The photo is when Las Vegas went into lockdown for COVID-19 in March 2020. This photo has much significance considering this was the first time in my life I witnessed Las Vegas actually shutdown all the casinos (which it’s infamously known for). This also shows how the government took action by having a quarantine/ shutdown of nonessential businesses. Being that casinos are the main source of income for many residents of Las Vegas, the virus undoubtedly affected locals daily lives, as well as billions of lives globally.

This video I took while riding near the strip really reminded me of the impact coronavirus has and is having on the Las Vegas community. This impact has been huge on Las Vegas being that it is coined “the city that never sleeps” and has a large population. This video to me shows the importance of community involvement. Despite the strip hotels being vacant the lights remained on with a message of love instead of off making the hotels completely dark. This video involves the decision of the government to “enforce” quarantine and isolation laws which involved many recreational activities and places to be shut down and stopped.

These lyrics are from the song “Sunshine” by rapper Young Dolph. This song was released near the beginning of the coronavirus era in April. During this time, I was longing for these difficult times to come to an end, despite them just beginning. I wondered when the sunshine would come back, when all the anxiety and grief would be replaced with relief and glee. The sunshine I had been longing for didn’t come as soon as I expected, but that doesn’t mean I’m giving up hope just yet.

This picture was taken at Seven Magic Mountains in Las Vegas, Nevada. You would think that this tourist attraction would have a sign informing the people to wear their masks. However, the location lacks enforcement of CDC guidelines which demonstrates how the government hasn’t put their foot down. This issue made it an uncomfortable family outing due to the fact that the majority of the people there didn’t have a mask nor complied with social distancing rules.

This email was sent out to the St. Mary’s University community on July 7, 2020, to explain the three different formats in which courses would be offered for the Fall 2020 semester. The university would offer three different formats for the then-upcoming semester. The first format offered was online courses (OL). These courses were not taught in person, but they still follow a syllabus and have course deadlines. They could include pre-recorded lectures, video uploads, class chats, and individual meetings with professors. The next course format offered was Virtual (V). These courses would meet at an appointed time and date, similar to a normal in-person class, but on the Zoom conference platform, and they would be led by a professor who could be teaching from a variety of different environments. They would not meet in person or on campus, just virtually. Similar to online courses these courses might also include class chats, video recordings, and one on one meetings with professors. The last course format offered was In-Person Virtual (IPV). These courses were designed as hybrid courses. Students would be able to attend these courses in person in a traditional classroom environment (though class size would be limited), or they could attend the class virtually through Zoom. All of the course formats described above were offered by my university in response to the COVID19 pandemic, and they demonstrate the need for adaptation and change in the era of COVID19. The author of this post has been able to attend both virtual and in-person virtual classes at St. Mary’s University this semester. Speaking from firsthand experience, I can attest to how different being in the classroom is this semester. There are not a lot of students in the class; at most maybe three students on any given day. Those of us in the classroom, students, and teachers, sit in socially distanced seats, and we all have our masks up. Regardless, I am grateful that I have had the chance to try to forge a new normal for myself during such an abnormal time for our university and our world.

This form of media shows the government action in regards to handling the spread of Covid-19 across the country, specifically in Las Vegas. I chose this news story because I personally tested positive for Covid-19, and I believe that the government plays a strong role in the enforcement of rules that help to avoid the spread of the sickness. Although many view that the government has gone above its power to help protect the citizens of the country, it also is the necessary force that has the money, authority, and influence to do such a task. This text is relatable to me because I had to be tested, endure the actual sickness, and I was constantly burdened by doctors as well as similar government entities to share the people who I was potentially exposing. Legally, my positive test had to be reported to the government, but I felt that it was kind of an invasion of my privacy to report to the government the people who I live with who I could’ve been exposing. After I was safe to be around others after facing Covid-19, I felt a social burden, like I was a danger to others even though I was completely safe. All in all, the media source is relatable to me because of my experiences with testing positive, as well as how the government has a specific role to protect the citizens, even if in this specific case, the government may be abusing its power. The date provided is when I began experiencing my initial symptoms. Works Cited The Associated Press. (2020, October 19). Millions more virus rapid tests, but are results reported? Retrieved October 21, 2020, from https://www.ktnv.com/news/national/coronavirus/millions-more-virus-rapid-tests-but-are-results-reported

