I am waiting for an innovative school to announce that, due to social distancing requirements, all men are required to wear sumo suits and all women are required to wear hoop skirts.
Problem solved:)
@yearstogo It’s true that being outdoors dramatically reduces risk, but it’s still non-zero. I mean, if you are in a crowd of people, why wouldn’t you wear a mask?
D just received CA (Community Advisor; Amherst equivalent of RA) training materials from the Assistant Director of Res Life. The Assistant Director of Res Life also said “We are so excited to welcome you back to campus.” Considering move-in starts in 7 days, I’d say that is a very good sign.
My only insight into potential teacher opinion is that the district is running ads for substitutes offering a 50% premium over the usual pay rate.
No telling what the positive rate is for the district. The ZIP code that represents the majority of the district has the highest cumulative case count in the state, though.
@RosePetal35 i am pretty sure Amherst is going to expect kids to wear masks outside. Maybe (maybe!) if one is studying alone on a blanket somewhere and stationary then he wouldn’t wear a mask since people can see him and walk around him. Like I said the mask wearing, social distancing part is going to be interesting. I can’t wait to hear how it really is outside and in dorms. I think in class and in campus buildings are a no brainer and everyone will have a mask on.
There were protesters not wearing masks, but the large majority (across the country, not just looking at individual protests) were wearing masks.
Moreover, one paper that came out said that there was increased transmission from the protests, but it was balanced by decreased transmission from non-protesters staying home.
Davidson is mandating masks outdoors on campus:
"When are students expected to wear a mask or face covering?
Students must wear face coverings in all indoor spaces except a) when they are alone in an enclosed room where they do not expect to be disturbed, or b) in a private living space, or c) while eating in dining facilities. Students must wear face coverings outdoors on campus."
https://www.davidson.edu/fall-2020/frequently-asked-questions
@homerdog wrote:
I hate to say this but to the extent that mask-wearing has been politicized, look to it being a badge of honor at many NE colleges. The president of Wesleyan has already been quoted as saying that the college is “counting on strong community ethos” to help encourage Wesleyan students to adhere to mask wearing when not in one’s room.
@circuitrider Seems that most colleges are trying to make this a social cause where all students need to band together in order to stay on campus. It might work. Students don’t want to have to go home or have their in-person classes turned remote. Where I think the mask thing might break down is off campus or even in dorm rooms if RAs aren’t comfortable being the bad guys.
I would love to see some support for your assertion that “the large majority…were wearing masks”. I definitely saw some wearing masks but I would be surprised if it were an overall majority of the protesters, much less a large majority.
There are other countries that do not require masks, I think they are often suggested, but definitely not mandated. For some reason, folks here in the US like to make rules without evidence, then quickly jump to ad hominem attacks. I can see why the schools that are getting ready to open are exercising an abundance of caution initially but I hope all goes well and kids that are socially distancing outside can choose to wear a mask or not.
Correct. Amherst is saying masks are mandatory inside and out. As for not leaving campus, that provision was put in place so that kids would not be attending parties at UMASS at off campus apartments. The Amherst bookstore is technically off campus so I would think that’s an ok place to go.
A Toronto yoga company came up with a creative solution, domes made out of shower curtains and piping
Call me crazy but these put desks inside of them and they would be perfect for schools, especially elementary age kids who might struggle more with masks.
@homerdog Students at Amherst don’t have to wear masks if they’re alone in their dorm room; this is the only exception I’m aware of. Also, students are not allowed to enter other dorms. That being said, students in the same dorms are allowed to go into each other’s rooms as far as I know (they specifically said when someone else was in your room, both people had to wear a mask).
@wisteria100 I’m sure that was a major part and quite possibly the primary driver behind the decision, but it also was the desire to create a campus bubble. If you’re referring to AJ Hastings as the campus “bookstore” (they don’t really have any textbooks), they may be allowed, but also may not, as they also carry a lot of UMass stuff. If you are referring to Amherst Books, they sell textbooks and serve the entire Five-College Consortium, so I doubt students would be allowed to visit Amherst Books; I bet though Amherst would make a deal involving a buyout of many textbooks for Amherst College courses, as that is a business they would definitely want support for.
Regarding shutting down and not having much to do, I mean that if the school closes campus, stops all on campus events (they do have some fun things planned with distancing mind - primarily outdoors), they’ll basically have their house and that’s it.
Yes they’ll have their classes.
Wake is requiring testing pre- arrival (contracted with a lab that sent every student a test kit with return packaging. No one is allowed back on campus (their cards won’t be activated) until the lab shows a negative test result. Everyone is told they must self quarantine 14 days prior to return (of course no way to monitor that but I’m not sure how you monitor that anyway ), daily symptom reporting via an app, etc.
Lower campus density by transitioning to 65% singles, 35% doubles. They secured lots of apartment spaces near campus to accommodate housing needs. Have contracted with certain hotels to be covid isolation centers (Must have paid a pretty penny as I understand it no non-covid occupants on the floor - which means they secured most of or the entire property for the fall)
Have mixed feelings about the potential of staying there if things are bad enough to shut down. On the one hand, he’ll be with a cluster of friends that will likely keep exposure to the group (say 20 kids in 5 houses) and away from me. OTOH, if he were home he would be much less likely to engage in activities that presented exposure - because we wouldn’t let him (which is why he wanted the house :0)
Wake did send an email to parents telling us to reinforce the idea that everyone has to be in this together if they are to have a fall. They went as far to say how parties (didn’t mention size) can easily turn into “superspreader” events and it only takes one to have grave effects on everyone’s fall. They said those attending would be subject to significant consequences including suspension from the university. Not sure how legal that is but everyone has to sign a social contract agreeing to certain behavior and outlining “unacceptables” .
Talk about last minute decisions…
Some schools are absolutely expecting both. The latest haverford email stressed that masks should be worn nearly 100% of the time (exceptions: sleeping, brushing teeth, showering, literally eating- and bathroom usage needs to be staggered). They also specifically mention wearing masks while staying six feet apart outdoors. They’re going all-in on the rules.
@milgymfam Amherst hasn’t said anything about staggering bathroom use, however; they have significantly reduced density, which Haverford didn’t, and they emphasized in their thinking for reducing density, that they thought a 7:1 student-to-bathroom ratio was really important.
Haverford has approximately 80% of its students coming back to campus, so its naturally slightly dedensified. Every student will have a single. But yeah, the bathroom situation is no different than any other year and they should’ve put more consideration imo.