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SPORTS: MLB’s plan to start 2020 season

by Dan Demski, Andrew Webb–

Due to Covid-19, the Major League Baseball season has been delayed. Opening day of the 2020 season was set for March 26 but because of health concerns for players, coaches and fans, the season was unable to start then.

In this podcast, we discuss a new plan by Major League Baseball to bring baseball back in the coming weeks. According to a CBS Sports article, The plan includes having three different sites where all games to be played. The sites would be professional and minor league facilities in Arizona, Texas and Florida. This would require all the divisions to be changed for the 2020 season. There are currently no set plans as far as a timetable for return.

https://audiomack.com/embed/song/the-news-feed/sports-podcast-for-4-21-20-newscycle-mixdown

POLITICS: How does Trump’s ‘reopening plan’ contradict state governors?

Capitol Dome at Sunset — Photo by John Brighenti on Foter.com / CC BY

by RJ Garza, Hannah Brown–

President Donald Trump has proposed a three-phase plan to reopening the nation following the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidelines for Trump’s plan give the authority to state governors to decide when it’s safe to reopen businesses despite his earlier comments of having “total authority” over the state government’s decisions.

The new plan will allow states to raise restrictions by May 1, which is when the federal government guidelines are projected to end. However, states that currently have an overwhelming amount of cases will likely plan to keep restrictions in place for a couple more weeks. State governors across the nation are working together to determine the best time to reopen businesses. States like California and New Jersey don’t currently have an end date for their stay-at-home orders and warn that some restrictions may extend until summer.

Among disagreements between the state and federal government, there have also been protests erupting around the nation against the shelter-in-place orders. Kentucky, Ohio, and New York are some of the states that have had protests pop up during the past week. Trump has defended these protestors while state governors continue to claim the federal government isn’t doing enough to help.

SCI/TECH: COVID-19, tracking apps, and privacy

by Drew Jones and Celia Holubar–

Person using mobile phone | Free for commercial image create… | Flickr — Source: Rawpixel Ltd. Via Flickr.com

The COVID-19 pandemic has required all hands on deck. A large group of technologists and executives have called on top technology companies in an open letter to help in the fight against COVID-19. A part of the letter singled out top companies such as Apple and Google to use their extensive knowledge to create a contact tracing app for the United States, similar to ones that have been used in other countries.

The idea may have stemmed from a Home Quarantine app created in Poland. The app sends a random alert to your mobile phone and you have 20 minutes to respond with a selfie in your designated quarantine location or the police will pay you a visit and fines will be given. With this, it brings many ethical issues in terms of privacy and security on the internet and it begs the question; How much should we compromise our privacy for the fight against COVID-19?

In this podcast, we discuss the issues of privacy vs. security and some other crazy ways the government could know who is COVID-19 positive without their consent.

https://audiomack.com/embed/song/the-news-feed/scitech-covid-19-pandemic-brings-nations-privacy-into-question?background=1

POLITICS: State governments navigating COVID-19

Photo by Trans Silica on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

by Skyler Adkins, Sloan Minor–

Every day, new regulations and orders are enacted in states to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Some states take a more financial approach, while others take a more social stance. As one may expect, the states with a high number of cases tend to use money to combat the spread of the disease. However, other states with a lower affected population use social measures like social distancing and stay-at-home orders as their way of combatting COVID-19. Uniquely, Utah has offered its appreciation to its Chinese population due to the overt discrimination against them due to the origin of this virus. Each state has made individual efforts while also watching and listening to what their neighboring states are doing. Here is a list of every states’ actions.

Telehealth is also an important concept that has arisen from this chaos. Telehealth allows patients to continue to meet with their doctors and physicians while still practicing social distancing. Not only can doctors see patients with COVID-19 with no fear of contraction, but patients can also still attend physical therapy appointments, counseling appointments, and more without the same fear. While only several states are using this program, the country hopes others will follow.

Life & Style: How to Stay Productive During Quarantine

by Hannah Brown, Christine O’Donnell–

Due to the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus, Americans are urged to stay home to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. President Trump extended guidelines to practice social distancing until April 30th, leaving many citizens unsure as to what the future holds. In this time of uncertainty, there are many activities people can do to be productive at home.

Physical activity like at-home workouts and yoga at home are ways to improve your health and elevate your energy levels. Exercising your brain is important, as well, and can be done by reading books and solving puzzles. Also, efforts around the house such as organizing and cleaning are a great use of this time spent at home.

An important thing to keep in mind is that it is okay to feel a loss of control right now, but you should try to not be too hard on yourself because this will pass and life will soon return to normal.

