Research fi nds benefi ts to social Film Club president brings back West Virginia throws combined media Campus Movie Fest no-hitter against Kent State p. 3 p. 5 p. 9 @DailyAthenaeum Th e Daily Athenaeum dailyathenaeum [email protected] WVU’s Independent Student Newspaper THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020 www.thedaonline.com Spring break trips canceled, WVU Policy change adds prior continues to monitor coronavirus learning credit BY GABRIELLA BROWN AND STAFF REPORT HAILEY SEAMON NEWS EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT COVID-19 Cases in the United States Multiple changes to the WVU Ac- ademic Policy have been made, in- As students begin packing their cluding changes to fi nal exam pol- bags for spring break travel, the Uni- TOTAL CASES DEATHS RECOVERIES icies and suspension policies, that will go into eff ect for the 2020-2021 versity is preparing to combat any King County, Washington school year. cases of coronavirus that may hit 9 deaths 158 11 9 Final Exam Policy West Virginia. In order to provide an opportunity “Everybody can get infected. Kids, for faculty to give low-stakes assess- young adults [and] elderly,” said Ivan ments in their courses, changes have Martinez, associate professor in the been made to the fi nal exam policy. Department of Microbiology, Immu- Th ese changes will allow faculty nology and Cell Biology at WVU. to give exams or quizzes that cover New York City WVU has already canceled 13 fac- less than 20 percent of the course 11 cases content in the week prior to the fi nal ulty-led spring break trips and two examination. Th ese exams must be summer study abroad trips. How- given with the intention to provide ever, students going abroad inde- Los Angeles County, California students with feedback prior to tak- pendently are still at risk of con- 7 cases ing their last exams. tracting the disease. Th ree students According to the policy change, studying abroad this semester in It- this change is also intended to ben- aly have also made the decision to efi t students by giving them the extra return home. opportunity to increase their chance WVU had originally planned trips of success in the course. Academic Probation and to Honduras, the United Kingdom, Suspension Policy Italy, Germany, Czechia and other Changes to the probation and sus- areas. Any domestic trips have not pension policy were made. Rather been impacted. 1-5 CASES 20-30 CASES than students being suspended in Henry Oliver, WVU director of the spring due to not meeting GPA global advancement, said as access INFOGRAPHIC BY AVERY LYONS requirements, the suspension pro- to public places and infrastructure cess will occur twice a year at the end has become a growing challenge. He senior executive director, said the fi - feeling sick, you still go to work, you United States can be tested. of each fall and spring semester. said the University is concerned it nancial impact this will have on the still go to school. You don’t realize “Th at means that we’re probably At the end of the third term if a stu- dent has maintained a GPA less than would not be able to deliver the ex- University is still being calculated. that you are actually carrying the dis- going to see, in the next couple of a 2.00, they will be suspended. Ac- periences it wants to for its students. Martinez said coronavirus is ease and infecting other people.” days, an increased number of people cording to the policy, this means the transmitted by person-to-person Oliver said this was one of the [testing] positive for the virus,” Mar- “If you look at examples like the earliest a student can be suspended Louvre is closed,” Oliver said. contact. Through sneezing and main reasons the Centers for Dis- tinez said. “It’s not that suddenly the is at the end of their third full term. He said entering certain countries coughing, microscopic pieces of the ease Control and Prevention urged virus is spreading around. It’s mostly Th is change is intended to give like Italy are also becoming increas- virus can be left around that can in- universities to cancel spring break because the virus [has] probably al- students who struggle early on in ingly diffi cult to enter, with multiple fect other people. trips. ready spread.” their academic career to improve U.S. airlines restricting travel. Martinez said transmission of the He said one of the biggest dan- As of right now, there is no known their grades. Oliver said with spring break disease often occurs when someone gers the virus poses to travelers is cure for the virus. Martinez said there Credit for Prior Learning Th is change will give degree pro- travel less than two weeks away, the rubs their eyes or touches food and the length of spring break is shorter are several companies and universi- grams the ability to give credit for University is working to ensure no puts it in their mouth. than the time needed to show symp- ties working to develop a vaccine. experiential learning programs such Coming into contact with the vi- toms. If any students that return to students will be fi nancially liable for “We do not know how this virus is as professional certifications or the situation. rus does not mean someone will im- campus have contracted the disease, going to behave because it’s the fi rst training. He said any students who had reg- mediately feel symptoms of the vi- they will not know until weeks after time it’s in humans,” Martinez said. According to the policy change, istered for the program will be ful- rus. While this may sound like a good coming back. “Hopefully, we will potentially have students interested in earning this ly-refunded as the University works thing, Martinez said it is actually Until a few days ago, the CDC only a vaccine in a year from now.” type of credit must speak with their academic advisor to see if their out- to cancel fl ights and other travel what makes the virus so dangerous. tested patients from China and It- See coronavirus page 4 bookings. “Th e problem with that is exactly aly for coronavirus. Now, anyone side program is eligible for this credit. John Bolt, WVU communications that,” Martinez said. “If you are not suspected to carry the virus in the 2 THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020 SOCIAL MEDIA MOMENTS Staff WEEKEND WEATHER FORECAST NEWS dailyathenaeum Douglas Soule Thursday 3/4 Sponsored by Editor-in-Chief Hannah Williams Managing Editor PARTLY CLOUDY Avery Lyons Page Designer HIGH 55° LOW 37° Caroline Murphy Page Designer Gabriella Brown Must be spring in Morgantown because the native News Editor Friday 3/5 fl owers are starting to bloom Jared Serre Sports Editor RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS Cody Nespor Assistant Sports Editor Cole McClanahan HIGH 40° LOW 28° Culture Editor Raeanne Beckner Assistant Culture Editor Saturday 3/6 SeVohn Hunter Podcast Editor PARTLY CLOUDY Kayla Gagnon Video Editor Caylie Silveira HIGH 44° LOW 28° Photo Editor ADVERTISING Derek Reh Media Consultant CRIME REPORT Emma Hershman Media Consultant Andrew Green Media Consultant March 2 University Avenue 11:09 P.M. | Closed Traffi c stop. 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