On March 15, 2020 around 3 PM, Nevada’s governor announced that classes would be suspended. I took these photos on the same day, except for the one in the upper right corner, just about 2 days after. In the collage, you can see empty shelves of beans, pasta, paper towels, toilet paper, and even eggs. I never thought a day would come where multiple shelves in grocery stores would be empty. Coronavirus has already existed long before this announcement, but I remember that day because nothing was ever the same after. People were in a state of panic, buying everything in bulk because the person next to them was doing the same thing and God-forbid that they run out of eggs. Arguably so, at that time, I understood that people wanted to stock up on everything in order to properly quarantine themselves. Around April, I took the photo in the upper right which is a handwritten sign that I made for the store that I worked at. It took some time for the government to officially mandate that masks were required so we had to take the initiative of doing so. Now, 7 months later, I’m not sure if things have gotten better or if we just learned how to live around this virus, but at the very least, the shelves aren’t empty anymore.

This is my beautiful pup, Ellie! Ellie’s story with my family and I begun on March 19, 2020, when my mother and I picked her up from my dad’s fire station. March 19th was an important date for my family. Not only did this beautiful girl enter our lives then, but it was also the first full day of restaurant closures during the pandemic, my school had announced its intention to continue virtually for the remainder of the semester, my birthday had just passed, and COVID-19 loomed over our daily lives, its shadow growing with each passing day. And then, there was Ellie! Ellie is such a joy in my family’s life! She is beyond sweet, unbelievably adorable, incredibly fun, and an awesome companion. It has been a real joy to watch Ellie grow up during this difficult time for our world. Her life has been like a ray of sunshine in an overcast world. I enjoy going on walks with her and my mother at the park, visiting with her on the couch and floor, watching her jump in the pool during a hot day, and of course playing fetch in the backyard with her favorite orange tennis balls. Watching Ellie grow and mature into such a beautiful dog has been a true gift to my family and me during the COVID-19 pandemic. No matter what's going on in the world, Ellie always makes my day better.

Covid-19 has affected me since my mom worked in a doctor's office. The picture shown is where she works at. She was the manager of the office and worked here for many years already. Since the start of the pandemic, she has worked from home instead of the office she she was a higher risk ever since we was diagnosed with breast cancer about 3 years ago. It was harder to do her job from home since she needed to regularly speak with the staff as well as the doctors and had piles of workload and only herself to do them. I think my mom is such a hard working woman that I respect, especially more since she still continued to do her best even when we were trying to get through the pandemic.

This picture is not only important to me, but as well as my family. My mom is a nurse at Centennial Hills Hospital and has had to endure a lot throughout this pandemic; this flag was a gift from a fellow family member as a way to say thank you for all of her hard work. Having a mom as a nurse has always been difficult, weird and long work hours calls for less time to spend with family, nonetheless I am proud to say that my mom and her team have been put through the ringer and made it out okay. The government has called for all new protocol within the hospital to keep everyone as safe as they can. My mom and her team continue to keep working hard despite all the challenges they and the hospital as a whole have been through.

This media is a photograph of several shoppers leaving Walmart all within 6 feet of each other and wearing face masks. I chose this image because I work in retail and experience and enforce this requirement on a daily basis. The reality of wearing face masks while completing everyday tasks is still something that I personally am getting used to. Face masks create a barrier especially in the workplace because it makes it difficult to communicate with customers and coworkers. When working in retail stores you are supposed to create and maintain a connection with the customer in order to push sales. This is difficult to do when wearing a face mask because you have a difficult time speaking and maintaining a distance while shopping, selling, and cashiering multiple customers.

My story talks about the struggles of working with young children in a Pandemic. This was important to me for people to understand how the work enrollment is when Children are involved.

The main reason why I chose this piece of media is that I wanted to learn more about the daily life of nurses, doctors, and other healthcare workers. With both of my parents working in a healthcare setting, with my father as a nurse and my mother as a receptionist, it is important for me to understand what my parents deal with. I find this video to be extremely useful in becoming more aware of how government facilities are adapting to the virus, the daily life of healthcare workers and it gives me an overview of what I can possibly be doing in the future as a career. One precautionary action that the government has taken is an increase in virtual contact in order to prevent physical contact. In the vlog, Doctor Mike explains his hospital’s new “virtual patient visits”. This exhibits the government’s underlying guidelines (The CDC) about preventing the spread of the virus by limiting person to person contact.

