Items
Subject is exactly
Economy
-
2019-03-17
My personal COVID 19 experience
I submitted a screenshot of a test from a coworker taken on March 18,2020. I chose to submit this because it shows what the beginning of the pandemic was like for me. I had got laid off from my job at my retail job, I was nervous to leave my house, and the unemployment office was backed up more than it ever had been. Some of my coworkers had trouble filing with unemployment, and couldn't get it figured out. I waited an extra week to file just so I didn't mess it up, and do it wrong. I wanted all the errors and bugs to be worked out. It was such a unsettling time for me, and I had to move back in with my parents. There was such a large adjustment for all of us. I remember sitting on the phone with my states unemployment hotline on hold for 6 hours and getting hung up on. I cried for the rest of the night. I never thought it would end, or it would be my turn to get the help I needed, to get my questions answered. I look back on this time and am so proud and happy for how far we have come. Everyone had their own struggles, and had to think on their feet. The world had never had to deal with something like this in such a manner of urgency before. Here I stand, 2 years later with a job that is paying for my college, living in a different state, able to see finally be happy and relaxed and stable again. I am so thankful I had such a helpful and supportive group around me to get through that time. It is so refreshing to see the growth of everything and everyone the last couple years. The world can now move forward and progress as normal again. -
2022-04-25COVID-19, Religion, and Public Life Reflection #REL101
this is a look through my point of view living in the year 2020 -
2022-03-11High Anxiety: Poll Finds Americans Stressed by Inflation, War
This is a news story from Health Day by Robert Preidt. This is about a poll on what is making Americans most anxious. War, COVID-19, and inflation are at the top of what is making Americans feel anxious. Another thing the poll tells is that 63% percent said their lives changed forever due to COVID-19. 47% of people that took this poll also said that they have become less active compared to pre-pandemic. 58% said they had unwanted weight changes. Among those that gained more weight than they wanted, the average weight gain reported was 26 pounds. Others have said that the separation from others has put strain on relationships, or ended them. The APA reports that those with reduced social support are more likely to cope with stress. 56% say they could have used more emotional support during the pandemic. This poll had 3,012 respondents in February, and 2,051 from March 1-3. -
2022-02-17Elon Musk Compares Justin Trudeau To Hitler In Bizarre Response To Canadian Trucker Protests
This is a news story from Your Tango by Isaac Serna-Diez. This is about a Twitter rant, where Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, compares Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler over the Canadian Trucker Protests. In January, both the United States and Canada imposed vaccine mandates. According to the American Trucking Association, only 50-60% of all truckers are vaccinated. The truckers have created a convoy that blocks traffic across the US-Canada border in response to the mandates. Trudeau's response to this was to invoke the Emergencies Act, which has't been used since 1988. The Emergencies Act allows for freezing of bank accounts and funds in order to take money away from those protesting. These freezes would also impact things like GoFundMe and the ability to raise funds from that site. It also allows for military involvement, but Trudeau says that he has no plans of doing so. Musk's response to what Trudeau imposed economically on protesters prompted him to promote cryptocurrency more. -
2022-04-05
Masks are still required in Mexico
As someone who lives in a border town and travels to Mexico quite often, due to the fact that the U.S dollar in Mexico is twenty pesos, from an economic standpoint, it allows me to enjoy my time in Mexico quite well with my family. The only catch is that masks are required everywhere; it does not matter if you are fully vaccinated or not. As long as you keep using masks, you are good in Mexico, from tourism to recreational activities to travel across the country. It's something to consider when traveling to Mexico because I live 30 minutes away from the border to San Luis, Mexico, and sometimes I forget that I need to wear a mask in Mexico since they are no longer required in the U.S in 2022. -
2020-09-23Iran: The double jeopardy of sanctions and COVID-19
