Because this Virus has occurred in the 21st century, a time where social media grips almost everyone it allows for people to vent about how they feel and even spread weird and fun things that are meant to make you feel many different emotions. During COVID-19 the social media typhoon of Tik Tok spread worldwide because of the light comedy in the videos people create. Because of this large celebrities like Jason Derulo and Selena Gomez started make and producing videos about upcoming songs and even just about how there life has been. Here a joke made by a celebrity became a global sensation and added a comedic twist to the virus. In this video famous female rapper Cardi B says "CORONA VIRUS" in her iconic voice which was made into a song about the virus. This video can be found below.
Here IMarkkeys took a video of Cardi talking about the coronavirus and turned it into a song about it. This blew up when it was released as the video of her saying it was already popular and this song hit the top charts simply because of the comedy behind it all.
Another viral trend the went around Spain was for musicians to play music outside of their apartments on their balconies to share their gift for people to hear while they everyone is quarantined. This became extremely popular and has been credited with helping people keep their spirits up during quarantine.
These viral videos all helped and help keep everyone's hopes up during this quarantine.This just shows you how people all come together and unite against a common goal, coronavirus.
As this worldwide virus still plagues many we can look and see that it not only affects people's direct health but other factors as well. A great example of this is how it has affected our diets during this time of quarintening and social distancing.
For me in particular the virus has not required that we change our diet besides a few exceptions. The first thing we noticed after two months or so in quarantine was that the price of meat skyrocketed and became less and less available. This change dour diet for a little while and eventually pushed us to buy a cow to get meat without the ridiculous prices and lack of availability. This lack of meat only caused us some minor inconvenience and really did not cause my family oto change our diet.
Since I came to school the only other big change I have noticed in my diet was that I have not been going to the dining hall as much or even at all because I am unable to sit with any of my friends that I go with and the food has not been as good. Another reason I have avoided the dining halls is because now everything we want we have to wait for someone else to serve us which takes a lot longer and limits what the dining halls can serve. Because of these reasons compared to last year I have gone the dining halls significantly less frequently.
Because of the limited menu at the dining halls however, the university provided an alternative option via being able to use your meal swipes and some of the on campus restaurants where you were originally only allowed to use flex dollars. Now this on the other hand has been how I have used a majority of my meal swipes. This alternative way to use meal swipes was one of the best ways for the university to make up for the lack of variety in the dining halls.
In the link above you can find when and where you can use meal swipes at these restaurants. This option has seriously been a saving grace for me keeping my meal plan.
Overall, this virus has provided all people with some interesting and unforeseen problems besides their health, food being on of them. This specific problem has not affected my family but as a college student there has been some change in my diet since the virus began.
One of the most brought up topics around campus today is "how do you like the hybrid class schedules on campus?". This is completely based off how each person likes to learn. If you are a better online learner than this is good for you but for people like me who like the personal touch of a professor giving an in person lecture in real time this could be the worst.
Since the University declared its reopening back in July they have had a plan where classes are can one of three types: In-person, hybrid, on online.
In-person classes are classes where students are required to attend class in an actual room while still following the social distancing guidelines of staying six feet apart and wearing a mask. From what I have seen these classes tend to be labs where doing it online is not possible or too difficult. Here it is difficult to make classes all in-person during the pandemic because it does not account for students who are immunocompromised or those quarantined.
Hybrid classes are the most common class types I have seen where there are online lectures but the class may have some optional in-person meetings or help sessions. This is the most practical of all of the types because it can accommodate for a lot more students and even the special circumstances too.
Fully online classes are also extremely common because they allow anyone with a working device to be able to fully contribute to the class allowing students to do class in dorms, apartments, and even at their houses if they only have this type of class. These online classes require some restructuring from a professors side of things but once complete the class can run where the student has to make time to do the work before each exam.
These types of classes so far have each been sufficient but I definitely do have a preference. I prefer the hybrid classes because I feel I do have a responsibility to each class while still being able to do it from the comfort of my apartment. Overall though, everyone has their own thoughts an opinions about which is better but so far each has worked and will continue to do so until the scare of this pandemic subsides.