This photo means that the pandemic was huge enough to impact people’s lives. They took all the essential supplies from the supermarket. Peoples’ will to live is huge and that makes them able to survive. That situation in the market was kind of a fight. The day before he took this photo, the French government announced a national lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. He realized how the government announcement to lock people down without any prevention could cause chaotic situations.

This is a playlist of songs I've listened to during quarantine and an explanation about each of them.

How this simple facial expression illustrates government inaction, is the fact that the state governments have generally done one thing consistently, keep everyone indoors for longer periods of time than originally anticipated, and introverts love this. Not to be bothered by anyone else but themselves, the best part is, the duration of said quarantine keeps increasing, from a few weeks, then a month, then multiple months, half a year, nearly hitting nine months so far. Now due to the fact that the United States is such a large country featuring different cultures and conditions, very little federal law has been made in response to the virus. In fact some states, such as California, took a very cautious route of keeping everyone indoors for longer and longer periods of time. In contrast to other states, such as Wyoming. That state never went into a total lockdown, they only limited gatherings of 10 people at a time. Then loosened to 25, and now lifted the restriction at all. With only 760 positive cases, in a state filled with thousands of people. By leaving the state governments to decide on their restrictions was the best course of action, since there is no, “One size fits all” solution for each state. By having the federal government exercise inaction and allowing the states to work on their solutions could have potentially saved the economy from entering an even worse state or spiked the positive cases to an even higher extent. Coleman, Kali. These 6 States Never Went into Lockdown. Here's How They're Doing. 10 June 2020, www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/these-6-states-never-went-into-lockdown-here-s-how-they-re-doing/ss-BB15jodG. No author, screenshot sent to me through a friend, funny looking facial expression. 10 October

When I read this poem by Don Arbor called “For Better or Worse”, I instantly felt connected because we all are facing the same problems throughout this pandemic. We feel the need to stay home and stay away from others but are able to still virtually be there for one another. We might not be able to experience life in the same aspect as we use to, but we have to expect for better days to come. One thing that stuck out was how he was still able to appreciate what he has in this exact moment instead of being negative. He states that he is grateful and lucky, but he will never be able to forget something so disheartening. In the fourth stanza all the way to the end, he starts to get into politics and describes how things were a few yeas ago when Obama was president. Don Arbor discusses how Obama cared about the American people just as much as he cared about himself. He was willing to stick to his morals and be active within the government compared to what is happening right now. Don believes that most individuals feel how he is feeling and that the possibility of better days are yet to come.

This picture to me represents how much Las Vegas has changed within these few months and the Las Vegas strip is one of them. The strip has never been lonely it was always a place of tourism but ever since the pandemic started the tourism has slowly decreased and has affected people's jobs due to it. People have been laid off and those who weren't laid off have not been working their full hours therefore not gaining as much money as before. Plus, the economy right now isn't the best and not working the full 40 hours is causing lots of problems for families who only have one family member working at the moment. Speaking from experience since my dad had to get a second job due to his job working at the Bellagio not giving him enough hours so he wasn’t making the same money before. I hate seeing him work so much and I'm grateful he's doing what's best for our family.

This picture was taken while my family and I were driving on the empty strip. It was such an eerie feeling that there was no people on the streets and barely any cars. All of the signs said something along the lines of stay safe, we’ll be back soon. In the picture you can see that the sign says “Stay safe and we’ll get through this together”. All the casinos were closed because the government had to take leadership and try to prevent the spread of corona.

