Wednesday, Volume 157 Aug. 25, 2021 No. 3

SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934 WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY

INFOGRAPHIC BY AARON CHEUNG; SOURCES: THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION WEBSITE, THE U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION WEBSITE, TUESDAY SAN JOSE STATE CAMPUSWIDE EMAIL FROM PRESIDENT MARY PAPAZIAN AND JULY 27 CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY NEWS RELEASE Pfi zer gets full FDA approval SJSU vaccination requirements By Madilynne Medina had some authority regarding vaccine requirements for NEWS EDITOR employees, companies will be more comfortable with San Jose State President Mary Papazian stated in a mandates considering the FDA approval, according to a campuswide email Tuesday the current California State Monday Forbes article. University (CSU) vaccination requirement will still be in The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) The Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy utilizes effect following FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine. approved the Pfizer vaccine on Monday, which public academic research from Duke University to inform policy Papazian stated SJSU students, faculty and staff must be health and government officials predict will increase making, according to its website. fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 30 if they are corporate and academic institution mandates and “Companies who could [enforce the vaccination accessing campus facilities. advance vaccinations. mandate] before, I think they’re going to be more confident Those who are not fully vaccinated or have an approved Full approval means the drug’s effects have been now and I think they’ll get more acceptance from their medical or religious exemption must participate in analyzed and reviewed by the Center for Drug Evaluation workers,” McClellan said. mandatory COVID-19 testing. COVID-19 testing will and Research and are believed to provide benefits that be administered on campus Monday through Friday by Booster shots outweigh known and potential risks for the intended Fulgent Genetics in room 1035 of the Event Center. population, as defined by the FDA website. Shortly before the approval of the Pfizer vaccine, the SJSU media relations specialist Robin McElhatton Pfizer is the first U.S. vaccine to receive full approval. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the university strongly recommends using the According to a Tuesday Very Well Health article, released an Aug. 18 statement suggesting booster shots “Report a Case portal” on the Health Advisories website pharmaceutical companies do not have a patent to create would be needed for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to if an individual tests positive or comes in contact with names for products, making “Pfizer” a descriptor rather provide “long lasting protection.” someone who’s infected with the COVID-19 virus. than a name for the vaccine. The current data suggests protection against the While booster shots are expected to roll out Since the vaccine’s approval, “Comirnaty” is recognized COVID-19 virus decreases over time following the in late September, McElhatton said it’s unclear if the as the first official title for the Pfzier vaccine, according to initial dose of the vaccine, according to the same university or CSU system will require booster shots for the same website. Aug. 18 statement. eligible individuals. Very Well Heath is a website containing “SJSU complies with local and state COVID-19 medically-reviewed articles written by healthcare guidelines. It is too early to know what the guidelines will professionals and health journalists. be in regards to COVID booster shots,” McElhatton said Before full FDA approval, a large number of businesses in an email. and universities including San Jose State implemented I just want to make sure everyone I care Software engineering senior Soumya Trivedi said she’d vaccine mandates and other safety measures such as social be interested in a booster shot as long as it’s approved with distancing and mask requirements. about is safe, so I would probably take her current vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine, now officially referred to that third shot if more information is Trivedi received Serum Institute of India’s COVID-19 as Comirnaty on the FDA website, was approved for vaccine, called “CoviShield.” emergency use by the FDA in December 2020. available for it. The CoviShield vaccine is formally known as Emergency use authorization (EUA) allows medical Oxford/AstraZeneca, named after its developers, the countermeasures, including vaccines, to be used during Kyle Tran University of Oxford and pharmaceutical company public health crises, according to the FDA. fi lm and public relations sophomore AstraZeneca. While the vaccine was granted full FDA approval for The vaccine is currently approved by the World Health individuals 16 years or older, it’s still under EUA for The FDA is prepared to start offering booster shots for Organization (WHO) for emergency use, according to the individuals 12 to 15 years of age, according to the Monday all Americans who have been fully vaccinated for at least WHO’s COVID-19 vaccine tracker. FDA news release. eight months on Sept. 20, according to the same statement. “I would definitely go for the booster shot if it is okay to According to a June 30 report by the Kaiser Family A third dose is recommended to those with get a different booster shot than the vaccine [I received], Foundation (KFF), 30% of unvaccinated adults said they compromised immune systems, which is currently I would definitely go for it but it depends on the studies,” were waiting on full FDA approval to receive the vaccine. available in Santa Clara County, according to an she said. The KFF is an American nonprofit organization that Aug. 14 Santa Clara County Public Health Department Kyle Tran, film and public relations sophomore, said in focuses on national health issues by developing policy news release. a phone call he received one of the three U.S. vaccines and analyses and participating in occasional partnerships with The CDC considers individuals immunocompromised would be interested in a booster shot. news organizations. if they have a weakened immune system, which can However, Tran said he’d prefer a strong recommendation President Joe Biden encouraged eligible U.S. citizens to include people with HIV/AIDS, cancer and transplant for a booster shot rather than any mandate. receive the vaccine and urged businesses to require stricter patients and those with inherited diseases that affect the “Maybe if you asked me a few weeks ago, I would have vaccine mandates during a Monday news conference in immune system. been a little bit hesitant about maybe a third shot, but the South Court Auditorium of the White House Campus. Immunocompromised individuals don’t build enough recently I just had a good friend of mine whose mom “Today I’m calling on more companies in the private protection or any protection after the first vaccination, passed away from [the COVID-19 virus],” Tran said in sector to step up the vaccine requirements that will reach according to the CDC website. a phone call. “I just want to make sure everyone I care millions more people,” Biden said. “If you’re a business Those who are immunocompromised are more likely about is safe, so I would probably take that third shot if leader, a non-profit leader, a state or local leader, who has to become infected with COVID-19 and become severely more information is available for it.” been waiting for full FDA approval to require vaccinations, ill because of it, according to the Santa Clara County I call on you now to do that.” news release. Mark McClellan, a former FDA commissioner and Approximately 2.7% of the U.S. population is director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, immunocompromised, according to the same Santa Clara Follow Madilynne on Twitter said in a Monday news conference although employers County news release. @madilynneee sjsunews.com/spartan_daily 2 WEDNESDAY, AUG. 25, 2021 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

