How spring has sprung, per the Scientific Advisory Group
Plus, how our pets are giving students much-needed support during a pandemic
Good morning, and happy Wednesday. On this pre-pandemic date in 2016, comedian Gilbert Gottfried, known for his voice acting in the animated film “Aladdin,” performed at the Fine Arts Center. (This year, the FAC is putting on virtual programming for the theatre and Bemis School of Art.)
Today, we talked to the Scientific Advisory Group about their recommendations for this semester and next year. Also, how animals have been helping some members of the CC community through the pandemic.
➡️ICYMI: On Monday, our resident microbiologist Phoebe Lostroh gave her weekly forecast for El Paso County. She also explained how COVID-19 might become an endemic virus.
✉️In Your Inbox:
On Wednesday, two students living off campus received positive test results and were moved into isolation. However, one student’s positive test was the result of “human input error” in the computer system. That student was released from isolation, along with other students who may have come in contact with them. To learn more, read this piece in The Catalyst.
Saturday, a staff member received a positive test result. They are now in isolation.
CC released a safety advisory for skiers and snowboarder after recent outbreaks in winter sports areas. The college recommends checking the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment outbreak map before traveling.
Yesterday, a student living off campus, who had also visited the El Pomar Sports Center on Monday, received a positive test result and is now in isolation.
From top to bottom, left to right: Duck (courtesy of Dova Zilly ‘23), Blixa (courtesy of Amanda Minervini), Lou and Carlos (courtesy of Minervini), and Costello (courtesy of Cheney Hurley ‘23)
The Scientific Advisory Group on its positive view for the future
When Colorado College leadership announced their plan for the upcoming spring semester on Oct. 20, they said their decisions were based on science, with the help of the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG). Now, with only a week to go in the first block of CC’s Spring 2021 Plan, the SAG said that science has been holding up.
“The campus will return to ‘CC Alert Level 1,’ because everyone has done such a good job of adhering to social distancing, mask wearing, hand-washing protocols, participation in testing,” Andrea Bruder, chair of the SAG, told The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project. “That has allowed us to keep the number of cases on campus low and the positivity rates low, and so that’s exciting news, because we can use the campus more again.”
Bruder, who is also the Associate Dean of Faculty, said that returning to “Alert Level 1” will mean that some buildings on campus, like Tutt Library and the Adam F. Press Fitness Center, will be able to increase their in-person capacities, though they will still remain below 50%.
“Alert Level 1” still requires a socially-distanced campus, but “full use” of campus is permitted. Less than five new cases per week are required to stay in “Alert Level 1,” and risk mitigation protocols are still in effect.
Throughout most of Pandemic Fall, CC was in “Alert Level 1,” until Nov. 18, when the college shifted to “Alert Level 2,” in an effort to “add another layer of precaution” for the campus community amid rising case counts in El Paso County.
But when new variants that were more contagious than previously dominant strains of the coronavirus surfaced, the SAG recommended weekly testing for all students as an added level of mitigation. This recommendation became reality during the spring semester.
Now, when students first arrive in Colorado Springs, they must follow “enhanced social distancing” guidelines and receive two negative tests before being allowed access to on-campus buildings. Additionally, to retain this access they are required to get a test done each week.
Behind bringing students back to campus
Through their recommendations, the SAG was crucial in determining the number of students the college could safely allow to return to campus for the spring semester.
Associate professor of philosophy Marion Hourdequin, a member of the SAG, said that housing capacities, ability to maintain social-distancing, and appropriate mitigation protocols were all factors in the group’s decision-making, adding that the college’s testing capacity also played an important role in the process.
“The weekly testing has been going well and with very low positivity rates,” Bruder said, adding later that the school has administered over 1,200 tests per week over the last three weeks.
For the most part, Bruder said that testing revealed little spread on campus, with about 60% of all cases occurring in students living locally off-campus. Bruder also added that no on-campus classes or activities, including those that have been organized by Outdoor Education or Residential Experience, have reported cases, which she said was very encouraging.
But even if there were no cases within the CC community, the SAG wouldn’t feel that was enough.
Assistant professor of sociology Vanessa Muñoz said that a “big piece” of how the group is making decisions is assessing how mitigation strategies impact mental health, as well as ensuring that the college has the resources to address that impact. As a part of this effort, Muñoz is currently distributing a surve
y for CC students to better understand their experiences during the pandemic.
Vaccine distribution and the coming academic year
Assistant professor of molecular biology Olivia Hatton, who is also a member of the SAG, said it is hard to project when CC will be able to fully return to in-person learning, especially as the vaccine rollout evolves and health officials adjust local and national guidance for the virus.
“I’ve never seen science move this fast in my lifetime,” Hatton said. “The data we use to make decisions is updated very frequently.”
“We are studying it closely, but we are not at a point where we could sort of tell you what month … we can return to normal,” associate professor of environmental studies and member of the SAG Miro Kummel said. “But it’s very high on our priority list.”
Another “piece in the mix” with the group’s prediction models, Hourdequin said, is the evolution of the virus. Bruder said that new variants, like the B117 and the B.351 strains are spreading, and that there are “six or seven” variants that have started in the U.S. alone. These variants all share the same mutation, she said, which makes them spread more quickly and may make them more able to evade vaccines.
“All of this introduces a lot of uncertainty about the summer and the fall semester in particular,” Bruder said.
So even when CC students become eligible to receive the vaccine, the SAG said that reaching “herd protection,” which pairs immune individuals with adherence to virus mitigation protocols, is a metric the group will be using in determining whether they can recommend a return to in-person learning.
