar, an MFA student studying creative writing and journalism, will teach an introductory English course in the fall and said he thinks the decision to eliminate hybrid teaching was made without safety in mind. “What I imagine is happening is when the University and plenty of other institutions are making the judgment about what to do, they’re putting science and safety on one side of the scale and putting the bottom line on the other side,” he said. “I don’t think that’s the way it should be.” Dalton said he’s encouraging professors to “prepare for teaching flexibility” and upload all course materials to Blackboard so that students who test positive for COVID-19 can access them. Dalton recommends using Panopto, a video recording service, to record lectures to maintain face-to-face instruction. Ross Bettis, a senior studying communications, said he believes the new variants make hybrid teaching necessary, and the return plan puts professors and students in a “vulnerable position.” “If we put students and professors in a horrible position to get sick, because of the delta variant or the lambda variant, we are going to have an explosion of cases on campus,” Bettis said. The delta variant, a highly contagious strain of the virus, became the dominant strain in July. Fully vaccinated people have experienced breakthrough cases, but are unlikely to become seriously ill. The lambda variant, another strain o f the virus, has recently been reported in America with the potential capability to neutralize antibodies from some vaccines. Currently, 99% of COVID-19 deaths are from unvaccinated people. Professors are not allowed to ask about a student’s vaccination status or insist that students get the vaccine. The University will not disclose the vaccine status of students to professors. Edgar said “a lot of people, but not everyone” in his department have been vaccinated, and he is concerned with the spiking case rates caused by the delta variant. Edgar said the University shouldn’t return to normal operations “if we can’t make sure it’s safe.” I’m a 23-old English teacher. I’m not out here to police students. I’m teaching them how to write. It is a boundary issue. Culturally, we feel very suspicious of one another, and these rules don’t discourage that suspicion. PETER EDGAR As someone who is required to teach to complete his degree program, Edgar said he feels particularly frustrated with the circumstances. “This responsibility of teaching is what allows us to stay on campus and it almost feels like a little bit of agency has been taken from us,” Edgar said. “It just feels like our hands are tied a little bit and that we can’t do everything to protect ourselves. There’s a layer of red tape — or maybe a couple of layers of red tape — that we have to go through to do that, which just doesn’t feel super empowering.” Bettis said he feels confident that hybrid options would be helpful to professors and students who don’t want to be “shoulder to shoulder in class.” Dalton shared the UA COVID-19 syllabus statement in an email to deans on Aug. 10. He said the University has the right to move online at any point in the fall semester. The syllabus statement urged faculty, staff and students to maintain a commitment to safety. The University will not provide a tuition refund if classes move online. Edgar said he finds it difficult to teach without clear protocols. “The horse is already out of the gate, so I understand that it’d be really hard and controversial for them to do a complete turnaround and require stricter restrictions,” Edgar said. “I want to sympathize with the adults who are trying to make these decisions, but I don’t necessarily sympathize with the rubric for the decision-making. I think safety has to come first, and we know enough now to make a lot more informed decisions. We’re going in the opposite direction.” Edgar said he’s working hard to keep himself and his students safe without overstepping, but it’s going to be hard to build community in the classroom. “I’m a 23-year-old English teacher,” he said. “I’m not out here to police students. I’m teaching them how to write. It is a boundary issue. Culturally, we feel very suspicious of one another, and these rules don’t discourage that suspicion.” Dalton said professors should “encourage students to get vaccinated” and remind them of the $40 Bama Cash incentive for students who report their vaccinations by Aug. 28. Bettis said he had multiple classes over Zoom this past year and thinks that a remote option should be offered to all students so that they don’t feel unsafe in a classroom. “We’re pretty much just having to play the waiting game at this point,” Bettis said. “Should students and professors have to suffer from the University’s decisionmaking? No.” Under current health and safety guidance, professors should be quarantined if they contract COVID. If they are not well enough to continue teaching, the class can be canceled. Otherwise, classes can be taught over Zoom with permission from department chairs and deans. Bettis said he hopes the University will provide online