Vaccine Mandates For Schools

Good Morning, I’m Annica Colbert….it’s Thursday, September 16th >>>> With the recall election over, what’s next for vaccine mandates in schools? More on that next, but first... let’s do the headlines…. ###### California secretary of state Shirley Weber says, the recall election will have cost taxpayers more than 300-million dollars… the vast majority of those costs borne by the counties. Mesa college political science professor Carl Luna says reforms are being proposed in the legislature, but he doesn’t think they’ll be successful. “everybody’s upset about it and the next thing you know, we’re thinking about thanksgiving and christmas and then it’s going to be the primaries. and by the time you get back to thinking about it, it’ll be the next event, the next recall.” Californians will get another chance to judge gavin newsom in the general election… in november of next year. ######## Two more US citizens are on their way home, having escaped Afghanistan with the help of the office of Congressman Darral Issa. His office reported that a couple in their 80’s have officially left Kabul. Issa's office has helped rescue 33 members of his district from Afghanistan since the Taliban overran the Afghan National Army and retook control of the country this summer. ######## The Cleveland national forest was supposed to reopen this Friday, but the national forest service has extended the closure for at least another week. Federal officials say they’re concerned that very dry conditions pose a heightened risk of wildfires. They are also mindful that many local firefighters and firefighting aircraft are in other parts of the state battling wildfires. California has more than 10-thousand firefighters battling 14 major blazes in other parts of the state. ######### From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need. With the recall election now behind us.... KPBS education reporter MG perez has more on the future of covid-19 vaccine mandates in schools. Students were back at school Wednesday without much mention of the recall election that failed with California voters. Parents were talking about it. They are also wondering whether San Diego Unified School District officials will move ahead with a mandate for vaccinations. Robert Anguiano has a granddaughter in 5th grade and he supports vaccinations for all students who qualify. SOT: :10 “That way all the children will be vaccinated. They will be taken care of and be healthier so parents don’t have to worry they’re going to the hospital or be getting sick” A new vaccination mandate is expected to be discussed at the next school board meeting on September 28th. MGP ...KPBS News ########## The Imperial Beach pier has been closed since Monday night. KPBS’ Melissa Mae has more on why. MM: The city of Imperial Beach notified the Port of San Diego on Monday evening that a piling from the Imperial Beach Pier had fallen off… In an abundance of caution, the pier was immediately closed to the public. MM: Ernie Medina is the Port of San Diego’s chief engineer and says there is currently a large swell around the pier, but hopes to be able to safely make an assessment as soon as Thursday. EM (:18) “It’s tough any time you get an iconic piece of infrastructure that you have to shut down, but we’re always going to side on the side of caution. In this case, we don’t want anyone to get hurt and we want to make sure that we address this as soon and as safely as possible.” MM: The eastern part of the IB Pier, where the damage occurred, is made up of timber and was built in the 1960’s and the western portion, made up of steel was built in 1989. Melissa Mae KPBS News. ########## Governor Gavin Newsom celebrated his victory in the recall electiontuesday night by telling voters they didn’t just say no to the recall “I want to focus on what what we said yes to as a state,” “We said yes to science, we said yes to vaccines, we said yes to ending this pandemic, we said yes to people’s right to vote without fear of fake fraud or voter suppression, we said yes to women’s fundamental constitutional right to decide for herself what she does for her body.” Newsom’ racked up a major win in the recall - with more than 60-percent of voters supporting the Governor. But the question remains for what Newsom will do with this show of support….and what happens to his recall challengers...specifically former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer. Thad Kousser is a political science professor at UC San Diego. He spoke with KPBS Midday Edition Host Maureen Kavanaugh about some important takeaways from this recall.. That was Thad Kousser, political science professor at UC San Diego, speaking with KPBS Midday Edition Host Maureen Kavanaugh. ############## Coming up....would you enroll in a class called Psychedelic Mirrors: Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll? This SDSU student did. ANIKA HUFF: Psychedelic mirrors, it