This article discusses the effects of Covid-19 on Iran and how the sanctions imposed on Iran by the Trump administration exacerbated Covid’s effect on Iran’s already weak economy. It highlights Iran’s attempts to reduce the fatality rate despite a shortage of medical supplies. Additionally, the article posits that lifting sanctions during the pandemic might have reduced the death toll by thousands. While there is speculation that the true number of Covid deaths in Iran has been reduced and even misreported, this article highlights the connection between U.S. politics and the effects of sanctions imposed on countries during a public health crisis. -
2022-03-30Trudeau warns of 'difficult time,' food shortages due to Covid-19
This is a news story from the Business Standard. This is about the after effects of COVID on the Canadian population. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warns that it will be a difficult time with food shortages due to COVID. Some of the blame for the food shortages is also placed on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Similar tactics of blaming President Vladimir Putin for the rising prices of goods has also been used by President Joe Biden. The global disruption of supply chains results in higher prices of necessities. Earlier in March, the Canadian government announced that the economy fell short of its anticipated growth for that month. In February, inflation in Canada rose by 5.7%, the highest increase since August 1991. -
2022-03-10Why have women been so disproportionately affected by Covid-19? Experts explain
This is a news story from CNN by Alice McCool. This story talks about the inequalities women have faced during COVID-19. In a CNN poll, women in the G7 countries (US, UK, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Italy) felt less supported by their leaders than men did. Some of these inequalities include women being more likely to lose their jobs or take on more uncompensated care work. Other things, such as abortion services, were considered non-essential in some countries during COVID. Minority women and poor women were also more likely to work low-paying jobs and bear much of the economic strain. Additionally, trans healthcare was also viewed as non-essential in many places. In places like Uganda, many women lost their safety net provided from schools, resulting in rising teen pregnancies and early marriages. This article continues showing more examples of the hoops women had to jump through compared to men and demonstrates the social issues that got worse as a result from COVID lockdowns. -
2020-04-20Stacking Refrigerators: A Pandemic Work Story
This image is of me working at a refrigerator plant during the Spring of 2021. Before I started working at my law firm, I bounced around and did odd jobs to make ends meet. I came across this plant job in my hometown because the plant was suffering from severe labor shortages due to COVID-19. The plant was offering higher pay due to labor shortages and was offering to hire in employees faster because of it. We were required to wear mask inside the plant at all times regardless of it being extremely hot and were expected to do overtime and come in on weekends if needed. I did not only want to highlight the work conditions of this job but illuminate businesses began to operate due to the dire conditions of the pandemic. I also wanted to highlight how some people had to continue to work during the pandemic despite setbacks with workers, production numbers, and work conditions. It is important to illuminate stories like these because many essential workers stories are not heard and recognized. Despite unemployment numbers being at all-time high nationally, people are still working. Therefore, it is important to recognize the sacrifices and contributions workers like I had to make in order to continue to support ourselves and our loved ones. -
2020-05-06Murder Hornet is in the air
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2021-07-05Lockdowns Were a Gift to Big Business Designed to Kill Small Biz
This is an opinion piece by Carol Roth for the New York Post. This news story is about ways in which the lockdowns in 2020/2021 hurt small businesses, but helped big businesses. Roth claims that during the pandemic, small businesses are hitting half or less than half of their pre-lockdown revenue. Some businesses, Roth claims, possibly won’t recover at all. This article says that in 2020, the Hamilton Project accounted for 400,000 closures. I find this article to be important, as I think the business side of the pandemic needs to be told more, as these effects on small businesses impact the local and state economies, in addition to what jobs are available for people looking to go back to work after lockdowns end. -
2022-03-28T08:40Covid the Great Destabilizer
My personal experience -
2022-01-11Arizona teacher shortage getting worse with COVID-19