Ever since the dreaded month of March the only thing everyone has seen on every newspaper and station across the country has been the coronavirus. Many of these Newspapers and stations often seem to contradict each other, so the question is; who do you trust? This can be a difficult question because nowadays you have to take everything you hear with a grain of salt as most if not all news agencies contain some bias. This bias is what makes determining if the information is valid or even right at all. This is arguably one of the biggest questions in today's society and there are millions of ways to get the news in this age of the internet and smartphones. This allows us to get information anywhere at any time with our hand held devices. In this day and age where we get our information can be a difficult question to answer.
Information to me, no matter where I get it from, I take into account that it is bias in some way even if it is what I want to hear. However, I am a very analytical person so I prefer to get the information from the center where most of the factual information comes from, The Center for Disease Control. They don't sugar coat what's going on and don't exacerbate facts because they are there to protect all people no matter your race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. I have found some little bias here and determined this as my main source of information because of this. The link attached below can take you to there page on COVID-19 prevention and treatment.
Because of the day and age we live in bias information or even misinformation is everywhere and the biggest places this exists is on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Don't get me wrong, I love these sites. They deliver me quick tidbits of information that is entertaining and helpful; however, these sites are almost completely based off people's opinions and thus can be extremely bias. This is the main reason why I believe some people I know may be receiving some "questionable" information because their main source of information is martin64's facebook page about how the end of the world is near. These sort of entertainment based information sites should not be your main source of information because they are there for your entertainment and reality may not always be entertaining which is what causes the most conflict between me and some people that I know.
In the video posted above Vanessa Otero has created a sort of chart which ranks each news site on right or left leaning as well as more factual or opinionated. This sort of chart now is used by many to determine where consumers should go to receive truthful/unbiased information. This chart revolutionizes how as a consumer we should get information.
This age of easily accessible entertainment based news agencies makes things such as the coronavirus pandemic more difficult to read because have people thinking its the end of the world as we know it and others saying its all fake. These polar opposite opinions make it more difficult for the general population to decipher whether or not they are over or under prepared for the virus. This spread of misinformation is what is making this pandemic worse but but I feel the virus itself is killing while misinformation is a product of public confusion.
Recently a lot of rumors have been going around campus about whether or not the University of Kentucky will go fully online for the rest of the semester. The majority of people have that they would rather they not go fully online because they would kick everyone in dorms out, but in they said they would not be surprised if it were to happen. Many also said it completely depends on how this second round of testing goes for sororities and fraternities. Here if a higher number of cases is reported it could cause the university to have no choice but to go all online for the rest of the semester.
In my opinion, there is a definite chance we go fully online. For me, it would not matter very much because I live in a apartment off campus and have all online classes anyway but for those who live in dorms I would feel bad for. I feel in the most recent weeks the likelihood of this happening has increased as I know of multiple people that have gotten a positive test result back and have been sent to live in woodland glen 4 to quarantine. many people I have asked have also stated that they know quite a few people quarantining for coming into contact to someone who was positive of someone who was positive.
The article contained in the link above states that the University of Kentucky has uncovered a larger amount of cases then they expected during this first round of testing and are trying to figure out their next steps. Like I stated previously in this article, if similar results are found during this second round of testing then I feel the university will most likely go online for the remainder of the semester.
The most recent effect of the Covid-19 virus to society that I have noticed is its effect on athletics, especially college. These athletes have worked for most of their life to perfect their sport and now during this time are not being able to compete for the school/team they love. The scariest part is that no one knows when they will be allowed to continue and if so then will it be in time for them to complete their season. For example, normally during this time people would be making their way to UKY football games but instead the stadium is left empty and the fans are left gated out, this can be shown in a picture below. The players then worry that they might miss a year for them to play college ball. Heaven forbid it be their last year to play.
Empty gate at the UKY football stadium on Saturday morning. A usual game day; instead, the stadium is left empty of player and fans.
Another major part about this effect on sports is that the virus is affecting all sports differently. Tennis is still allowed to play while football and soccer are restricted to limited practice. Some may say this makes no sense when in reality tennis can still be played while still following social distancing guidelines as the single players are on the opposite side of the court whilst you are right up and personal in a sport like football. This shows that there are circumstances that affect a sports ability to be played. Overall, these times without athletics is difficult on everyone, fans and players alike.
