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thecinephale · 6 years

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Super Girl: The Effort to Look Female

Harrisonburg is not rural Virginia. It’s a city. It inhabits over 50,000 people, includes James Madison University, and has gone Democrat every presidential election since 2008. Still, I spent the last few weeks with my stomach in knots, working out a strategy for my weekend there. While the wedding I was attending was right on the JMU campus, our Airbnb was deeper into Rockingham County, my girlfriend’s grandma lives in Stuart’s Draft, and we had to drive through all sorts of places to get there and back from Brooklyn.

And as my friend Kelly said, “It’s a college town, sure, but there IS a Cracker Barrel.”

***

Next week marks my one year on hormones. Some trans people call this a second birthday, but for me that date is too nebulous. Do I claim the doctor’s appointment that acted as a first consultation? Or the first time I let a green oval of estrogen slowly dissolve under my tongue? Maybe it’s a month further when my bloodwork came back normal and I began taking a proper dosage?

I prefer to think of transitioning as a process with many beginnings. If I had to pick a date, it would be May 12, 2017, when I fully came out to myself. But even this erases the person I was at 16 who dressed in drag for the first time.

A year on hormones doesn’t feel like a landmark. It feels like I’m running out of time. Everyone is different, but I know generally there’s a timeline of when changes occur and when they stop. Some people claim it’s a four year process, but most people see the majority of changes in the first two years. I’m halfway there.

***

Sunday night the first trans superhero appeared in mainstream media. Nicole Maines portrayed the character of Nia Nal on The CW’s Supergirl in its fourth season premiere. Like hormone birthdays, this monumental event can’t be reduced to a single day. Nia isn’t a superhero yet, for now just a reporter working under Kara/Supergirl. And her transness has not been discussed. Both are known because they were announced at Comic Con back in July. The first trans superhero in mainstream media, played by a trans actress.

Nicole Maines knew she was trans when she was 3 years old. By the time she was able to vote, Maines had successfully sued her school district, ensuring basic human rights for all transgender students in her home state of Maine. The CW’s marketing team has played up the “real life hero plays on-screen hero” angle and they’re not wrong.

I knew I was trans 20 years later in my life, after I’d finished my first puberty and voted in two presidential elections. Maines and I have drastically different experiences of transness, and yet I spent the last several months watching 65 episodes of Supergirl (plus crossovers!) to prepare for her debut this week. Sure, most trans women don’t look like Nicole Maines. Most cis women don’t look like Melissa Benoist. This is how this works.

***

Once I decided to go on this trip to Virginia, I also had to decide how I was going to present. I’ve been, as they say, full-time since February. Some days I just wear jeans and a t-shirt, like most women, but it’s been a long time since I’ve actively pretended to be a man. It always made me feel awful and as my breasts grew (now at a C cup!) it became more and more difficult. My girlfriend’s extended family knew she was dating a woman, but didn’t know I was trans. I felt up to the challenge. This weekend I was just a woman. Period.

It’s been my experience that the most mindlessly validating individuals are those I’d least expect: catcallers and the elderly. My guess is they have limited knowledge of transness and classically feminine signifiers like a skirt or long hair makes their animal brain think woman. Of course, if they notice their “mistake” the catcallers will be especially cruel. Still, these experiences factored into my expectation that a high femme presentation would get me through this weekend.

I have no idea what I look like. I’m not sure I ever will. Intellectually I know my face has feminized, but I don’t know how much. I don’t know why sometimes I get correctly gendered, but mostly not. I don’t know if people are just humoring me or saying what they’re supposed to or being kind when they say “Miss.”

I appreciate this effort, but it’s not what I want. I want to look in the mirror and see a woman, I want the people in my life to look at me and see a woman, and I want strangers to look at me and see a woman.

In Virginia, nobody saw a woman.

***

The most trans-related scene in Nicole Maines’ first episode didn’t feature her at all. Martian J’onn J’onzz (David Harewood), recently retired, has joined an alien support group. While Supergirl has previously leaned hard on the alien as immigrant analogy, this scene isn’t the first time the show has equated alien status with queerness. Season two introduced an underground alien bar that was obviously meant to evoke the historic haven of the gay bar.

An alien that looks human begins by saying he’s at the group to share his happiness. “For the first time since I’ve been on this planet I feel like I fit in,” he says with a smile. “And it’s because of this.” He taps a device on the side of his head that reveals his true alien form, before switching back to the human veneer.