was a very intriguing name, like comics and history is intriguing. But psychedelic mirrors is something you don't really see a lot of you usually see, like intro to anthropology or poly sci 101 so psychedelic mirrors was something out of the ordinary. That’s next. Just after the break. San Diego State University is using comics to teach students about critical thinking. KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando checks in on the class. How do you make English 157 attractive to college students? Call it Psychedelic Mirrors: Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll. WILLIAM NERICCIO: They say that the humanities are dying, but it's just not true. We just haven't marketed them in the right way. William Nericcio is a professor of English and comparative literature at San Diego State University. And his marketing worked on Anika Huff. ANIKA HUFF: So psychedelic mirrors was something out of the ordinary. And it was something that, like mirrors, like looking into yourself, like self discovery, looking through the eyes of someone who could possibly be on psychedelics, like just a very, very strange, very rare and unique name for a course. The course looks to history and comics says Nericcio. WILLIAM NERICCIO: So the focus of the class is on the human psyche and how a group of brilliant artists like Robert Crumb and Dan Clowes, how they depict the intricacies of the human mind. But in comic books. Some tax payers might think a course on comic books is a waste of their money but it’s not says student Mei Yen Sung. MEI YEN SUNG: Comics may seem not as important as other academic subjects, but I feel like comics is something that's very interactive. And some people who might be more visual learners or some people who see comics as entertainment can also get educational value, and they could also see a lot of information and other things through comics. Huff agrees. ANIKA HUFF: I think it's more than just comics. I think it's critical thinking. I think it's analyzing text that one might just overlook is something that's a bunch of cartoons. I mean, I think it's important to always think for yourself and that code of critical thinking, and that's what fake news and Tik Tok and Instagram have kind of stripped people up recently is their ability to think for themselves. Nericcio sees comics as a way to get these students to think and for this class to think critically about how the images they see can affect them. CLIP Classroom roots of racism WILLIAM NERICCIO: Today I was lecturing on how Robert Crumb an underground cartoonist frames an early form of motion pictures to show how susceptible people are to being racist pigs. If we see it in the movies, we're going to believe it. If we hear it on TV, we're going to believe it. If we see it on the Internet, we're going to believe it. JOSUE ARREDONDO: Bill is not just a consumer of images. He also challenges students to deeply understand images. Josue Arredondo is also in the class. JOSUE ARREDONDO: And also the world is awash with information disinformation. And it's important to teach people to understand what the message is through the image but also understand, you know, what the implications are of the image itself and to think deeply through. Okay, so I'm consuming this image. What does it mean for my thoughts? What does it mean for my actions? The challenge for these students is that the humanities don’t always have answers but rather serve up ambiguities that need further exploration. Mei Yen Sung appreciates this. MEI YEN SUNG: Instead of trying to find a specific answer, you're really just broadening your own world perspective and the concepts and ideas that you might have already to become a more mature person and know more about the world, to be a person that can contribute to society. So not necessarily as much about finding a specific answer, but maybe becoming someone who's more open minded and overall well-rounded. That’s why we need classes like Psychedelic Mirrors say Nericcio. WILLIAM NERICCIO: Literature is one of the last places in the University for open dialogue, thought and conflict, thoughtful conflict, disagreement, argument, polemic. We've never had more of a need for our students to have the critical capacity to evaluate information. With digital mirrors in their pockets, social media bombarding them with images, and a Google search letting anyone think they’re an expert, young people need to be encouraged to question the images and information they’re exposed to and to think for themselves. Beth Accomando, KPBS News. The SDSU comics and history class continues through December. That’s it for the podcast today. Be sure to catch KPBS Midday Edition At Noon on KPBS radio, or check out the Midday podcast. You can also watch KPBS Evening Edition at 5 O’clock on KPBS Television, and as always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Annica Colbert. Thanks for listening and have a great day.