Arizona teachers have struggled with obtaining higher pay and better funding for years. Add to that a legislative body that doesn’t prioritize educational funding, improving teaching conditions or student learning. When Covid-19 reared its ugly head, the pressure public school teachers normally deal with in overcrowded, undersupplied classrooms intensified and – for many overworked teachers – this was the last straw. Teachers who were in a position to took early retirement. Others simply left the profession for the private sector. Still, some remained and adapted to whatever model of learning their school district employed – sometimes on a week-to-week basis. Now that most schools have returned to an in-person modality, teachers are still leaving the classroom. This article sheds lights on the teacher shortage and how, even still, Arizona educators are contending with Covid-19 in their classrooms and families, leading them to reconsider their decision to stay in education. -
2022-02-25hermit HERALD, ISSUE 138
Russia, more powerful than thought -
2020-08-10
Smelling the labor shortage
Trash stinks. This fact is universally recognized, except, maybe, by raccoons and the like. Nobody likes to have trash around, let alone piled up and overflowing. And that's not something that most people have to really worry about. The – at least relative – cleanliness of the streets is taken for granted by the vast majority of people who are privileged enough to enjoy regular cleanup services. For most of my life, I placed my trash in a bag in a bin in my kitchen until it was full, or, if I made chicken for dinner, until I was done cooking. Then I took the bag out of the bin and out to the larger bin outside – out of sight, out of mind. When Sunday night rolled around, I emptied the kitchen bin one final time, took it out, and wheeled the larger bin to the sidewalk. It was empty when I woke up on Monday and thus began the cycle again. The city's sanitation workers faithfully took care of mine and everyone else's trash before the crack of dawn. But something changed one Monday morning in August 2020. I pulled in the driveway at 3:30pm after having just finished an exhausting shift at a coffee shop, where a third of my coworkers had called out sick over the course of that week. As I always do, I walked over to the bin, grabbed the handle, and started wheeling it back to its usual place by the back yard gate. It felt heavy. It wasn't full; I usually don't produce enough trash to fill it up every week. "Was today a holiday?", I thought to myself. No, it was just a regular Monday – as regular as any day could be post-March 2020. Maybe they were just behind schedule. I kept walking back to the back yard gate and. as usual, I spun the bin around intending to just walk away. Being clumsy, I managed to set it off its balance and knocked it over. Trash spilled onto the ground and one of the bags broke open. The smell of rotting eggshells, an old hunk of cheese I found while cleaning out my refrigerator three days prior, and the, er, soiled, cat litter wafted upwards creating a smoldering cocktail of aromas that left me coughing. I got gloves and a mask (something I never would have owned six months back) and cleaned it up – no big deal. Tuesday came and still there was no sign of the sanitation workers. Sunday arrived and again I wheeled the bin to the road; this time it was so full that the lid would not fully close. I assumed that last week's interruption of service was a one-off. As I got home from work Monday and saw the bin still full, I realized the degree to which I had been taking the trash service for granted. I wheeled it back to the gate, went inside, and opened up the news app on my computer. I stumbled across an article about the disproportionate affects of COVID-19 on essential workers. The lack of service was not a one-off, it was a problem. Recent photos of streets littered with trash and overflowing bins abounded when I did a Google search for them. I went outside to go for a walk. That smell – the cocktail of cheese, eggs, and cat litter – was now at my front door. Similar cocktails emanated from each house I walked past, each with their own garnish, so to speak. It was overpowering. It was the first time I had experienced the result of our modality of living in such a visceral, sensory way. But beyond my own discomfort and beyond the discomfort of my neighbors' similar experiences, that overpowering stench that saturated the air made me conscious of the people who clean it up for me every week. It made me conscious of the degree to which we as a society depend of them and people who perform other services we take for granted. It highlighted, in a very stark way, what our society prioritizes above the health of its people. The sanitation workers don't make very much money. They have to go to work, even if they are sick, because lack of guaranteed sick time even in the midst of a raging pandemic puts their lives at risk. Either way, their lives are at risk. -