ALBUM REVIEW ‘Solar Power’ radiates happiness

By Saumya Monga the beats with fun, STAFF WRITER flavorful riffs. While “Solar Power” If 2020 taught us has gotten mixed reviews anything, it’s that there from critics and fans alike, can be beauty in chaos. I think it’s because we are The coronavirus more comfortable with pandemic allowed many celebrating music made in of us to become more utter darkness. appreciative toward simple Lorde attempts to aspects of life, from a walk tell her audience that in the park to reading happiness can be as poetic a chapter in a book. as sadness, especially When this new when you surround pandemic norm felt too yourself with others. scary, we stayed inside Previously, Lorde has and rediscovered what rarely done collaborations, truly made us feel good. but “Solar Power” is filled Lorde seems to have with surprising features. found her bliss amid On “Secrets From a the chaos. Girl (Who’s Seen It All),” In her debut album Robyn, a Swedish pop “Solar Power,” she singer, ends the song with addresses heavy topics a poem about a planet such as climate change ILLUSTRATION BY BIANCA RADER called Sadness. and losing loved ones It is certainly the most but somehow finds light incoherent at times, but uplifts Lorde’s talent into “I toss up if it’s worth Even in “Mood Ring,” anthemic song on the within the negativity that also beautiful and poetic. an honest masterpiece. it now every time I get she satirizes “selfcare” album as she proclaims, preoccupies her mind. Lorde is showing us She has grown on a plane,” referring influencers who try to “all your mystical She inspires us to that life is chaotic and exceptionally since her to the guilt she feels sell happiness as easily as ambitions, they won’t let dance in the sun while we sometimes all we can 2017 album “Melodrama,” from not spending as they sell makeup. Lorde you down.” still can. do is embrace it, find where she took the much time as she would points out the irony in Life will always be Lorde wasn’t trying the light and dance in persona of the heartbroken have liked with her believing that self care “sunrise by euphoria, to give us a semblance the sunshine. girl who sways alone in furry companion. comes from social media mixed with existential of stability and that’s Co-produced by Jack her apartment. Likewise, in “The Man since true self care should vertigo” as Robyn tells us, what I loved most about Antonoff, who has had This time she focuses on With The Axe,” she sings be achieved away from but Lorde doesn’t want us this album. an excellent year working acceptance of where life about the man who has a phone. to lose hope. The album moves alongside well-known has taken her and leaves helped her find peace Lorde made herself She might be dancing rapidly from heartbreak artists such as Taylor behind the nostalgia through her anxious a name off of stripped in the sun, carefree to grief and happiness. Swift and Clairo, his of heartbreak. thoughts. Lorde compares down synths and vocal with a slight amount of It’s disorienting, even distinct production style Lorde fully embraces herself to a tree and her manipulations driving existential dread but with the carefree persona she partner to “the man with the melodies, but on this album it feels like she album review has taken in her new an axe” who she fell in “Solar Power,” Lorde brought us with her. album and while some love with. replaces those electronic Artist: critics prefer her previous While the metaphor beats with laid-back “Solar Power” Lorde synth-heavy albums, itself falls short of being guitar tunes. Rating (out of 5): Release Date: I enjoyed the mystic poetic, Lorde adds a The ’90s inspiration Aug. 20, 2021 sound she moved into. surprising amount of from the Sundays to  Genre: “Big Star,” focuses on vulnerability, especially Mazzy Star is abundant [psychedelic her dog’s death and the since she has refrained throughout the album, pop/indie folk] way her grief shaped from being too specific as Lorde uses heavy Follow Saumya on Twitter into guilt. She sings about past relationships. percussion to drive @MongaSaumya