I found this news article in June. I was scrolling through a variety of news articles on my phone when I happened across this one discussing if there was a link between Black Lives Matter protests and Coronavirus spikes. I remember being intrigued by this article because I saw online arguments from anti-BLM individuals stating that now is not the time to protest and protestors are spreading the virus faster. I found this news article insightful and important because Black Lives Matter gained momentum three months into the United States shutdown. Since the two events happened around the same time and there appeared to be misinformation spread by individuals, I found it helpful to stick to news outlets.

school assignment

I recently graduated high school class of 2020 . Me and a lot of my friends didn't get a proper prom or graduation.The schools were the first thing the government shut down . Here we are months into a pandemic where new information about the virus is coming about .We have come accustomed to wearing masks and keeping distance. Meanwhile the president of the usa disregards the whole pandemic.While we the citizens have to face what's going on . It's completely unfair and unsafe. Everyone should follow the rules.

The image that has been submitted is important to me because its relatable to those that enjoy being isolated from society as much as possible. Granted even introverts need some sort of human interaction, more often than not they prefer it to be as minimal as possible. Which is why the character in the image looks absolutely ecstatic to enter a mysterious room. If anything there isn't much of a story to the image, rather it can be used to illustrate a human emotion, joy, but a odd, weird joy. Due to the fact that most people want to spend more time with their families, it doesn't seem absolutely innocent due to the fact that some people might actually spend too much time to themselves and will ultimately have a difficult time working with other people again. Let alone normal day to day social interactions, casual conversation might become unnecessarily challenging, but it will be something that people will have to deal with until things can get back to normal.

The photo I chose for this assignment is a picture of an empty hockey arena. Covid-19 really effected not only my decision to play hockey this year but the hockey season in general. Due to underlying conditions, in June I decided it was a smart decision to not continue playing junior hockey this year. The decision to not play junior hockey this year, has led me to start my academic career at UNLV. Not only did Covid-19 effect my decision to continue to play hockey, it also effected all junior hockey season around the world, most leagues are not starting their season until January and some aren’t even playing at all.

This is my picture that was taken at a racial injustice march days after the police killing of George Floyd and in the midst of Covid-19. (That's me with the white towel around my neck) During this pandemic the majority of America has been focusing on health, economy, and getting back to normal. However, for most of us Black Americans the pandemic has been another exhausting setback to deal with in our pursuit of life, liberty, and the American dream. Unfortunately, our pursuit didn't just start during the pandemic and hasn't been going on for a few months, or even a year. This is a pursuit that has been going on all of our lives, the lives of our ancestors, and almost assuredly for the generations that will come after us! My hope is that when people look back and search Covid-19 and the pandemic of 2020, they will also look at the totality of the struggles of Black Americans. I want them to understand that our fight and struggle to live has been, and will always be more resilient then the forces opposing us, no matter if it's a viral agent or humanity itself!

This is an interview I had with Eduardo Lopez over Zoom. He is the Interfraternity Council President at St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas. I interviewed him from Providence, Utah while he was living in St. Louis, Missouri.

This is a video I recorded from my balcony across the street from UNLV’s campus. This media is pretty significant to me. My 7 year old sister was in town and we were in the peak of quarantine. Majority of the city was still closed and riots had just begun. My sister being oblivious to everything going on the only thing she understood is we can’t go outside. One night we were sitting in my living room and my sister goes out on the balcony. She calls me out there and all I hear is loud chants down Maryland parkway and the street I resided on. Nothing violent was happening just a ton of people chanting. All of a sudden a brigade of police officers comes racing down our street and streets surrounding to box in this crowd of people. Big trucks with armed and guarded men screeching for people to “back up!” My sister kept asking why the police were here and who was in trouble. I didn’t really know how to answer because “ I don’t know” and “no ones in trouble” wouldn’t really explain what was going on. That was the truth though. Nothing had happened. A group of people were peacefully exercising their American rights and getting in trouble for it. I didn’t know why the police had arrived. No trouble had been caused. It seemed like everyone was in trouble but I wasn’t sure why and I definitely didn’t know how to break that down to a kid. Once I pulled my phone out to record she seem to draw her own conclusion from the situation. She ran up to my boyfriend and said “the police are outside being mean to people.” I knew then if my incredibly sheltered 7 year old sister could watch a scenario unfold and draw that conclusion without any media persuasion or even family persuasion that the adults who say otherwise blatantly choose to ignore.. and say otherwise.

