THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SINCE 1896 • VOLUME CXXVII, NO. 52 Tuesday, November 3, 2020 COVID-19 Tracker Current 225 195 29 CONFIRMED CASES AT Residential Cumulative Commuter Staff Cases UCONN STORRS Cases as of 6:33 p.m. on Nov. 2 10 Residential Cases Cases Your guide to the UConn Stamford 2020 election dorm in quarantine by Ian Ward Speaking of Election Day, if sistance when casting a ballot. CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT you are not registered to vote, The only people not allowed [email protected] you can register to vote on Elec- to help a voter cast a ballot are tion Day at your town hall and the voter’s employer or agent of Do you feel confused by all of select polling places. Polls in employer, an agent of a voter’s the rules put into place for vot- Connecticut are open from 6 union or a candidate that ap- ing? Do you need help figuring a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. pears on the ballot. The only ex- out where to go and how to vote? ception to this rule is if the can- This guide will answer all those Polls in Connecticut didate is part of the immediate questions and more to prepare are open from 6 a.m. family of the voter who needs you for this year’s presidential assistance. election on Tuesday, Nov. 3. to 8 p.m. on Election The final question that re- The first thing you should do mains is what happens if you is make sure you are registered Day. are in quarantine on Election to vote. To check whether you When it comes to voting in Day? In this situation, you are registered, visit vote.org and Mansfield, polling stations in- would be hand-delivered an enter your information, includ- clude Mansfield Town Hall, emergency ballot. Voters in ing your name, address and date Mansfield Library/Buchanan quarantine must have a bal- of birth. If you are registered to Auditorium and Mansfield Fire lot at least six days before the vote, you are allowed to vote on Station. To find your polling polls close and they must sign a Election Day at your registered location, type CT Polling Loca- statement that they are unable The University of Connecticut, Stamford campus shut down a polling place or by mail, as long tions into Google and fill in your to make it to the polls. Failure dorm building at 900 Washington Blvd. in Stamford due to in- as you drop off your ballot at address. to do so will result in a one-year creases in COVID-19 cases. PHOTO COURTESY OF UCONN STAMFORD your town election office by If you are in need of a ride to prison sentence or a $5,000 Election Day, Tuesday Nov. 3 at the polls, Lyft is offering 50% fine. The original intent behind by Isabella Warren this period. According to a UCo- 8 p.m., rather than actually mail off rides up to $10 to polling lo- this was to stop false state- CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT nn tweet, additional testing will it. The deadline to request an ab- cations across the country. This ments from being made about [email protected] be arranged to accommodate sentee ballot was Oct. 27. will run between 4 a.m. and 11 why someone cannot make the the Stamford population. To submit your absentee bal- p.m. polls. The law was written be- On Saturday, the residents of According to UConn’s public lot, leave it in your town’s state If you or someone you know fore the COVID-19 pandemic. University of Connecticut’s en- COVID-19 dashboard, all com- ballot box. In Mansfield, the has a physical disability, Con- A final reminder that if you tire dorm at 900 Washington muter students taking in-person drop box is located in front of necticut allows voting to be con- are voting in person on Election Blvd. in Stamford were placed classes on the Stamford campus Town Hall. Over 600,000 resi- ducted through a touch screen Day to make sure to bubble in under quarantine after an in- are required to be tested before dents have returned their ab- or through a verbal device in- your choices completely, or your crease in COVID-19 cases in the returning to the campus. sentee ballots in Connecticut as stead of with pen and paper. vote will not count. Good luck to building. UConn’s updated public CO- of Monday. Connecticut also allows for as- everyone voting. There are 235 students living VID-19 dashboard shows one in the residence hall. Accord- new off-campus positive case ing to an email sent to students, in Storrs, with the individual there have been six positive CO- already in medical quarantine, VID-19 cases among Stamford and two new on-campus em- Three UConn alumni to residents in the last week. ployee positives as of Nov. 2. Three of the six Stamford cas- Residents of UConn Stam- es were identified through uni- ford will hear from