News Briefs: Virtual Spirit Weeks, KC stay-at-home order protests and oil prices drop to the negatives

School

In efforts to spread school spirit, Student Council has been hosting virtual spirit days where students show their school pride via Instagram stories for the chance to win a gift card.

Each week has a different theme, similar to how there are different themes on each day of an in-person spirit week. However, instead of the typical dress-up themes, these are activities for the students to do while in quarantine. 

The first theme — “What’s Cookin’?” — required students to post a picture of a homemade meal. The second week’s theme was “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” — post a picture playing a sport — and the third week was “DIY Day,” which encouraged students to share something creative they’ve made while at home.  

Each Wednesday, StuCo announces the week’s theme on their Instagram and Twitter accounts. Students then have until Friday to post a picture for the week’s theme on their personal Instagram story and tag StuCo’s account, @smestuco.  

At the end of the week on Friday, the execs and StuCo sponsor Hannah Pence look through the posts and decide which one earned the most merit. The winner receives a $10 Chick-Fil-A gift card that is mailed to them. 

There are still three more spirit themes left, going through the week of May 11. The remaining themes are “Book Worm” — post the book you are currently reading, “Movin’ and Groovin’” — post a picture of you dancing and “Pets” — post a picture of your pets.

Although students are no longer in school and can’t have normal spirit weeks, school spirit can still be celebrated, according to senior and student body president Eva Hill. 

“Our job as Student Council is to really host events and get students involved and reach out to students,” Hill said. “The only way to reach students right now really is digitally.”

Local

Over 50 people rallied at the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain near the Plaza at noon on Monday, April 20 to protest the stay-at-home order, along with a smaller gathering of protestors in downtown Kansas City.

Since the beginning of April, several states such as Michigan and Colorado have seen protests against the stay-at-home orders. The protestors want their cities to reopen because they view the shutdowns as unnecessary and believe they cause too much damage to the economy and small businesses.

Kansas City’s protest was triggered when the Kansas City, MO Mayor Quinton Lucas extended the stay-at-home order from April 24 to May 15.

The protestors at the Plaza held American flags and signs reading phrases like “Fauci, Liar,” “All Jobs are Essential” and “Let Americans Decide to Shelter.”   

People also supported the protestors from their vehicles by honking their horns as they drove by.  

There were counter protestors — several of them were healthcare professionals — present as well, who were there to express their disapproval of the protests since they felt that gathering in large groups is not the solution to the problems presented by the pandemic. 

There were similar protests that occurred in Jefferson City and Topeka later that week to show their disapproval of the stay-at-home orders too. 

Another protest took place along I-70 stretching from Kansas City to St. Louis. Over 60 people from the Coalition to Protect Missouri Tenants pulled over on the shoulder of the highway to demand that the Missouri Governor Mike Parson freeze rent and suspend mortgage payments. 

“I know protests are happening around the country,” Lucas told the Kansas City Star on Monday. ”I just shake my head at the fact that what we’re trying to do is make sure we maintain space. Not for me, not for government — so that people can stay safe. Unfortunately, I see some protests not doing that. I hope in Kansas City we do.”

National

Oil prices fell into the negatives on Monday, April 20 due to the sudden decrease in demand and a lack of storage space. 

With stay-at-home orders in place, the demand for oil has greatly decreased with fewer people driving their cars around and less planes taking off, spurring the biggest drop since the 2008 financial crisis.

That Monday, the price for a barrel of crude — raw, natural oil — dropped about $50. When the market closed, the price was at -$37.63 per barrel, marking the first time in US history that the oil prices have reached the negatives. 

Although big oil companies in countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia are slowing production, the supply of oil still greatly exceeds the demand, causing issues of where to store the excess supply. 

The numbers going into the negatives means that oil has become a burden to store, so those who sell oil would have to pay their buyers $30 a barrel just to take the oil off of their hands because they don’t have the space to store it, and some sellers do. 

At President Donald Trump’s Monday briefing, he mentioned the U.S.’s plans to put as much as 75 million barrels of oil into the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to help with the issue. He said that this action will cause the reserve to be “topped out,” which hasn’t happened in a long time. 

Since the oil prices went into the negatives, gas prices at gas stations have also dropped significantly.  

According to the American Automobile Association, the national average gas price is more than $1 per gallon cheaper than it was this time of year in 2019. 

Kansas also made the AAA’s top 10 largest decreases for the week in oil prices from its cost falling seven cents, dropping the average state price to $1.54 per gallon of gas.