The lone student riding the scooter through the desolate campus represents most students this school year attending UNLV, including me. On June 24, 2020 Governor Sisolak issued a mask mandate that would affect all Nevadans until and was to be followed until notified otherwise. Many of my classes that I was supposed to be in person have been transferred online. As a student, I find it interesting how businesses and organizations must comply with these mandates or they will be heavily fined. I also find it interesting, that UNLV does not lower the attendance cost during a year where almost all classes are solely online. Are these protections from this virus worth sacrificing our liberties pertaining to our education?

I related to this meme because after getting laid off from my job, and moving back home to California, I had to make ends meet. I got another job and started a new life not expecting to go back to UNLV for a while just for an email to go out saying they were allowing students to come back on campus. My friends who are currently on campus aren’t getting anything close to their normal experience (I’m a dance major) and I’m learning remotely yet still paying a full tuition? In addition, I was reading how there were huge cuts to colleges throughout the U.S due to the virus so to me this shows the governments disconnect with higher education. Allowing the facilities to reopen as they wish but taking their funds away that directly affect their student body, who are most likely struggling financially themselves is baffling to me. Had funds not been cut, I believe some colleges may have not felt the need to reopen so soon, as funding may not have been as big of a concern. Disclaimer, this is not facts just my honest opinion and experience!

In this picture, we see a gym employee wearing a mask and cleaning their equipment. I like to go to my local 24 Hour Fitness and you are required to wear a mask which is an example of government action. This is all due to the mandatory face covering policy that was announced by Governor Sisolak caring for the health of the public. This is extremely important and meaningful to me because I know this extra protection is for me and others when going outside or going to the gym.

This video was made by a YouTuber known as Internet Historian. It is satirical/journalistic in nature, and seeks to document events and incidents that occurred during the pandemic.

Unfortunately, gender violence has been increased due to Covid. The lockdown can have several psychological and social consequences. According to Mittal and Sighn, the "surge of gender-based violence (it is due to) economic insecurity and alcohol consumption." Also, their research concludes that "gender-based violence has been one of the most neglected outcomes of pandemics." Particularly in Mexico, gender-based violence has been a constant problem, from the "muertas de Juárez" in the 90s to the lack of interest of the Mexican government to deal with the femicide in 2020. Even with the pandemic, the feminist movement has been very active. The photo I chose is from a member of "el bloque negro", a feminist group during the takeover of the CNDH (Human Rights National Commission) on October 3rd. Now, the CNDH is controlled by several feminist groups and works as a shelter for victims of gender-based violence. In Mexico, ten women are killed every day. Even with these statistics, last year president AMLO has eliminated the government’s subsidies for women's shelters. The pandemic demands isolation but the high gender-based violence in our country and the rise of this problem due to the lockdown can't be ignored, even if lives are at health risk.

I remember the first day the strip closed I ran into a guy at the gas statio who had to clear out the treasure island casino. He told me it was a very eerie feeling. This was March 17th or 18th I believe. This is importtant to me becuase of what it represents. For example, Nevada had an unemployemnt rate of nearly 25% due to the shutdown. This not only hurt 25% of the population, but all of the surrounding businesses as well that rely on the strip to bring in customers. *Photograph of the Las Vegas Strip taken by CBS local news

The picture was taken April 7, 2020, about a month into quarantine in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was a time when the only human interaction you would get is at grocery store when you were scrambling to get supplies for your home not knowing if you or a loved one could be the next victim of this pandemic. My household and I were scared, not knowing what to do besides stay quarantined in our home and not try to get tired of each other. We decided we wanted to change up our routine of just staying in the house, and drive down to get a view of the strip to see how it looked with no people. We drove by the electrified city with usually hundreds of people walking the streets partying, to only see the streets empty and all the buildings lights shut off. However, as we drove by the casinos and hotels by Aria Casino, there were two buildings with lights lit up in the shape of a heart. This showed me, despite all the trouble and heartache this pandemic has brought, there was still hope in our city. That one day we will overcome this pandemic together, and in the mean time we just need appreciate what we have, show our loved ones that we love them, and quarantine to help preserve the lives of others. The hearts gave me a sign of hope, that my family and I were not in this alone. *A picture taken by me driving down the strip.