Student versity surveillance testing and Health and Wellness for up- be new YIIP scholars the other three cases were iden- dates on their quarantine sta- tified through outside testing. tus. SHaW also offers indepen- The quarantine order is ex- dent exercise and meditation pected to last 14 days, and all opportunities safe for students students will be tested during in quarantine. Research Spotlight: Investigating community gun violence Former University of Connecticut students David Onwuka, Tebyan Khalfalla and Christina Valera were selected as Young Innovative Investigator Program (YIIP) scholars. PHOTO COURTESY OF UCONN HEALTH by Grace McFadden “But those numbers don’t ASSOCIATE DIGITAL EDITOR count the over 100,000 people [email protected] who are injured by guns every by Naiela Suleiman conduct intensive research, alongside Onwuka to be YIIP year and survive their injuries. STAFF WRITER excel in an academic environ- scholars this year. Mary Berenstein is a profes- If we also take that into consid- [email protected] ment and develop the skills Onwuka recommends oth- sor of sociology at the Universi- eration, we really have to center Three University of Con- to become high level candi- er minority students apply if ty of Connecticut. Berenstein’s the problem of community gun necticut alumni have been se- dates for graduate or medi- they are interested in research research, which focuses on col- violence,” Berenstein said. lected to be part of the Young cal schools,” Laurencin said. and a future in the scientific laboration within social move- Community gun violence, as Innovative Investigator Pro- “Increasing the number of un- field. ments, has earned her two re- it turns out, is a very multifac- gram (YIIP) Scholars. derrepresented minority stu- “I heard about this program search grants for 2020. eted issue that has its roots in YIIP, created by the Con- dents in the fields of science through my undergraduate The grants focus on Beren- historical systems of oppres- necticut Convergence Insti- and medicine is one of our research principal investiga- stein’s work with the gun vio- sion. tute, began in 2013 and only primary goals as an institute.” tor and I applied because I felt lence movement in particular. selects underrepresented New YIIP scholar David this was a program that would Specifically, she is interested “What you really minority students, said Lana Onwuka, UConn alumni and help refine my academic and in how groups work together Angelo, YIIP program man- molecular and cell biology scientific abilities, allowing across lines of racial difference. have is a history ager. major, is excited to be part of me to be better equipped for a “So in other words, how do “These new YIIP scholars the two year program. future in medicine,” Onwuka activists in urban areas who of systemic are recent college graduates “I feel very grateful to be said. “Also, I felt that my aca- may be racially oppressed oppression and who will complete intense chosen for the YIIP Program. demic background and under- work to combat what has been graduate level coursework This program is very selec- graduate research experience termed community gun vio- poverty.” and conduct high caliber re- tive, choosing only five ap- would make me a strong can- lence? Activists in more sub- MARY BERENSTEIN search in elite biomedical plicants annually,” Onwuka didate for the program. There urban areas often focus more laboratories on the UConn said. “ I am hoping to enhance is a lot of support and guid- on issues of mass shooting or Health campus,” Angelo said. my skills as a researcher ance in this program as well, sometimes suicide prevention. “What you really have is a Dr. Cato T. Laruencin, CEO and increase my knowledge and students shouldn’t hesi- How do these groups work to- history of systemic oppression of the Connecticut Conver- through the biomedical sci- tate to apply if this seems like gether?” Berenstein explained. and poverty. If you couple that gence Institute for Translation ence classes, while mak- a direction they want to go in.” Community gun violence is with an increasingly polarized in Regenerative Engineering, ing lasting connections with The YIIP advisory commit- sometimes overlooked due to class structure over time, what said YIIP scholars will con- the staff and students at the tee reaches out to over 400 lower fatality rates, said Be- we see is increasing mass in- duct intensive research to pre- Health Center.” individuals when searching renstein. Since suicide makes carceration of black and brown pare them for careers in sci- Tebyan Khalfalla and Chris- for new candidates every two up around 60% of gun-related people, along with economic ence and biomedical sciences.