An older alien who looks human but has pointed ears and tusks on his forearms pushes back. “Who decides what’s normal? Why should we have to wear these devices that change our appearance so we can be tolerated?”

The first alien responds with the obvious: “Well, that’s easy for you to say. You just look like a Tolkien fan.”

***

Whether we want to look cis and whether we have the ability to look cis is certain to be a heated topic between trans people, because it’s often a heated topic within ourselves. Everyone is taking stock of what they have and what they want. And sometimes it’s impossible to distinguish what we truly need to feel okay and what society tells us we need. I identify as a binary trans woman, not because I believe in the gender binary, but because I’m close enough that I can live (for now) with that conformity. The more gender non-conforming you naturally are and the more gender non-conforming you desire to be the more external pressure you’ll receive.

I’m 5’5 and 110 pounds and within my first three months on hormones I’d developed breasts. These are my natural privileges. My body hair, facial hair, and Adam’s apple are my negatives. The curly hair on my head and my masculine but not that masculine face are up for debate. Every week I get an hour of electrolysis done on my face, which is the process of hot needles and tweezers manually killing every hair follicle. It’s more painful than it sounds. I’m one year into this process and have at least another year left. It costs $75 per session and my ability to afford that at all is another privilege, while the huge chunk of my income that takes up is another negative.

My facial hair is my biggest insecurity and whenever I get misgendered I assume that’s the reason. My mom regularly insists it’s my Adam’s apple and if I would just get that surgically reduced I’d be able to “pass.” The truth is probably more complex. A mix between stubble, the Adam’s apple, and the small characteristics that are targeted in a comprehensive surgical process known as Facial Feminization Surgery.

I’ve never wanted FFS. I can’t even decide if I want the Adam’s apple surgery. Going on hormones was such an easy, obvious choice for me, but these surgeries can feel like a betrayal of my transness. I don’t want to look cis. But I do want to look like a woman. I’ve started to worry that for the rest of the world those will always be the same thing.

Due to my size I thought I would be like the alien who looks pretty normal but just has tusks on his arms. I could proudly be like, “Look at my tusks/Adam’s apple! I’m an alien/trans. Deal with it.” Maybe I’m really the other alien, whose life is consumed by their alien status unless they change themselves. Or maybe we’re all both aliens and the support group is our minds. Two sides debating, one that looks in the mirror and sees a woman with some unique qualities, another that looks in the mirror and sees a man who needs to change.

***

I wasn’t misgendered until halfway through the wedding reception. I certainly got stares, but it was unclear whether those were lesbian couple stares or transgender stares. I chose to think lesbian couple. Last week my electrologist worked under my jaw so I could wear a full face of makeup. I wore a blue and white Kate Spade dress that was conservative yet flattering. I had on heels and my hair was up. It was the most femme I’ve ever looked. If a random catcaller correctly gendered me the week before when I was wearing a sweatshirt and no makeup, then surely my gender had registered now.

Again, the goal is not that no one knows I’m trans. The goal is for people, without thinking, to say “she.” If afterwards they go “Hmm is this one of those transgendereds I’ve read about?” then fine. But I want to win over the gut instinct. I know this is wrong. Our identities shouldn’t require any external validation. But they do.

Once I began interacting with people and there was cause to gender me, I did about 50/50. But even when correct there was a pause. I suddenly felt very foolish. This idea I had that I was my harshest critic, that the man I saw in the mirror would look like a woman to these Virginians, was painfully misguided. I look how I look. It will continue to change gradually as I continue hormones and electrolysis, and this may or may not change how others perceive me. I can then choose to alter my appearance further with surgeries or, simply, accept the way I look.

***

“There’s nothing slight about fashion,” Nia says pitching a story. “It’s one of the most visceral forms of art. What we choose to wear tells a story about who we are.” A trans woman believing in the power of presentation is not exactly groundbreaking. But the show has always been filled with clichés that work because they’re true.

What struck me most watching Maines’ debut was the immediate fondness I had for her. This, of course, has as much to do with talent and charisma as it does transness. Maines injects Nia with an immediate likability, an awkwardness that recalls season one Kara, but with an added vulnerability. I’d framed this character as a necessary first step. Sure, she looks like Nicole Maines… still a trans superhero! But watching her on screen I became very aware that I don’t know Nicole’s insecurities and I don’t know Nia’s. I don’t know anybody’s experience of transness except my own. I don’t even know what gender is or what it means to be trans. Nobody does. We may craft personal narratives to decipher our wants and needs. Cis society may craft narratives to understand, or, more commonly, to erase. But we don’t know. I don’t know why sometimes I look one way to some people and a different way to other people. I don’t know why I have some insecurities and not others. I don’t know why some clothes feel good. Or why some do not.

