VOL 119, Issue 7—Oct. 28, 2021

02
THURSDAY
OCT. 28,
2021
STAFF
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ZOE BINDER
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MAGGIE ALDRICH
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STAFF EDITORIAL
UNIVERSITY PROVIDES INSUFFICIENT TESTING
IN LIGHT OF RELAXED MASK MANDATE
Though COVID-19 cases in San Francisco
have been on the decline since early August, the
University is still not offering students enough
opportunities to exert caution and get tested for
the virus.
Having just returned from fall break, we at
the Foghorn felt it was necessary to discuss the
possibility of a rise in COVID-19 cases at USF.
Coming into this school year, we knew that
certain practices would need to be enforced by
the University to allow us to attend in-person
classes. Prior to the semester starting, faculty
and students knew that there would be a mix of
in-person, remote, and hybrid classes.
As we have navigated through the semester,
the absence of testing became noticeable to our
staff. After a few weeks on campus, as of Sept.
22 there is now weekly testing administered in
the McLaren Center. Additionally, we are glad to
see that the completion of the daily Dons Health
Check is now enforced by a tie to one’s access to
buildings on campus.
San Francisco eased its mask mandate in
certain indoor spaces, such as college classes who
meet regularly and do not exceed 100 people, on
Oct. 15. While the student body has shown that
we can band together and mask up to ensure a
safe return to campus, this change could affect
our community. If we keep acting responsibly,
we can finish the semester strong. However, this
goal could be made even more of a possibility if
the University continues enforcing policies with
the goal of mitigating the effects of the pandemic.
More than halfway through the semester,
we generally agree with the measures the University
has taken to keep faculty and students
safe and commend them for making adequate
changes as needed. However, we also feel that the
University has left too much responsibility in the
hands of students.
While it is necessary for us, as students, to
behave responsibly in regard to the pandemic,
following proper health and safety guidelines
and recognizing when we are putting our community
at risk, the University must provide better
guidance to us.
Thus far, students have not had many opportunities
to travel outside of California, with
the exception of Labor Day, since August. However,
fall break gave many students the chance to
visit other parts of the country, and while some
students are proactive in getting tested to make
sure they are not putting others at risk, it is not
guaranteed that everyone will be.
The only testing available on campus is the
testing site in McLaren which operates Wednesdays
from 1-3 p.m. For some students, including
our staff, the hours of operation clash with school
and work, forcing students to turn to testing sites
offered by the city at large. Additionally, USF’s
testing site is only open for two hours, leaving us
to wonder how the site accommodates appointments.
With such a short window, it seems likely
that the test site could become overwhelmed
with students trying to get tested, especially after
they have traveled.
The school's promotion of the McLaren test
site has been scarce, and we believe this is doing a
disservice to the USF community as many might
not know about this resource or the extent to
which it is accessible to us.
For some students, it is hard to believe the
University has made it this far into the semester
without a spike in COVID-19 cases. Aside from
San Francisco having high vaccination rates,
we feel like the University might have had asymptomatic
cases where people felt nothing at
all and assumed it was okay to go out into the
community.
The University needs to do better and not
just settle for the bare minimum when it comes
to our health and safety. Students who lived in
essential housing last semester when campus was
shut down were tested on a monthly basis, and
we believe measures like this should be enforced
for the entire community on a larger scale.
With Thanksgiving approaching and
students beginning to plan trips back home,
the school needs to continue to adapt their
COVID-19 testing protocols. Even quarantining
needs to be evaluated to make sure that regardless
of whether or not a person lives on campus,
they are not putting themselves or others at risk.
PHOTO OF TEST CENTER ON CAMPUS PHOTO BY BEAU TATTERSALL/SAN FRANCISCO FOGHORN
HISTORIC STORM HITS BAY AREA; SEVERAL TREES DOWN ON CAMPUS • Front Page
The third downed tree fell into the lot behind the University Center, near the walkway between Harney Science Center and
the University Center. PHOTO BY MIGUEL ARCAYENA/SAN FRANCISCO FOGHORN
The Foghorn reached out to USF Facilities Management, the department
that operates and manages all buildings and grounds under the University,
regarding the situation with the new fallen trees. However, Facilities was not
able to provide a comment at the time of this writing.