2022-02-01hermit HERALD, ISSUE 137
Putin vs NATO -
05/03/2021Kyle Sauley Oral History, 2021/05/03
-
03/30/2020LaTonja Crowder Oral History, 2020/03/30
C19OH -
07/14/2020Amanda McMullen Oral History, 2020/07/14
C19OH -
05/26/2020Judy Cherniak Oral History, 2020/05/26
Judy Cherniak discusses how the COVID pandemic changed life for her during the opening months of the pandemic in Toronto, Canada in 2020. She touches on family life, her job loss, the local economy, news media, fake news, isolation, mental health, homelessness, and how she filled her time at home in isolation. -
05/19/2020Trent Jansen Oral History, 2020/05/19
An oral history interview with Trent Jansen. Trent discusses how family and friends have been impacted by the COVID pandemic. He also talks about how his day-to-day work life has evolved during the pandemic. Trent additionally discusses his views that it is time to reopen businesses and get people back to work. He theorizes that mental health issues caused by shutdowns will result in worse long-term issues than the virus itself. -
05/18/2020Stanton Webster Oral History, 2020/05/18
An oral history interview with Stanton Webster who discusses his background opening a distillery in Knoxville, Tennessee before the pandemic. He discusses how his business reacted to the COVID-19 Pandemic and his efforts to keep employees paid while finding new revenue streams. In this business-focused interview he also illustrated how a small group of local business banded together to navigate the pandemic and government funding pitfalls. He also discusses family life and changing roles in the home. -
12/01/2020Wade Pitrucha Oral History, 2020/12/01
Wade Pitrucha, Marine Corps veteran and butcher, was raised in Texas and lived in California for several years, and currently works as a butcher and lives in Barron, Wisconsin. In this interview, Wade discusses the political and economic developments he has observed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wade gives an inside look at the COVID-19 meat shortage, and explains some of the causes, as well as the impacts on farmers and families. Wade also shares some of his personal experiences and frustrations with the local handling of the pandemic, and how he feels the federal government and the Trump administration has contributed to the massive spread of COVID-19 in the United States. In an entertaining and sometimes darkly humorous interview, Wade’s military experience and personal beliefs provide a unique and well-balanced view of the COVID-19 pandemic and modern American society. -
12/16/2020The Bulgarian Oral History, 2020/12/16
In this interview the interviewee wished to be anonymous. In the interview we will be interviews a gentleman from Bulgaria in Eastern Europe. He works in a for a tech company and had to move into the city to find the job away from his small hometown. He tells us what it like in the city and why he would rather be in his hometown. As well he talks how COVID-19 has affected his job and family life and life around the city. In addition, he gives on interesting perspective on how the Bulgarian government is handling the pandemic. As well as what many people in Bulgaria think of the virus such as conspiracy theories and protests not things he personally believes but what citizens around him think at times. -
2020-03-26‘This Is the Biggest Challenge We’ve Faced Since the War’: How the Coronavirus Crisis Is Exposing the Precarious Position of Museums Worldwide
The article discusses the financial hit to museums caused by the pandemic and fear and anxiety over how long museums can sustain amid a global shutdown. Whereas federal aid has come to the rescue of some museums provided by select countries for example, Germany and Britain; however, the United States does not have the same relief plans in place for cultural institutions. The pandemic has revealed weaknesses in the current museum model in relation to funding and what the article describes as a “winners take all mentality”. These problems have been compounding for decades but is the pandemic the straw that breaks the camel’s back? What might a new museum model look like if the old one is no longer sustainable? -
2021-06-01Museum Recovery Expected to Take Years Due to Devastating Financial Losses, New Survey Reveals
The American Alliance of Museums report highlights financial problems and some of the more negative long-term impacts resulting from COVID-19 such as reduced overall net revenue for the institution, lower employment numbers, and lower average salary for their staff members. -
2020-09-29Is This the End of Contemporary Art As We Know It?