What I do know is that it felt good to see Nicole Maines on screen. I know that when Kara looked at her and said, “Oh my God. You’re me,” I thought, no. She’s me.

#Supergirl #trans #transgender #Nicole Maines #Melissa Benoist #Nia Nal #Kara Danvers #LGBTQIA #The CW #CWOpentoAll #weddings #cisnormativity #gender nonconformity #trans woman #trans women #gender dysphoria

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movingstoriesla · 5 years

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18. Monique L.

Monique is an urban planner who founded her own social justice urban planning firm and lives in North Hollywood with her wife. Originally from southern California, she grew up in Imperial County.

As a kid, Monique would walk to school with her younger sister and would also walk to play in a neighborhood park.

I grew up right across the street from a park and so, I often times found myself going to that park as a kid by myself. I loved playing basketball and there was a basketball court there. I was very excited about going. Where I lived, there's a four-way intersection but two of the crosswalks didn't have any stop signs. There wasn't a four-way cross, there were only two sides that had stop signs.

I was excited to go play. Being a kid, I thought I could beat the truck that was coming and so I ran across the street and I actually was hit by the truck. Luckily I wasn't run over. I ended up flying in the air and that the driver stopped in time. Skidded but didn't run me over me. So I flew, I lost my basketball, and I left a shoe there, and I was in shock.

I got up, ran across the street to go grab my basketball when I ran back home, which was two houses away from the intersection. The man who had hit me left his truck there running, ran after me into my home, and I finally collapsed in my living room floor. I'm crying, and my mom comes in and then she sees this man, who was at the time 22-years-old, standing in my living room and my legs are just full of blood. It was quite a traumatic experience. I remember the man who had hit me was just crying uncontrollably in my living room. My mom trying to figure out what's going, I tell her what had happened, they called 911, and the police are the first to arrive at the scene. They also called for an ambulance but the ambulance was taking too long, so they actually put me in the back of the police car, where the police took me to the to the hospital. I remember the experience of nurses having to hold me down as they're scrubbing asphalt from my legs, how painful that was, and I had to go to to several months of physical therapy to clean the wound and also regain strength in my legs. I was finally able to go back to school but I was the only kid on the playground with a walker.

I remember the person who had hit me, how much sadness and guilt he felt. He actually visited me in my home. He brought a coloring book and some little activities and stuff, to see how I was doing and I could just see even at that young age how much this incident really impacted his life. Of course it impacted mine and my family's life as well but even at that young age, I could really empathize with the person who had did this thing that no one in their wildest imagination would ever want to be part of something like that. I just remember feeling really sad for him and even being so young.

That was something that happened early on in my own neighborhood and for a long while after that, I was really fearful of crossing the street and I was still encouraged to walk to school by myself.

That trauma impacted me. It also still impacts me today. Every time I put on my pants in the morning, I see the scars on my right leg that are pretty big and prevalent. It always reminds me of that day but it also reminds me of this individual and also the pain that they experience and the guilt that they were experiencing in that moment as well.

When Monique was in the 5th grade, her family's home was seized by eminent domain and they moved to a more rural area.

There was a middle school nearby that was saying, “We need more more land so that we can expand the school.” We were displaced from our place when I was young, and that's really stuck with me a lot. Still to this day, the place where our family home sat there is a vacant lot.

I'm an urban planner but I come at this from a very specific point of reference with a very specific lens because when I hear people talk about their child being hurt or about their fear of their children getting hurt on the streets or when I hear about people talking about issues of displacement and what does it mean or look like, if Metro or LADOT is to make an investment in this community, will that lead to displacement? I not only hear these people, I empathize. I know what that trauma literally feels like. My own mobility story helps me to better empathize with individuals and also listen.

I had a paper route in the fourth and fifth grade, the street right next door to where I lived. As a kid, my mom really allowed me a lot of freedom to roam in the neighborhood, part of it was maybe not always necessarily having the capacity to be watching her kids. I would navigate the neighborhood on my bike as well, as I would literally throw papers from my newspaper bag. That's how I got to know a lot of people in the neighborhood as well and build those relationships, and also experience what it's like to be someone who's on a bike on the street and figure out how to navigate the streets on the bike was something that I had to learn quite early in that space.

