TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Another failed experiment:

“The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the largest schools to attempt to hold in-person classes, announced Monday that it will switch to all-remote instruction after a rapidly growing cluster of cases were reported during the first week of school. “As much as we believe we have worked diligently to help create a healthy and safe campus living and learning environment, we believe the current data presents an untenable situation,” according to a joint statement from Chancellor, Kevin M. Guskiewicz and Provost Robert A. Blouin. UNC, which has about 30,000 students, has seen 177 cases among students, while another 349 are in quarantine because of possible exposure”.

Now the question is: what will the University (and the town of Chapel Hill) do with those 30,000 students that are either living in close proximity in dorms or off campus in the small town? Send them home with some taking the virus home with them, or keep them in dorms where the virus can’t help but spread between students and into the faculty and surrounding community? You would have thought the board of Governors of the University would have been smarter, especially after receiving a letter signed by over 1000 members of the faculty advising against it and a lawsuit by the maintenance workers to prevent it, but noooo.

Just hoping and praying that N.C. State University, with another 30,000 students and about a mile from my house and several blocks from both grocery stores that we use doesn’t repeat the same mistake.

fantom Loc: Colorado

Not surprised. I've never found educators to be the sharpest pencils in the drawer.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

One of the major things I took from graduate school is that Advanced Degrees Do Not Confer Common Sense.

No university I am familiar with awards a PhD in common sense. Not even a Masters. Not even a BA (although a BS is very common).

srt101fan

Saw this on the news. Seems like half the students ignored social distancing and masking.

But how can you do social distancing in a dorm?

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

In fairness to the educators, as I understand it, the vast majority of the faculty was opposed, but the board of governors, which likely made the decision, has become increasingly politicized after the legislature changed the makeup of the Board, ousting incumbents and appointing political friends instead of educators and forcing out the previous Chancellor.

And of course, students being invulnerable, are the worst offenders (just from my personal observation locally) at ignoring masks and social distancing. The town of Chapel Hill expressed their concern to the university, but their concerns went unheeded. I wouldn't be surprised to see a spike in our Covid cases in this area in a few weeks as we have 3 major and 6 smaller colleges with well over 100,000 students within a 10-15 mile radius.

Horatio

Who knows if masking even works. Ask American Airlines. They just banned masks with respirator type devices installed. Let's all just get the virus and move on.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Are you volunteering?

Horatio

LOL!!! I am just so sick and tired of this entire mess. It seems that there is no one willing to give us honest and accurate information.

fantom Loc: Colorado

Good idea. Go tell your grandmother how smart you are---or did she already die of virus?

Bill 45

You got that right.

Horatio

LOL!!! MY grandmother works in an emergency room. She is virus free.

fantom Loc: Colorado

So far, but your theory is to tell her to get the virus so we can all move on, right?

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

The incubation period is two weeks, so if the cases were positive tests during the first week. They caught it somewhere else. That said, they do need to isolate those students and those exposed to them and take precautions during in-person classes.

My daughter is in Medical School and they are gearing up for in-person classes. If anyone knows how to do it right it would be a medical school.
However our daughter is taking a one semester break from classes and working at a lab research project in the medical school. So still a student and on campus but not in classes for one semester. Of course that means her rent etc is not covered by her scholarship for a semester and now the Bank of Mom and Dad will be paying it.

srt101fan

Horatio, if your grandmother is still working, I'm going to assume that your a young person and maybe you have not had enough exposure to the facts regarding the benefits of masking.

Good masks, with proper use, do work in reducing the spread of the virus and in reducing the risk of the wearer getting infected.

With regard to American Airlines: I think they banned masks with exhaust valves. For people other than health care providers, the primary reason for wearing a mask is to contain their germs and keep them from spreading to others. Masks with exhaust valves are useless in that regard.

The exhaust valve, by design, provides a path for your outgoing breath that bypasses filtration. It makes breathing easier and reduces fogging of glasses but does nothing to keep your bugs inside your mask.

Horatio

Thank you for the update. I took those words from the American Airlines website. My apologies for not using the correct terminology.

Personally, I am sick and tired of all this political virus stuff.