Artist Liam Gillick and a writer for ArtReview, J.J. Charlesworth talk about the changes brought by the pandemic and the many ways that everything will most likely remain the same. Interestingly, they examine the beginning and end of “contemporary art” and the complex web of economic, social, political and cultural factors that are shifting and breaking down in different ways from our current crises. In the end, the feeling that art will survive but the idea that this particular period of art and the art world has reached its end is contemplated. -
2021-07-20Art Handlers, Contract Workers at Galleries Faced Steepest Losses During Pandemic: Survey
The ARTnews article uses ADAA (Art Dealers Association of America) data from their official survey to consider the far reaching implications of the pandemic on the art world. Examples of staggering job loss in art handlers and contract workers in particular provide a look into possible changes in the artillery model for the short term while in lockdown. Quantitative data on online art fair participation, and percentages of galleries that received the PPP loan are included as well. -
2020-04-16Gagosian Furloughs Part-Time Staff and Interns as Covid-19 Impedes Business
All galleries felt the immense economic pressure of shuttering their doors. There was uncertainty and furloughs or imminent possibility of losing ones job was a looming presence especially in the spring of 2020. Even international blue-chip galleries like Gagosian were financially struggling. Those that lost their jobs were The article discussed job loss - whose jobs - and what this means for the art world in the present and in the future. Other methods of main tenting financially during the pandemic included furloughs and salary cuts where the percentage was determined by how much someone made per year. -
2021-02-09Artists Reimagine How Covid-19 Will Shape the Art World
This Wired piece by Lydia Horne starts off with a really interesting point about the viewer relationship with art as social distancing before Covid and the distance in museums and galleries for the artwork’s protection. It is more than just considerations about virtual auctions and virtual viewing - the way that the art itself translates is something that many artists are struggling with. The article also speaks to the ways that artists are redefining themselves and their work. The changing structures and changing methods reaching an audience or sharing work, some artists are using the pandemic to explore possibilities to reshape the art world. For example, non-profits and community-based models instead of the traditional gallery model. -
2021-10-22How the Supply Chain Broke, and Why It Won’t Be Fixed Anytime Soon
This New York Times article from October 22nd, 2021 - updated October 31st - explains the current status of the global supply chain. Global Correspondent, Peter S. Goodman, writes that Covid exacerbated existing problems in the supply chain. This is relevant to the art industries in ways people often overlook. Coordinating shipments to meet deadlines in international art exhibitions, loaning works or consigning are all things that I used to struggle to plan for in light of covid when there would be unprecedented shipping delays and costs. Additionally, clients always want lower costs for shipping newly acquired works, however, it is now even more difficult to marry sales and client relations with the realities of shipping. -
2021-04-23Shipping during COVID-19: Why container freight rates have surged
UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) included an article on their website which examines the shipping container shortage. More broadly, it comments on the staggering domino effect of the pandemic on industry and consumers and offers future solutions for avoiding current problems. The article concludes with a section that provides insight into how to avoid shipping container shortages in the future. -
2021-01-24Pandemic aftershocks overwhelm global supply lines
The Washington Post article discusses the disruptions in the supply chain and the repercussions such as inflated prices, failure to meet schedules, and effects on different industries. The domino effect was set off by the pandemic but we continue to see the fallout. Shipping artwork is a cost that galleries, advisories, collectors, and museums have to factor into their finances. Inflation in the cost of international shipping in particular and unpredictable delays negative effect openings and coordinating with clients and vendors. -
2021-05Financial vs. Public Health In Planning for Art Fairs
When Art Basel, Hong Kong did happen I remember the internal debate within the art advisory where I worked at the time of whether or not clients and members of the team could or would attend. New considerations arose for the businesses and people like me who worked in administration and logistics. There were major complications that none of us had previously faced in planning for art fair events, client dinners and logistics. For example, booking flights was complicated. In the case of Hong Kong, some people had no choice but to reroute in strange places due to restrictions of certain passport holders or location of origin. Another consideration, were the fancy client and networking dinners that are staples of the art fair culture and booked months in advance. Due to closure or half-capacity seating, many of the premier restaurants were no longer feasible to solidify reservations. -
2021-05-21“'It’s impossible to compare 2019 and 2021; it’s a completely different world': what has sold at Art Basel in Hong Kong”
Art Basel, Hong Kong did finally happen in person in May 2021. In the article, Lisa Movius discusses the reception to the hybrid-model art fair, the change in demographic, noteworthy sales, and spotlighted works, artists, and gallery booths. -
2020-03-01Letter of Termination - HIST30060