After moving, from 6th-8th grade Monique worked on a farm and in place of conventional schooling, she had a couple of hours of self-education.

I would ride my bike on dirt roads and through different fields in order to get to where I needed to go, to get to work. I remember my mom saying, “We need an onion for dinner” and I remember that I'd pass this particular field down the road, so I can go out and ride my bike, and go pick up the onion.

My main form of getting to high school is that there would be a school bus that would come and pick up all the kids who lived in the country, so we would have to actually get on the bus at like, 6:45am. We were the first stop and then we would go on all these dirt roads to go pick up all these other kids on the way to school. Often times, being that early, I found myself going to sleep or just looking out the window and then getting a sense of these twisted country roads and really understanding my community and just the layout, the spatial layout of it, or do my last-minute homework [laughs].

The closest town that we lived by was about 5 miles away, so if I ever wanted to go into town and go hang out with a friend, I would actually ride my bike 5 miles to that town or 14 miles to the next town to go visit my friends. My bike was my primary mode of transportation.

Living on a farm, you have other responsibilities. For example, someone doesn't come and pick up the trash. There was a farm that was about 3 to 4 miles away, which had a dumpster and we had an agreement with them that we could throw our trash there, so it also required us to be not as wasteful because you had to be very mindful of how much trash we were putting in the bin. It was my responsibility to drive the truck to this place to go throw the trash. So I started driving the farm truck when I was 13 by myself, so that I can go throw our family's trash.

I'm so curious about the riding your bike 5 miles to town and the 14 miles to see your friends. What was that like that, biking through the countryside?

This was the time where we didn't have mobile apps. I didn’t even have a cell phone or anything at this time. We didn't even have Internet in our home when I was growing up, even though it was a thing, it was just not a thing in our home. When we would be on the bus, I would learn new routes because this is the route that the bus driver is going on, like, “Oh, I didn't know that dirt road was there” or it was through just trial and error. I'd go one time and I'm like, “Actually, that didn't feel good, the cars are really fast” but I know that there's an adjacent dirt road right here that feels much safer for me and so a lot of it was just kind of trial and error from doing it that.

Then I figured out roads or different shortcuts that would serve my needs better, it made me feel more safe and secure in that space. It wasn't like I consulted a mobile app and I was like, “Oh, this is the best route for someone on a bike!” It was just whatever felt best for me and just really being observant of my surroundings constantly, to be like, “Oh, is that a better place? No, is that a better place?” When you're a kid, you don't necessarily have any place to be, so you can explore and I was always, always exploring on my bike all the time. If I wasn't home, you would find me on my bike somewhere, exploring somewhere, someplace. A lot of trial and error.

After high school, Monique lived in San Diego and Orange County for college (“I left home with $20 in my pocket and a hamper full of clothes...I needed to work two to three jobs while I was in school.”)

My second year of college, I was living on campus and I needed to get to my job. I had one job on-campus, I worked in the cafeteria, washing dishes, and then I had a job off-campus as well, that was working at a juice shop. Where I went to school, there's a lot of privileged people and they would just leave their bikes behind the bottom of the stairs. Just leave them there, unlocked, whatever, and they would rarely even ride them. Here I was: it was about 2 miles to where I needed to go to work, I didn't always have bus fare, it would take me about an hour to walk to work and an hour to walk back home. So there would be times, where I would, let's just say, borrow-

Monique's bikeshare!

Exactly! It was my form of bike share. I would just borrow one of the many bikes that were just sitting under the stairs and I would look around and then I pull that bike out and then I'd get out of campus as soon as I could and ride the bike to go to my work. And then I'd come back, bring it back. That's how I got around my sophomore year.

My junior and senior year, this whole time I don't have access to a car. I was living off-campus and so a lot of it was relying upon public transportation and walking. I didn't even have enough money to purchase a bike. There would be times in which I had to make a decision: do I use my tips to pay for dinner or do I use my tips to to buy bus fare to go home?

Right after college, I was living in Santa Ana and I ended up purchasing a pretty cheap car. I needed it because I was going to Cal State Long Beach for grad school. I needed it to be able to go to school, because it would've taken me about an hour and a half or more just to get there, which wasn't going to work out for me because I also need to be working full-time. Working full-time and then also traveling 3 to 4 hours a day, and then trying to get to school, there was just no time to make those decisions and so I ended up getting a vehicle.

