Connecticut Will Now Issue Fines for Social Distancing Violations
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THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SINCE 1896 • VOLUME CXXVII, NO. 20 Thursday, September 24, 2020 COVID-19 Tracker Current 72 163 4 CONFIRMED CASES AT Residential Cumulative Commuter Staff Cases UCONN STORRS Cases as of 7:32p.m. on Sept. 23 66 Residential Cases Cases Connecticut will now issue fines for social distancing violations by Amanda Kilyk Those who attend the afore- STAFF WRITER mentioned gatherings will be [email protected] met with a $250 fine, the order said. Last Tuesday, Connecticut While the University of Con- Gov. Ned Lamont issued an ex- necticut will be enforcing these ecutive order to issue fines for new regulations as needed, Uni- those who attend or host larger versity spokesperson Stephanie gatherings than the state has al- Reitz said UConn students have lowed, or those who do not wear overall been happy to comply masks in public places, accord- with social distancing and mask- ing to Executive Order No. 9B. wearing regulations on campus. The executive order autho- “People in the UConn commu- rizes local and district health di- nity have been overwhelmingly rectors, as well as police officers compliant with wearing masks, and public safety departments establishing physical distance of universities, to issue fines for between themselves and oth- violations specified in the execu- ers, and the other steps needed tive order. This executive order to help safeguard their health,” comes as Connecticut’s latest Reitz said. “Even in cases when legislation created in order to a person may not be wearing a slow the spread of the coronavi- mask in a public place, they’ve rus (COVID-19) pandemic. quickly put it on when asked by A fine of $100 will be issued to others.” those who are found guilty of not Based on students’ over- maintaining social distancing whelming adherence to social or not wearing a mask in pub- distancing guidelines, Reitz lic places where masks are re- said the University has not had quired, the executive order said. any serious issues or violations Those found violating the ex- thus far. ecutive order by hosting gather- “While of course the uni- ings larger than what is legally versity will enforce the Gover- specified by the Department nor’s executive order if needed, of Economic and Community there’s been a cooperative team Development’s rules Rules for spirit here to having a healthy Gatherings and Venues will be campus and we haven’t needed to take punitive measures,” Re- charged with a hefty $500 fine, A sign lets students know to wear masks around campus. PHOTO BY ERIN KNAPP, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER/THE DAILY according to the order. itz said. CAMPUS UConn alum first Hispanic-American woman appointed to top army roll by Alison Cross nation leads to more repre- CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT sentation for the Latinx com- [email protected] munity. “Michele Pearce encom- The first Hispanic-Amer- passes the essence of Puerto ican woman nominated to Rican strength, resilience, serve as the top lawyer for the and determination. One of my Army is a University of Con- biggest hopes with her nomi- necticut graduate. nation is for the future gen- President Donald Trump eration of the Latinx diaspora nominated Michele Pearce to to see themselves represented the position of General Coun- in her,” Pérez said. “Seeing sel of the Army. After partici- Michele represent the Latinx pating hearings by the Senate Community, and specifically, Committee on Armed Servic- the Puerto Rican community, es, Pearce now waits for the brings me hope for a better Senate to vote on and approve future — one where the Unit- her nomination. ed States government repre- The daughter of a Puerto sents the diverse population Rican mother and a father that continues to grow within who served as a chief petty Michelle Pearce’s LinkedIn shows that she graduated from UConn. Pearce is now the first Hispan- the country.” ic-American woman nominated to serve as top lawyer for the Army. PHOTO COURTESY OF LINKEDIN officer in the Navy, Pearce said in an article by the Army News Service that she wanted to join the armed forces, but her parents also pushed her to pursue law. Pearce earned her law degree from the UCo- nn School of Law in 1996, ac- cording to her LinkedIn pro- file. After graduation, Pearce joined the Air Force. She served until 2009 as a judge advocate. Pearce also worked as counsel to the House Com- mittee on Armed Services, a Senior Defense Policy Ad- visor to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Associate and Deputy General Counsel to the Department of Defense. In January, Pearce became Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Army. Paulina Maranges Pérez, a seventh-semester student with an individualized