SCI/TECH: Augmented reality makes its way into daily lives

by Christina Dougherty, Brenda Nguyen—

Augmented reality is merging its way into everyday technology, providing more accessibility and convenience to users.

Augmented reality is when technology can produce computer-generated images on a user’s view of the real world. Though seemingly advanced, this technology is now available on most smartphones.

The world was introduced to an app in 2016 called “Pokémon Go”, an interactive game that allows players to “catch” the creatures in their area. This app gained great success, and really introduced augmented reality to a wide range of people.

Augmented reality is not only good for entertainment purposes, but for convenience as well. These apps are downloaded with a simple click on your smartphone. Augmented Reality is making its way into medicine as well, changing the way surgeons perform medical procedures.

Join us in this podcast as we discuss how augmented reality became well-known and to where the technology is expanding into our lives now.

SPORTS: Hokie football working through obstacles

: Photo credit: techsports on Foter.com / CC BY-ND

by Riley Wyant, Danielle Jeffers–

Following the loss to Old Dominion University on Sept. 22, Virginia Tech football has faced many struggles. During the matchup, starting quarterback Josh Jackson broke his left fibula and had to be carted off the field in the fourth quarter. He will be sitting out the rest of the season following an intensive repair surgery.

Post-game internal controversy in the locker room led to the dismissal of Defensive End Trevon Hill. Hill led the team in sacks and was one of the star players on the defense. His dismissal will impact Bud Foster’s defense in future matchups as the Hokies fight for a chance at the playoffs.

Ryan Willis, a transfer from Kansas, is now Virginia Tech’s starting quarterback but the team seems to be unfamiliar with the new dynamic. After the loss to ODU, the Hokies regained their confidence and beat Duke in Durham on Sept. 29. Unfortunately, the winning streak didn’t last as the team lost against Notre Dame last Saturday at home. There is an obvious lack of consistency and chemistry when it comes to the young team.

The Hokies are traveling to Chapel Hill this weekend to take on the UNC Tarheels. Will the team win and regain momentum or disappoint once again?

Virginia Tech: Deserving of diversity awards?

by Monica Becerra, Christina Dougherty–

It’s no secret that under President Tim Sands, Virginia Tech has taken lots of steps to try to make the university a more diverse place. Recently, Virginia Tech was selected as a 2018 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award recipient and a 2018 Diversity Champion by INSIGHT, the largest diversity publication. As far as what diversity really means to students on campus though, there are differing opinions.

After speaking with students, a lot of them feel that Virginia Tech is very welcoming and that it’s growing as a diverse space. On the other hand, however, some feel that while changes are definitely being made, Virginia Tech is not worthy of any awards quite just yet.

Regardless of one’s opinion on the topic, Virginia Tech has taken the award with pride and will continue to further its diversity efforts in hopes of making a more inclusive environment for all students.

SPORTS: Recent evolution of Hokie football

By Jacob Thompson, Ashley Vollrath, Rebecca Choate —

In November 2015, Justin Fuente was named head coach of the Virginia Tech football team.

“I am looking forward to a bright future for our football program under the direction of Coach Fuente,” said Virginia Tech President Tim Sands, “He has demonstrated a commitment to excellence, integrity and the values that Hokies espouse.”

Previously the head coach for the University of Memphis, Fuente is regarded as one of the rising stars in college coaching.

Regardless, Fuente had big shoes to fill, as former head coach Frank Beamer was coaching with his alma mater since 1987. Beamer’s 280 wins and 23 straight bowls were something to marvel at.

How do the last two years of Beamer Ball compare to Fuente’s first two seasons with the Hokies? In this week’s sports podcast, we analyze how the football team has changed and how student life has evolved as a result.

SCI/TECH: SpaceX’s next steps

by Amber Miller, Stephen Newman, Ryan Dye–

launch-rocket-sky Photo on Foter.com

Space exploration leader SpaceX recently used a rocket to send a supply capsule to the International Space Station…for the second time.

The Block 4 Falcon 9 rocket was first launched into space in April of 2017. After detaching from the cargo it was carrying, it was guided down and landed on an un-manned SpaceX drone ship off the coast of Florida.

The rocket was then recovered, refurbished and sent into space again earlier this week. And just as the first time, it landed bullseye on the ship.

These rockets were only designed to be launched up to two times, but SpaceX will next launch the Block 5 Falcon 9 rocket, which according to Elon Musk can potentially be relaunched up to 100 times.

This breakthrough could dramatically cut the cost of space exploration and could lead to Musk’s ultimate goal of putting one million people on Mars in the next 40-100 years.