 Appalachian Wireless and Samsung introduce the Z Flip 3. The Z Flip 3 is an actual flip phone that when opened reveals a stunning 6.7 inch touchscreen for the best of both worlds. To find out more visit AppalachianWireless.com. We are you. We are Appalachian Wireless. The University of Pikeville was recently recognized by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce as a gold status workplace regarding their COVID-19 vaccination rate. Earlier we spoke with Dr. Burton Webb, President of the University of Pikeville via Zoom to find out more about what this recognition means for the University. The University of Pikeville is really pleased to announce that we have passed the 90% threshold for vaccination rate of all employees, so faculty, staff, and I believe our actual number is a little over 91% now. That puts us in the gold category for the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce's vaccination challenge, and so we thought that it was a good time to do an announcement for that. When asked what the primary motivation was that drove the University's successful vaccination efforts, Dr. Webb mentioned the school's desire to help keep the community safe. Well, I think it's keeping the rest of the community safe because if you have a high vaccination rate, you can't, you know, spread COVID very easily. And if we can keep the disease from getting a foothold on the campus, then we can return to normal operations. So I think our real reason is about keeping the rest of the U-Pike family safe. And the faculty and staff have done an outstanding job of reaching this threshold. While the University's efforts to encourage vaccination amongst its faculty and staff has seen this success, Webb mentions that the vaccination rates for students has been lower. However, he states the school is still working to encourage a similar increase in the vaccination rates of its students. Most people have been very receptive. There are some folks who don't want to get the vaccine, and we don't have a mandate on our campus. We do have, we've asked people to get vaccinated. And if they're not going to get vaccinated to be tested on a regular basis to make sure that they're not infected and spreading the disease, and that's gone very well. So we've had most folks choose vaccination over regular testing, which makes sense. But if some folks have a strongly held belief that they really don't want to be vaccinated, then we'll comply with the testing. It's been a really good and successful program. And right now, our students are still at a lower threshold than that. So we have some campaigns running with them to encourage them to get vaccinated because it's really our only way that we're going to be able to move back to a much more, what we would call normal, right? I think there is a new normal now post COVID, but to what we would call normal life. So getting vaccinated, making sure that the disease cannot spread on a campus where folks live in close proximity like the University of Piperville is the right decision. For those still considering whether or not to get their dose, Dr. Webb offers this advice. I think that, you know, if folks still have questions about vaccination and about whether it's the right thing to do or whether it works, you know, the university has actually posted a few videos online explaining what the vaccine is and how it works and why it's important to get. We've talked a little bit about why it's still important to get a vaccine even if you've had COVID because, you know, that helps to reduce the likelihood that you'll have a life-threatening infection with the virus. So I think I would encourage folks to examine the data to ignore what's taking place in the, you know, the war of words that happens between the left and the right and look at the data, look at the science and make a decision. That's the best thing to do. I think we're in good shape. You know, infection rate on campus is very, very low right now and has been for a couple of months. So life is good on the hill and we're moving forward. For Mountaintop News, I'm Joshua Slung.