Everyone has different approaches against anxiety during Covid, from self-care to cooking and exercising. Everyone has an opinion about it, everyone has a miraculous solution. Personally, I have tried many things: watching a movie, diet, moving furniture, cleaning, etc... Sometimes works and others don't. The meme that I chose reflects how anxiety is not a simple problem that can be fixed with a time-out. Anxiety can be a serious health condition and not every advice works the same in every person. Also, we need to consider accessibility to health, the possibility for self-care, healthy food, time for exercise, etc...Not everyone has the economical stability for self-care. Is easy to say to take a warm bath, drink some wine, and forget about everything. Think about all that priority workers that are exposing themselves to keep our daily lives working. Think of nurses, doctors, teachers, immigrant farmworkers, among many others.

Since everything with the corona virus has happened everything in the world has changed. We now have to wear masks everywhere we go and oftentimes not go out due to the virus, our classes are now online causing no socialization between the students. For once in my 13 years of school I hardly know any of my fellow classmates. I have twin little sisters who mean the absolute world to me and my family. My 12 year old sister has diabetes and as soon as everything went into lockdown my mom wouldn't allow my twin sisters to go out. Her immune system is very poor and she gets sick very easy and very fast. They didn't leave the house for months and my mom hardly let me leave as well, even when things slowly started to open back up. After months of doing nothing and being stuck inside I finally took them out just to the grocery store for our 15 minutes of things we needed to gather. Finally we went to Michaels to look at all of the upcoming holiday decorations and crafts that we could get, so I had to snap a picture of our big moment. * I took the picture

Monday mornings at UNLV are usually the busiest times all week. We have students walking around campus, running to class, catching up on past assignments, or simply getting a coffee with a group of friends. On October 12, I was walking to my lab (which has 15 kids in it), and I look up to see an unbelievable view: only 5 students walking in the same pathway as me. Don't get me wrong, I think it was a wise decision by our Nevada state government to change to remote classes for the semester. UNLV chose the safest way possible, and it is great seeing my school take the right precautions, however, that doesn't change the fact that our campus has never been as empty as it is now. "The city that never sleep" has turned into "the city that's trying their best to stay awake." Once things eventually go back to normal, this photo will seem unreal. For now, this is the status of our UNLV campus: lonely, but safe.

In the past weeks, I've been reading about posthumanism, according to Rosi Braidotti is "the possibility of a serious de-centering of ‘Man', the former measure of all things". Having this in mind, since the pandemic the relation between human/animal has been suffering more. The idea that the animal was the culprit of the pandemic helped to mark our superiority over other species, once more. We never thought about our relationship with the animal, the lack of harmony between different species, our footprint in nature, etc. Human survival is the center of the pandemic, and preventive care a major necessity, but the massive production of disposable masks and latex gloves has become a plastic waste problem. I chose a video from The Guardian to prove how ocean pollution from the pandemic is imminent, but you may find many sources regarding this "Covid waste". Joffrey Peltier said that “plastic isn’t the solution to protect us from Covid.” A mask has a lifespan of 450 years! We might find other alternatives like reusable masks, the reinforcement of social distancing, and leave the disposable material for doctors. We must think about how our own survival is affecting other species, we must decenter ourselves from the main discourse.

The outbreak of the contagious Coronavirus, the government has issued us to all wear masks to combat the spread of the virus. The mask should be a basic precaution for outside activities in heavily populated areas. To me, the mask is a very important factor when it comes to public health and environment. Germs and bacteria should be kept to the carrier and should not be spread around.

Isolation has been so difficult for some of us. I chose this video because it represents the opposite of depression, hopelessness, and despair. @Doggface208 was skateboarding and drinking juice through a hill towards his job while listening to Fleetwood Mac. This TikTok video went viral, in the first 20 hours had more than 4 million views, but it also provided some hope, calm, and happiness to the complicated reality of the pandemic. Social media users even commented about this video as "This part of 2020 doesn’t suck", "This guy didn’t know he saved 2020".

This is a photo from inside the COVID unit at St. Joseph's Hospital. Children all over the Phoenix area have been sending drawings and letters to the frontline workers, thanking and encouraging them to keep saving lives. The nurses on the unit have put them all over the windows and walls for everyone to see.