NWS Bay Area noted that the 4.02 inches of rain on Oct. 24 was the
wettest October day in San Francisco history and the fourth heaviest day of
precipitation in the city since rainfall records started being kept in 1849. According
to Jan Null, a Bay Area meteorologist and NWS forecaster, the “storm
across the SF Bay Area is, so far, tied as the third strongest since 1950 on the
Bay Area Storm Index (BASI)” and the strongest in 26 years.
Just a week ago, the LA Times reported that California recorded its driest
water year in a century. The water year, which ended Sept. 30, accumulated
11.87 inches of rain and snow. This amount was calculated by the Western
Regional Climate Center, who used data from each of its stations, and the
MIGUEL ARCAYENA
Staff Writer
total was less than half of what experts deem average during a typical water
year: about 23.58 inches.
The storm created havoc across the Bay Area with flooding, storm debris,
evacuation orders, and power outages to nearly 130,000 PG&E customers at
one point.
In its aftermath, residents, such as Hartley, are questioning if the city’s
infrastructure was “slightly unprepared for this storm.” On Sunday afternoon,
Hartley said, “Flooding began in the walls of our rented, three-story apartment.
We slowly noticed rainwater discoloring the paint of the wall in the
hallway.” Hartley continued by saying, “The severe weather was also enough to
litter our small backyard with tree branches and debris, as well as wake us all
up during the night, as living on the second story places you among the trees,
which shook violently in the heavy winds.”
UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION RESPONDS TO
PROTESTS AND REFORM DEMANDS
Three weeks ago, in conjunction with their student
speakout event and vigil on campus, the advocacy
group It’s On USFCA released a list of demands
pushing President Paul J. Fitzgerald S.J., University
administration, and other campus stakeholders to
enact institutional changes at USF amid the aftermath
of the Sports Illustrated (SI) article. The University
and Fitzgerald officially issued responses to
these demands last Friday, Oct. 22.
In a statement titled “Rebuilding Trust and
Community,” Fitzgerald acknowledged the growing
and intensified backlash the University has faced
since the SI story. “I am committed to improve upon
all of the work done in the past to prevent sexual
violence, to promote respect, and to bring restorative
justice when our community standards are violated,”
wrote Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald revealed that his office and leadership
team had been working with the Office of Student
Life, Title IX, and the athletics department since the
demands from It’s On USFCA were publicized, as
well as other pushes for accountability and change
from the community.
Senior politics major Alana Beltran-Balagso,
one of the student organizers from It’s On USFCA,
said she was “glad the school finally addressed the
Sports Illustrated article, however, that email should
not have required student activism to produce.”
Though she said she understood institutional changes
will take time, “until we see tangible action, the
emails are just nice sentiments.”
In Fitzgerald’s statement, he referenced another
response led by the Title IX office, which was released
that same day. This was the University’s official response
to each specific demand that It’s On USFCA
listed. Initially, the University thanked the advocacy
Crews from facilities and a service contractor began to clean up pieces of the fallen tree at
Lone Mountain Monday morning. PHOTO BY BEAU TATTERSALL/SAN FRANCISCO FOGHORN
group for their work and said it “hopes [it] will serve
as a pathway for continuing work together.”
The following is the list of demands from It’s On
USFCA and a summary of the University’s responses.
The first demand listed is for a personal apology
from Fitzgerald “for the University’s failures in addressing
sexual violence” and a request to meet with
him as well as other student organizations. The University
responded by releasing a part of Fitzgerald’s
message to the group’s organizers on Oct. 15. Sharing
the same apology he had previously expressed, Fitzgerald
acknowledged that additional actions must be
taken and that he is “working with students, faculty,
and leaders of divisions...to ensure that our policies
and protocols are clear, accessible, and focused on the
survivor-centered approach that we prioritize.” The
response also highlighted the president’s appearance
before ASUSF Senate, which was covered by the Foghorn,
and a commitment to meet with “other student
and administrative groups.”
03
NEWS