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INFOGRAPHIC BY LINDSAY VILLAMOR; SOURCE: ABC 10 NEWS INVESTIGATION BY DIGITIGAL WRITER AND RESEARCHER CHELSEA SHANNON PG&E causes preventable catastrophes

the same Cal Fire news release. this plan for years, it’s “too Distribution lines are In its full-year report for expensive” not to push power low voltage lines that carry 2017-18, PG&E stated the lines underground because lives electricity from the substations Bryanna Bartlett company’s equipment was the are on the line. to the end users for residential EXECUTIVE EDITOR ignitor in the Camp Fire. But lives have been on the and commercial use, according The company knew months line for decades. to the same PG&E webpage. beforehand that the metal parts After years of neglect, the Underground burial is an holding up company wants to push a expensive-ass Hail Mary PG&E The Pacific Gas and Electric difference between this a 72-year-old power line in the multi-billion dollar plan in hopes will drastically change company (PG&E), California’s daunting burial plan and what East Bay Area had “severe wear” which PG&E customers will the course of demise the largest utility provider, is once we’ve seen from PG&E’s past and needed renewal, primarily shoulder the cost. company’s faulty equipment and again to blame for the state’s wildfire mitigation policies according to the report. Why are PG&E customers lackadaisical management have most devastating wildfire. is they haven’t heedlessly But of course, PG&E being pushed to help the put us on. Surpassing last year’s record neglected it yet. wanted to keep their pockets company out of the extensive The company even “forgot” to of the state’s worst wildfire, the The utility company admitted full and get a few more years hole it dug for itself? include substation inspection in Dixie Fire has burned through in a March 4 letter to the it’s 2019-20 Wildfire Mitigation 731,000 acres in the last 42 California Public Utilities Plan, according to PG&E’s letter days since it ignited and has Commissions that it failed to to the California Public shown no signs of slowing inspect any of its Utilities Commissions. down as containment is at 24 hydroelectric substations Underground burial is an However, the scope of 41%, according to the New in Tier 3 high fire threat areas, a hydroelectric substation York Times wildfire tracking as part of its 2019-20 Wildfire expensive-ass Hail Mary PG&E inspection under PG&E’s webpage. Mitigation Plan. hopes will drastically change “Wildfire Safety Inspection The fire began July 13 at PG&E runs hydroelectric Program” includes way more around 7 a.m. after a tree fell on substations in Tier 3 and Tier the course of demise the than just substations. a powerline in Butte county and 2 high fire threat areas, also According to the PG&E ignited, according to PG&E’s known as HFTD’s, according to company’s faulty equipment System Inspection Program, electrical incident report. its Community Wildfire Safety and lackadaisical management inspection is supposed to Days after the initial Program website. include: substations, switching outbreak in Butte county, Tier 3 areas, such as have put us on. stations and hydroelectric PG&E announced its efforts to territories of the Dixie Fire facilities with a focus on prevent its grid from sparking and the 2018 Camp Fire, are at the failure mechanisms for more wildfires when trees and extreme risk for wildfires and transformers, conductors, other vegetation collide with its Tier 2 areas are at elevated risk, connectors, insulators, switches, equipment in drought-stricken according to the March 2021 of use before replacing its PG&E said the burial plan poles and other equipment. California. PG&E High ragged parts. would take several years as California’s future is The company is showing Fire-Threat District Map. How are Californians California has 25,526 miles of terrifying as it is. its lack of care for not only Ignited by a faulty electric supposed to trust PG&E, which higher voltage transmission We need PG&E to simply California but its 16 million transmission line, the has been convicted of numerous lines and 239,557 miles of update and follow the wildfire customers in its new plan. Camp Fire started the morning felonies, to keep their homes distribution lines, two-thirds of mitigation policies they already PG&E proposes to bury of Nov. 8, 2018 and burned from burning in fire and their which are overhead, according have in place instead of trying 10% of power lines at a 153,336 acres in total, according children from inhaling smoke to the same NPR article. to push a multi-billion dollar projected cost of $15-30 billion, to a May 15, 2019 California every time a branch falls Transmission lines are plan it will neglect while the while making its consumers pay Department of Forestry and on some of its equipment? high voltage lines that carry state keeps burning. for a large section of that Fire Protection (Cal Fire) Recently hired PG&E CEO, electricity from a power plant price tag, according to a news release. Patricia Poppe, told NPR to the substation, where it is July 21 NPR article. The fire resulted in 85 reporters in the same further distributed to various Excluding the insane civilian fatalities and several July 21 article while the areas, according to PG&E’s Follow Bryanna on Twitter construction cost, the only firefighter injuries, according to company refrained from residential webpage. @brybartlett

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