This picture is one of a few I took during my AP CALC test which I would have to upload to their server. I find it important because it shows one of the first real choices that students and the school districts had to make when the pandemic was barely starting. By all accounts, teachers, admin, and children alike understood leaving school would be bad for their academic success but public safety demanded it. The people most affected by this being minorities who had less access to technology at home. In situations such as mine, the school could not even formally assign work to its students until it was certain every student had a laptop/desktop to work from; the consequence being that there was no incentive for kids to study. Blogger, Guest. “What Coronavirus Has Taught Us About the Digital Divide.” Education Week - Rick Hess Straight Up, 18 May 2020, blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rick_hess_straight_up/2020/05/what_coronavirus_has_taught_us_about_the_digital_divide.html. Valencia, Bryan. Scribbles. 2020.

Covid has changed everything and some professions have been more affected than others. For the arts, it has been very weird. First, due to the closure of galleries and events, an artist had the opportunity to create without interruptions, but the codependency of the artist with the art institutions is too strong. The painting was made by my husband, Diego Perez. He is a local artist in Arizona. At the beginning of the quarantine in March, he was so productive but after a few months, the creative process was affected by the lack of social interaction, exhibitions, call for artists, public art opportunities. He started to paint portraits, people with masks, but nothing was worth it because there was no space to exhibit or to sell. Online events weren't the same, ultimately, our virtual interaction is not enough for anyone. The painting "Zoom meeting/Saint Jerome Writing" represents the first approach to art normality, at least for my family. Carmody Foundation opened a call for artists in August and Diego was selected. The painting is a hagiography for Saint Jerome but in a pandemic mode, you will be able to see the important elements such as the skull, the red fabric, the writing...

An interactive hypertext haggadah I wrote for my family’s Zoom seder in 2020. I used Twine, a popular open-source, interactive fiction tool, to write a choose-your-own-adventure haggadah. It was the first zoom-based seder I had ever attended, and I didn't know how long my family would tolerate technological difficulties and the often awkward, fragmented conversation that some Zoom conversations/events can descend into. (Let alone the near-impossibility of group singing via zoom). Apart from this, it’s fairly common in my family, as in many others, that parts of the seder are skipped over, or their inclusion is contested, and I thought that trying to conduct a seder via zoom would only make people more eager to get it over with and reach Shulchan Orech, i.e. the getting drunk/ shittalking part and then call it a night. Writing/Compiling a hypertext haggadah was my attempt to facilitate a more fluid seder, in which parts could easily be skipped over on the night, among other reasons. In practice in turned out to be a bit of a shemozzle, which is partly due to some technological illiteracy among the mishpachah, and also partly because my hypertext haggadah is a rabbit warren (over 5,000 words spread over over hundreds of individual pages joined by hyperlinks), and so moments of anarchy would often ensue when people strayed from the communal path (which I enjoyed tbh, but were clearly frustrating to my uncle, whose ideal seder is basically the Two-Minute Haggadah: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/03/the-two-minute-haggadah.html)

Experiencing coronavirus in the age of 24/7 news coverage, I imagine most people have become far more conscious of where they choose to get their news. I've been brought up an ABC @ 7 operator, and I count myself lucky. Throughout the storm of rating battles, exclusive reports and breaking news I have been confident that I could trust the ABC and my paper choice The Age. Trust might be naive but it seems like the only option. Every now and again I'll flick onto a commercial channel and find myself wondering, is this news? My mates have also become more conscious of their sources too, one of them got me onto 'Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty' on iView, making me even more skeptical about anything I read. I feel like the media almost have an almost more important responsibility to people than politicians. I wonder a lot, at the moment especially, whether news outlets are fulfilling their responsibility or is shock and clickbait bringing in the money that really talks.