And then after grad school, I was only supposed to stay in my hometown for six months, and then I got involved in an environmental justice campaign. Stayed there for about three years. So I had that car that I had purchased, back in my hometown, which in a rural community, you need to get around because public transportation is really really poor. I was fortunate to have a car there and then that car actually broke down on me a few years later and then I didn't purchase another car.

As an adult, I moved back to Orange County after being in my hometown. I was back in Orange County, I didn't have a car, but I had a job in downtown LA. I lived in Santa Ana, I would take a bus to the Fullerton station from Santa Ana, which would be 45 minutes or so, then I would get on the Metrolink there and then take it for another 45 minutes until I got to downtown LA and then I would jump on the Red line from Union Station to get to 7th St. Metro. At the time I was doing policy analysis and advocacy on port and freight transportation issues on the Ports of Long Beach and LA, so I would have meetings at the port. What I would do is I would take a bus from Santa Ana to Cal State Long Beach and then I would sometimes take my bike and then I would then get on the Queen Mary tourism bus because that was the closest bus that can get me to the Port of LA and Long Beach. So from the Queen Mary bus, I would have to walk over to the port building and there's just no infrastructure for people walking or biking.

Inspired by working with environmental justice communities, she moved to Oregon for graduate school to study urban planning.

My entire time in planning school, I didn't have a car. I would take public transit and I'd also ride my bike, but the infrastructure is a lot better there in terms of transit and also even just pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure. It felt much safer, even though it would rain all the time. But I found my ability to move through the city much safer and much easier than I had experienced in Orange County or even in my hometown or up here in LA.

My last year in Oregon, I ended up getting a car. I was able to save enough money. I was commuting from Eugene to Salem, which is about a 50-mile drive. As my creative solution for that, because at first I didn't have a car when I first got a job at the state capital, I found that there was a vanpool system. If you were the lead coordinator of your vanpool system in your city, then you don't have to pay for service. It was a 15-passenger van, the passengers pay for service, and then that subsidizes your service but that means that you have to make sure that the van is being maintained, like oil changes, car washes, all that, and you have to be the primary driver of the van.

I would pick up people at 6:30 in the morning in Eugene and I would drive people to work. I would then park this van where I worked and then I would pick up people and then drive them back home and that was my way of being able to get to my job. It was kind of like a double job because I had to be fully awake that hour while I'm driving people and a lot times it was raining, and then fully awake as soon after you get out of work and being tired from a long day of work to drive the hour back home. Everybody else is sleeping or on their phone. My last year there, I got a car but then I ended up actually still doing this van service because the car was just too expensive to continue the maintenance on it and purchase the gas for everyday travel. So even through I got that car, I was still using the van.

After living in Oregon, Monique moved to San Diego and then to LA.

And then when I moved to San Diego, I had my car there for about a year and then I ended up selling it because again, I was trying to think of creative ways to save money. I was working at the time on a transportation justice campaign, so I was actually riding transit a lot, riding my bike a lot, also just as a form of research too, to better understand what folks are experiencing. So I did up selling my car and since then, I've gotten married and my wife and I now share a car.

She primarily uses it for work but there are times when I need it. Like when I need to do a pop-up engagement activity. I can't carry a table with me on the bus or my materials or supplies, so I'll use it occasionally to help with that. We installed a really nice bike rack on the back of our car, kind of like the ones that are on the buses at the front that you pull down, so it's really easy to put my bike on it. Often times the way we navigate the city is if we're going to go to an event that night, I'll meet her at the event and I just easily just put my bike on the back and then we come home together.

We've been able to make a one-car family work out really nicely, which is awesome because we both don't feel the need to have another vehicle, which saves us money. We're always constantly considering, “Should we get rid of it?” but I acknowledge it's a privilege to have and it is nice sometimes to be able to be like, “Let's drive the car today” or if we're running late to someplace and it's like, “Okay, I think we need to drive instead.” On the weekends we try to minimize our driving and try to be as mindful as possible. She's also very multimodal and values that, which is really important to have a partner that has that similar perspective on mobility.

But for myself, I navigate the city primarily through transit and biking and walking, and in that order. I'm more so on transit than I am on my bike or I am walking and I feel like I have perhaps maybe a different relationship to the city as a result of that and a different relationship to the people in the city too and even the types of people in the city.

I intentionally build those moments into my day, so those are my times when I'm reflecting on something that maybe has been really challenging for me in that particular time in my life or I want to listen to a podcast I've been dying to listen to or just chill and listen to some music or write poetry on my bike as I'm going there. I always try to build into my week those moments, where I intentionally take a longer ride to get to my destination. I could take transit instead but it helps me to slow down a bit and provide those spaces of rejuvenation, those spaces of healing, those spaces of just reflection, or just even building in exploration. It also helps me not pack as many meetings into my day and it helps me set healthy boundaries for time as well.