options, but that the idea of going “back to school” is inherently flawed during an increase in COVID-19 cases. The University’s Division of Strategic Communications did not respond to multiple email requests for comment. CW / Victoria Buckley Seven tons of beauty: Tuska is UA’s newest sculpture MONICA NAKASHIMA STAFF REPORTER Students arriving on campus will notice a new addition to The University of Alabama: Tuska. The 19-foot bronze statue modeled after an African bull elephant is hard to miss. Located near Bryant-Denny Stadium, it is believed to be one of the biggest elephant statues in the world. While many enjoy the recently added attraction, some may not know its history and how it was brought to campus. Local Tuscaloosa businessman Jack Warner was a well-known figure due to his lavish collection of art worldwide. The now-closed Tuscaloosa Museum of Art housed many of his collected works, but Tuska, a piece by the sculptor Terry Owen Mathews, was located in front of the NorthRiver Yacht Club. I think the elephant certainly has been a significant part of our culture as an institution and a very important part of the tradition we have here. MYRON POPE In the 1990s, Warner became a collector of Mathews’ art and sculptures, particularly those involving elephants. “He already collected a few of my elephant statues for his yacht club,” Mathews said. “He said to me that he wanted an elephant piece that was really outstanding, so he commissioned me to do that for him.” Born in England in 1931, Mathews was raised in Uganda and educated in Kenya and England. He was a safari guide in the ‘50s and ‘60s. While guiding a safari tour in 1968, he was accidentally shot by a bird hunter. He lost vision in one of his eyes, and he could no longer properly lead safaris. This tragic accident led to Mathews’ second career, when he came into sculpting with no formal training. His particular focus on animals such as lions and wildebeests was due to his background in safaris and his love for African wildlife. “I’ve always loved elephants,” Mathews said. “When I could see, I was always keen to watch them because they’re always doing something interesting. They are, in a lot of ways, like human beings.” The process of making Tuska wasn’t easy. Originally titled “Reach for the Sky,” the sculpture was made in a foundry in Gloucestershire, England, starting in 1999. Due to the size of the statue, the molds of Tuska had to be divided into 11 separate pieces that were later put together. “The maximum that most foundries can pour in one piece is two tons,” Mathews said. “So we cast the four legs, two tusks, the trunk, the head, the shoulder, the back and the tail." According to Mathews, the heaviest piece of Tuska was the rear end, which weighs two tons on its own. In total, the elephant statue weighs seven tons. After the bronze molds were finished, the pieces of the statue were delivered via boat on Sept. 7, 2000. They were then assembled in Tuscaloosa, making the total completion time roughly one year. After Warner’s passing in 2017, Tuska was installed at the corner of Wallace Wade Avenue and University Boulevard in April 2021. CW / David Gray the NorthRiver Yacht Club decided to gift his favorite work of art to The University of Alabama. UA President Stuart Bell said the process of moving the statue from the yacht club to its current location on the corner of University Boulevard and Wallace Wade Avenue was made possible by a former athletic director’s donation. “Bill and Mary Battle made a gift that would allow for the podium to be built and landscaping to be done around Tuska to offset some of the costs of actually physically moving it to the University,” Bell said. Since the completion of the statue’s plaza before A-Day weekend, Bell said the opportunities for students and visitors to take pictures has had a great turnout. “It’s really popular on campus,” Bell said. “It’s getting to be one of those few spots that people want to stop and take pictures in front of, like Denny Chimes and the President’s Mansion.” UA Vice President of Student Life Myron Pope said the placement of the statue by Bryant-Denny Stadium seemed appropriate, and its popularity is paying off. “It just seemed like the right place to place it,” Pope said. “I’m constantly seeing people taking pictures there. It’s a great addition to campus for sure.” While the completion of the move is recent, Bell anticipates the hype for photo opportunities will continue moving forward. “It’ll be one of those places where folks will be like, ‘Hey, let’s meet over at Tuska and take photos,’ and we’re seeing that already,” Bell said. Pope also believes Tuska will be a lasting icon to the University, especially since elephants are a prominent symbol for the Crimson Tide. “I think the elephant certainly has been a significant part of our culture as an institution and a very important part of the tradition we have here,” Pope said.
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The Crimson White: Back to School Edition, August 2021

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