I created this powem after a video I took during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. The Las Vegas Strip was desolate of travelers from all over the country. This was something our city hasn't seen in years- possibly since September 11, 2001? Even then, I am not sure it was as silent as it was that night. I based a couple of the lines on the soft breeze in the background of the video I shot. *Poem, and I created it myself

Though the submitted thing isn't necessarily personal, it is certainly important because it allows people to openly see the disparity in cases across the globe in comparison to the United States

Finding any type of media that will accurately show what little the government has done and the lack of support the people of America have is unbelievably easy. In fact, I had a hard time choosing between which cartoon illustration was better. I knew our government wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t until Donald Trump being elected and the coronavirus pandemic hitting our homes did I realize how terrible things really are. These cartoons depicted so well how our government has harmed us more than helped us. The dangerous lies told by our own president and how the government won't take responsibility. When corona made its way to the U.S it was deemed unserious. On March 11th, 2020, President Trump said, “The vast majority of Americans, the risk is very, very low.” At that time there were 1,105 cases and 33 deaths documented in the U.S. The next day my highschool as well as every other school within the country closed down as an “extra week of spring break” due to the virus. This “break” soon became eight months and in the U.S alone there are now 8,128,524 ( plus 47,035 new) cases with 218,986 ( plus 475 new) deaths . The scare became real, people started stocking up leaving nothing for anyone else. We have almost 15 people in our home, it took my mom multiple trips to different stores in order to get the necessities for our family. You would think when a pandemic is spreading throughout people in the country you were placed in position to protect you’d address the problem seriously and work hard to find a solution. All Trump and our government has done was ignore the citizens deaths and provide false hope. What we did get was our president being sarcastic and telling us to inject lysol into our lungs. The citizen’s of America have seen other countries rise in numbers of coronavirus with us and then watch their governments actually handle the situation causing their numbers to decline while our numbers are still shooting through the roof. The panic of this virus does not even cross the mind of those who are rich, the group that our current president only cares about. They didn’t have to worry about medical bills in a country where the president doesn’t believe free healthcare is a human right because they know they are important in his eyes. At the end of this virus, it will be the stories from the one percent belittling the destruction of this virus rather than those who have actually suffered. America is running on ignorance right now. Our own president and government is not concerned with the health of the country. It is the government's job to protect and provide for its people, whether it be an outside threat or a threat within the country. When I look at those cartoons of Donald Trump and the coronavirus, it makes me remember how badly I want our country to actually function the way it is intended to.

Wear a Mask Mesita Wear a mask Saving people's life Is really heavy metal You could do it today If you wear a mask If you need to go out Decide to go get cucumbers or something I don't know Something essential Like wearing a mask Wear another mask Wearing a mask Is really, really cool It stops you from getting sunburnt on your lips Wearing a mask Is really, really cool It doesn't hurt your breathing at all Your oxygen levels will stay the same Trust me, random lady Wearing a mask is the coolest thing to do I think you should probably wear a mask And if you don't like to be told what to do, hey I mean just like, just look at- You can't drive drunk either Wearing a mask Wearing a mask, mask I found this song “ Wear a Mask.” by Mesita as a sound on the social media app Tik Tok, and when I saw this assignment I thought it would fit pretty good. This song isn't very good but It has a really good message about this pandemic and how people are taking it. Due to the pandemic we are required to wear masks for everyone's safety and to help stop the spread of Covid-19, but many people don’t seem to grasp that concept. During this pandemic I have learned how flawed our Government System is and the lack of action taken to help those who are suffering is outrageous. Out of all the issues that are contributing to the spread, NOT wearing a mask is one of the big ones. Those who are against wearing a mask think that wearing a simple piece of cloth is violating their First Amendment rights. They can seem to see as to why wearing a mask is for not only the protection of others around them but for them as well. People who do not wear a mask are the people who are spreading the virus, they are endangering everyone around them and action should be enforced among these people who are refusing to follow state mandates. One of the ajor reasons why they are not going to take action are that the majority of these people are of white complexion, but that's another argument for another time. ., Mesita, director. Wear a Mask, 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EXZKO56syo.

When I saw this meme for the first time, it instantly cheered me up after a whole day of doing homework online. I remember being excited that I didn’t have to wake up early for school anymore, and I could turn my computer on whenever it is convenient for me. Switching to online platforms for work and school definitely shows the government in action, allowing people to continue on with their lives while staying safe in the comfort of their own homes. At the same time, this shows the government’s inaction towards handling the pandemic because people are trying to make the most out of this “new normal” when in reality, we shouldn’t settle for this new way of living. The government should implement more effective regulations to reduce the number of cases, or its people would continue to live in isolation longer than we've expected. #unlv #psc101 #mlphelps