In March 2020, my former place of employment was forced to close down as a result of lockdown restrictions. This was the only communication given to employees about being let go. I had worked at the company for four years at the time from the age of 16 through to the time I was 20. I have redacted some of my own personal information as well as information that could give the company away. The swim school did not manage to reopen at full capacity for almost a year and many staff did not return to the school as they found other employment. -
2021-10-01(HIST30060) Disaster Payment: "Getting Payed to Study"
HIST30060. The COVID-19 Disaster Payment, given to workers unable to earn income due to COVID-19 state or territory health order, was given to construction workers during the two-week construction shutdown in Victoria. Traffic control in the construction sector has been my casual job alongside university for the past three years. The recent construction shutdown, however, allowed me to receive the $750 a week from the Disaster Payment without working at all. My housemates and I called this “getting paid to study”. This was especially true in the lead up to exams were we spent the majority of time at home with very little excuse to do anything other than “hit the books”. -
2020-06-06"Art Basel Has Canceled the 2020 Edition of Its Flagship Swiss Fair, Citing ‘Tumultuous and Challenging Times’"
The Artnet article discusses the trepidation in decisions to resurrect in-person events, specifically annual international art fairs. Businesses and institutions prematurely made plans for the reopening of in-person events in the summer of 2020 in hopes of recouping money lost during the initial lockdown in the spring. Art fairs are premier money making events and networking opportunities in the contemporary art world that are ultimately economically beneficial for gallerists, art advisors, fine arts shipping companies, local restaurants and businesses, and hotels alike. Organizations such as Art Basel rake in enormous sums of money each year through their hosting of mega-art fairs in various international locations. The article focuses on Art Basel’s announcement of yet another change in the program for Art Basel as the art world grapples with the decision of public health versus economy. The fair looked to digital alternatives as a way to sustain in the interim. -
2021-08-27"New York Art Fairs Are Returning, Eyes Open and Fingers Crossed"
The New York Times article from August 27, 2021 discusses the anticipation for the Armory Show 2021 edition to go forward after many art fairs decided to cancel this year’s editions in light of the decline in progress since the resurgence of the coronavirus in the summer of 2021. The article also comments on the changes in the art world, lower attendance, loss of participating galleries and a shifting demographic. There has been a notable transition away from blue-chip gallery-centric art fairs to include smaller businesses, in which many more are women-run and or owned by people of color. -
2021-10-27Hour Alterations
The pandemic brought a lot of changes in our work environments and that includes the changes in business hours. At St. Mary's University, these screenshots show the hour alterations to on-campus facilities, since January, and the new rules that are to be followed by all. -
2021-10-27Economic Student Support
The Student Emergency Fund at St. Mary's was part of an economic relief through the CARES act; where students got financial support via the university. I personally used this fund to help pay for school and basic necessities, like food and bills. It was a relief that students, like myself, were able to obtain this financial support throughout the pandemic and it's still available for all students. -
2021-10-17
The Covid Disconnect
The story and my experience are an example of the many ways in which the pandemic affected individuals in different ways. It goes without saying that each person was impacted in varied ways due to Covid-19, however, not all of them were either explicitly negative or an outcome that is easily defined as being either beneficial or harmful. During the height of the pandemic in the United States, I was employed as an Assistant Warehouse Manager in Green Bay, WI. My workload and responsibilities were already a little taxing, but once things got in full swing with Covid they became even more so. I went from working an average of 60 hours a week to over 75. This was mainly due to about a third (or more) of our employees being out of work due to quarantine-type measures or actual illness. This went on for months at the beginning. Many weeks out of that time period there were as few as about a dozen of us running three shifts in a warehouse that normally employed roughly 40 workers. Also at this time, my wife became unemployed because her place of employment shut down. Others around me were losing their jobs in droves and facing financial hardship. But due to my position and the nature of the job, I had never had more job security and we never faced any kind of financial difficulties. On the contrary, during the entire pandemic, my wife and I never went without or struggled. This gave me a surreal feeling and one that I almost felt guilty for living through. Aside from some minor changes in my daily life, I barely noticed any personal changes due to Covid. All in all, it was an extremely odd time to live through; the pandemic wasn't necessarily bad for my wife and me, but I know it was for countless others. And that made it all the more strange. -
2021-10-14Biden Says Port of Los Angeles Will Operate 24/7 to Ease Logjam That’s Fueling Inflation
The global supply chain crisis has led to some unprecedented steps to regain efficiency. How much more recourse do the public and private sectors have? -
2020-06-01
Beautiful Silence in Paradise