In essence, Hourdequin said this was because vaccinated individuals that stop practicing simple mitigation strategies altogether could exacerbate the spread of virus variants that are able to evade vaccines more successfully.
“For me, the take-home message is ‘if we can keep doing really good mitigation, like good masking, good social distancing, hand washing — all those basic things that we all know how to do now — that in conjunction with the accelerating vaccination can really move us more quickly toward that herd protection,’” Hourdequin said. “If we drop some mitigation measures, we’re looking at a much longer path.”
🐶 Comfort and companionship: pets during a pandemic
Small and spiky, Huey the hedgehog sat on CC COVID-19 Reporting Project contributor Lorea Zabaleta’s lap as she wrote this piece, providing vital emotional support. Huey came into Lorea’s life during Pandemic Fall, and has since helped her cope with COVID-19 stress and loneliness. And for other members of the CC community, he’s not the only pet doing so.
Bill Dove, associate director of the Counseling Center and Psychological Services, said that having pets during COVID has been “very comforting” for CC students, both because of the companionship they bring and the routine students establish to take care of their animals.
“You have to remember to let the dog out, you take the dog for walks, you remember to feed the dog,” Dove said. “It keeps up a general positive daily routine when we’re actually caring for somebody outside of ourselves.”
Dova Zilly ‘23 got her puppy, Duck, from an animal shelter around Thanksgiving. She said it seemed like “the perfect time” to get a dog because if she was going to be spending all day inside, she “might as well be doing something fun.”
Zilly said Duck forces her to take a walk everyday and even reminds her to eat food.
Cheney Hurley ‘23, said that her emotional support dog, Costello, has been “really helpful” during COVID. It has been nice to have a companion and some structure, she said.
Amanda Minervini, assistant professor and director of the Italian program at CC, already had six pets going into the pandemic and was “maxed out” on animals. If they did not have those pets already, they said they would have gotten “10 or 12.”
“I really can’t imagine my life without animals and the pandemic living by myself,” Minervini said. “I just don’t think I would have been able to do it.”
But thanks to their animals, they said they are busy and “almost” living a normal life.
Emotional support animals on campus
Since March, Sara Rotunno, assistant director of Accessibility Resources, said that eight new students have been approved to keep emotional support animals (ESAs) on campus, who she said provide motivation for students “to get out of bed, to get out of their rooms, to have something to care for.”
“For students who are requesting and approved I think that there’s a very clear connection between the support that that animal will provide for the student,” Rotunno said. “And I think that that’s awesome that they can have that.”
But not everyone is able to have an emotional support animal on campus.
Rotunno said students vying to live with an ESA must submit a request form and documentation of a “mental health disability” from someone who works with that student, like a psychiatrist or a therapist. Accessibility Resources then reviews the request and comes to a decision with Residential Experience staff.
If the animal is approved, its vaccines must be up to date, and those impacted by the animal’s presence, like the owner’s roommates or housemates, must be conferred with. Finally, Accessibility Resources meets again with the student and their Residential Life Coordinator to review expectations for the animal.
Perks of pandemic pets
Dove said animals have always been a source of solace and relaxation. He added that research shows that physical contact with pets benefits both humans and animals.
“When a person pets a dog, their blood pressure goes down, and the dog’s blood pressure goes down,” Dove said. “It’s good for both, it’s a wonderful thing.
Minervini said they could not be without their pets. Their two dogs, Blixa and Viki, are both ESAs, who Minervini said have “a major effect” on their anxiety and stress.
During COVID specifically, Hurley said Costello has been nice to have as “someone who is purely loving” around all the time. She also said having a dog can “be really advantageous, especially emotionally,” and “really great” for mental health support.
“It’s just like ‘take a deep breath’ and pause what you’re doing and then play with your dog and then it’s all better,” Zilly said.
When she feels overwhelmed or sad, she just remembers she has a little dog on the floor that always wants to play.
Hurley said Costello also helps with the social aspect of her life. When she takes him on walks, she gets to meet the other dog owners in the area while Costello gets to play.
“He makes people smile,” she said. “It’s just really great.
So, what happens to pets when, or if, COVID ends?
One concern shared among pet owners and Dove was how pets adopted or purchased during the pandemic will be affected once owners begin to return to in-person work or classes.
“That’s going to be quite a shock to the pet, because they have grown accustomed to having their owner with them all the time,” Dove said. “This is a mutual relationship. It should be that there are responsibilities that go both ways and as humans, we have the greater responsibility to make sure that they’re well cared for.”
Minervini also said they are worried about pets adapting to people being around all the time, and it will be “difficult to cope” for the animals once the pandemic is over and people are back to leaving their houses for jobs and other activities more often. Minervini added that they have begun to “artificially” leave their dogs alone a few hours everyday.
“I would be worried that some family will realize that they cannot care for the pets anymore so there could be a post-pandemic getting rid of those pets,” Minervini said. “I hope not, but it’s been a bit on my mind.”
About the CC COVID-19 Reporting Project
The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project is created by Colorado College student journalists Esteban Candelaria, Lorea Zabaleta, and Cameron Howell in partnership with The Catalyst, Colorado College’s student newspaper. Work by Phoebe Lostroh, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology at CC and National Science Foundation Program Director in Genetic Mechanisms, Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, will appear every Monday.
The project seeks to provide frequent updates about CC and other higher education institutions during the pandemic by providing original reporting, analysis, interviews with campus leaders, and context about what state and national headlines mean for the CC community.
📬 Enter your email address to subscribe and get the newsletter in your inbox each time it comes out. You can reach us with questions, feedback, or news tips by emailing ccreportingproject@gmail.com.