major in development and genetics, is the president of UConn’s Puerto Rican Student Asso- In this Nov. 28, 2019, file photo armed soldiers stand guard in the motorcade for President Donald Trump speaks during a surprise Thanksgiving Day visit to the troops at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. During his election campaign four years ago, Trump vowed ciation (PuRSA). Pérez said to bring all troops home from “endless wars.” In recent months he’s only increased the pressure, working to fulfill his campaign that she hopes Pearce’s nomi- promise and get forces home before Election Day. PHOTO BY ALEX BRANDON/AP For more... dailycampus.com The_DailyCampus The_DailyCampus The Daily Campus Tweet of the Day Phillipa Soo DEBATE | PAGE 4 VIRTUAL VIGIL | PAGE 5 MAYA MOORE | PAGE 12 @Phillipasoo What to look for going into the A virtual vigil for justice, peace A feature on former UConn I am devastated. first presidential debate and action basketball player Maya Moore #BreonnaTaylor was not given the justice she deserved. 02 Thursday, September 24, 2020 • DailyCampus.com News Memes, News and Everything In-between: The rise of @uconnmemery by Rachel Philipson “As a student myself, I re- students directly messaging reason I am able to do what I that brings the UConn commu- STAFF WRITER alized it was getting increas- information. do. I try to keep my DMs very nity together through laughs [email protected] ingly difficult to sift through “Sometimes finding informa- open, responsive and friendly and information.” In the midst of a pandemic, no all the information and stay tion takes some digging, and for anyone that needs a plat- The admin said that, as a one could have predicted that a properly informed,” they said. other times students are able to form or has something insight- whole, people have been thank- student-run, unaffiliated Uni- “I figured this would be a great provide it to me since some peo- ful to share.” ful to see news being featured versity of Connecticut Instagram chance to help other Huskies ple know things that I do not, The admin said they think on the Instagram page. They meme page would be the spot for because of my already estab- and it is very helpful when they @uconnmemery has become have received messages from breaking news and community lished follower base and abil- share,” the admin said. “I al- a helpful platform for UConn students saying that the news bonding. Now, @uconnmemery ity to inform people a large ways try to ask for proof, but if students for news because content might insight panic, has over 10,000 followers and amount of people quickly.” the student cannot provide any, they are not limited “by bu- but they believe that “being in- wants to support all UConn stu- At first, the @uconnmem- I make sure to put a disclaimer reaucratic delays or wording.” formed is more important than dents the best they can. ery admin said they posted that it may not be true, but stu- Despite their speed, they said anything.” They try to eliminate The @uconnmemery admin, whatever news-based content dent submitted news is actu- they actively work towards not panic by maintaining their re- who wished to be anonymous they wanted. Since their fol- ally more accurate than I would spreading false rumors, prop- search methods, disclaimers for this article, said they started lowing has expanded, they try have originally thought.” erly researching and making and corrections. the page in Nov. 2019 purely for to limit speculative informa- @uconnmemery said that any and all corrections, if need- “I have received so many funny UConn meme content. tion and put out disclaimers student direct messages to the ed, as soon as possible. thank yous from people telling When the pandemic started, when necessary. The admin account help keep the page run- Although the admin believes me how much they use my page they started to post COVID-19 said they use a variety of mea- ning. that UConn has had moderate to stay informed and find out in- related news to help inform fel- sures to cultivate their con- “It is incredibly helpful when success with communicating to formation they would not have low students. Currently, the tent, ranging from research- students send me information its undergraduate population, been able to find otherwise,” news to memes ratio is about ing websites, emailing certain or news to report,” the admin they said that students turn to they said. “Initially, I noticed half and half, depending on the departments, reading the said. “I cannot thank them @uconnmemery because of its this especially from incoming news day. UConn subreddit and having enough because they are a big organization. freshmen, who were the most “In my opinion, UConn is not lost out of all of us.” doing a terrible job communi- The @uconnmemery admin cating, but it has definitely not said that they would have nev- been the best,” the admin said.