Hawaii is a very unique place in terms of its beauty and overall welcoming atmosphere. I grew up knowing how popular of a destination spot my state is and how in many ways we are extremely dependent on outside sources to fuel our small island economies and businesses. I had thought that aspects I had become used to seeing, such as the extremely busy downtown shopping and tourism part of Hilo, would never change. The many common things you'd have smelled seen and heard were the many cars out on the road, the overfilled wastebaskets by every park and beach, the tents of entire families at many of the beaches, and the constant rush of modern living in Hawaii. Then in March through April of 2020, the university in which I was attending at the time made the big decision to cancel in person meetings for the foreseeable future. The days of constant business and crowded areas in a matter of weeks ceased to be. In late April continuing until recently, the most common things you would see empty streets, closed signs, empty parking lots, and most importantly of all, you would actually get to smell the salt of the water from the ocean, the chirping of birds by the dozens in commercial areas, and even the return of sea turtles to what were known to be crowded beaches. It’s as if the lack of tourism and industry during Covid-19 gave us local residents a new perspective of our home. One where it felt like we could finally breathe and stretch out our legs for a bit while we dealt with the pandemic effects. -
2021-10-07Exposing Systemic Racism in all Areas
While some believed the pandemic aid solved food insecurity, that couldn't be further from the truth in black neighborhoods. -
2020-03-22Job Security as an Essential Worker Pride-A Meme
When the pandemic first took place, I was working as an Executive Assistant at a Domestic Violence Agency. Our agency was initially sent home, which prompted a mad dash to learn how to hold Zoom meetings, how to securely set up working from home, getting laptops and printers to workers, and all of the other craziness associated with a rush to work from home. The first day we were sent home, I spent the day learning Zoom, checking emails and answers phone calls and texts. That was a Friday. On the following Monday, I was back in the office. No one else was there, so I could do a lot work without interruption. It was determined that our work as a domestic violence agency was essential. At the time, that was a major relief for this single mom of three girls. I remember feeling panicked about the possibility of needing to go on government aid or unemployment. So, it was a total relief to me to find out we were essential. I worked hard during that time to. It took more effort and energy to help others work from home. I was glad that I could work from my work office, but it still required a lot of extra work. After things settled a bit, I would hear about how much more people on unemployment received. It was frustrating to hear about honestly. But, at the time, this meme was exactly how I felt. I felt a lot of pride to be considered essential even if it meant more work (for less pay). -
2020-03-17Performance Cancelled a Day Before Opening Night
I am the board president for a local theater company, in a small town in Northeast California. For over 20 years, the production Susanville's Best of Broadway has produced a yearly concert series that features snippets from several different Broadway shows. Our production is 100% volunteer and is run by a production manager and a production team. Our cast runs over 100 people every year and includes community members of all ages. Our 2020 production was an epic year for us, as we had spent a lot f money on props, backdrops, and costumes. Several of the shows included Hamilton, Waitress, and my personal favorite Wizard of Oz (to name a few). Our production team started in April of 2019 to plan and the cast started to rehearse in January 2020. The cast would show up to rehearsals 6 days a week for 10 weeks. Two days after the pandemic was announced nationally, was supposed to be Susanville's Best of Broadway Opening Night. We schedule a total of 7 shows over two weekend. The day before opening night, our local public health team reached out to me. In a stressful meeting with the public health team and the Broadway board of directors, it was determined that we had to cancel our show. We attempted to do whatever we could to modify and change things, including social distancing, but pubic health was worried that if someone got sick from our show, we would end up with some sort of lawsuit we couldn't handle. They did, however, allow for us to present to anyone who had been at rehearsal, which included some family members and we called it a rehearsal. It was a sad night. Performing to an empty hall was sad. The cast cleaned up their belongings with hope that we would reopen in a couple of weeks. Not only were we unable to open the show, but we were unable to perform a concern series in 2021. Thankfully, plans are underway to have a performance in 2022. -
2020-05-14Toilet Paper Crisis
At the beginning of the pandemic, people were stockpiling toilet paper and cleaning supplies. -
2020-05-092020 Daily News report
Everyday when we woke up, it felt like the news was reporting on nothing but Covid-19 cases. This is how we all felt every morning -
2020-10-05Who Received Pandemic Money?
This article shows how the economic bailouts of the pandemic helped large corporations much more than they helped impacted individuals. Since the beginning, we've seemingly been supporting and encouraging essential workers. The support can be identified as fraudulent because according to the Washington Post, big companies that employ essential workers didn't use their bailout funds to support their workers. Billions of dollars went out but aid is still running low where it matters the most, with hardworking citizens.