What is one thing you'd want to improve about transportation in LA?

Ideal mobility in LA would be in which the most vulnerable have three things. First, that they have the freedom to move around. In a lot of cases for the most vulnerable, that means free access to transit. The second thing would be that it's fast, that people can get to where they need to go quickly because there's good connections, because the frequency of transit is much more often. And then the other is that people are able to travel in fearlessness. What I mean by that is if you are an undocumented woman or if you are a black man, that you can be in a space and be fearless in that space, not have to fear that someone is going to come to harm you physically or harm your family by removing you. Our transportation system is not set up that way. Also in terms of being fearless in space is that, if you look at the high-injury network, the Vision Zero network where people are getting most hit, it is usually in low-income communities of color. Can a mother feel fearless in letting her 12-year-old walk across the street in their neighborhood or not, because the next-door neighbor kid got hit?

Ideal transportation in LA, for me, would be one that moves towards mobility justice, that is free, fast, and fearless at the end of the day. I've been thinking about patterns of transportation planning in LA that have led to unjust outcomes when it comes to planning and transportation. If an innovation leads to displacement, it's not innovative. If innovation leads to impacting the health and safety of community members, particularly the most vulnerable, low-income communities of color, then it's not innovative. If an innovation limits mobility of the most vulnerable, than it's not innovative. If state violence is used as form of enforcement to uphold that “innovation”, it's not innovative. If there was a lack of truly and genuine community engagement in developing that innovation, then it's not innovative. It's repeating the negative types of mobility planning that have consistently happened throughout LA

And we need to think about like- at a particular point in time, freeways were innovative. What is the thing today that we're going to say is innovative but then it repeats these unjust patterns? Then 50 years from now, we'll reflect back and be like, “Oh yeah, that was very unjust.”

What do you like about transportation in LA?

I actually really love the people that are riding transit, either riding transit or walking on the street or on their bikes. I love when I get on the Red line and there's this guy who wears a bowtie, he has bells, he walks around with this big bushel of incense, and it smells so good. He's my favorite person I see on the transit. If you ever find him, you need to write his story! I love his presence.

I love seeing lovers on transit holding hands and in their own little world, moms with kids and seeing kids playing on the bus and navigating that space. I love as well when I am on my bike or I am walking, when I see people that I know and having that friendly wave where I feel like I don't get that as much when I'm in a vehicle. That's what I like about mobility in LA is essentially the people and just sitting back and seeing all those human interactions take place, whether it be on the street or inside a bus or train.

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stephenmccull · 3 years

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What the Slowing Vaccine Rates Mean for One Rural Montana County

KALISPELL, Mont. — The covid vaccination operation at the Flathead County fairgrounds can dole out 1,000 doses in seven hours. But demand has plummeted recently, down to fewer than 70 requests for the shots a day.

This story also ran on NPR. It can be republished for free.

So, at the start of May, the northwestern Montana county dropped its mass vaccination offerings from three to two clinics a week. Though most of those eligible in the county haven’t yet gotten a dose, during the final Thursday clinic on April 29, few cars pulled up and nurses had time to chat between patients.

“It’s a trickle,” said Flathead City-County Health Officer Joe Russell. “Not enough people will get vaccinated to reach herd immunity, not in Flathead County and maybe not in Montana.”

Daily covid vaccination rates are falling nationwide. Gaps in vaccine uptake are starting to show, especially in rural America. That leaves many communities grappling with an imperfect pandemic endgame.

Flathead stands out as one of Montana’s most populated counties to fall behind. There, 25% of people had been fully vaccinated by May 10. To compare, nearly 33% of Montanans were fully vaccinated, and that figure is closer to 35% nationwide.

Flathead County is a medical destination for the top corner of the state, a gateway to Glacier National Park and neighbor to two tribal nations. It’s Montana’s fourth-largest county by population with more than 103,000 people, yet it’s rural — 18 people per square mile. It’s also conservative, with the majority of residents voting for former President Donald Trump last year. National polling has shown rural Americans and Republicans to be among the most resistant to getting vaccines.

Russell said he hopes at least 40% of Flathead County residents eventually get the shots. That’s well below the 70% to 80% believed to be needed to create widespread protection from the pathogen that has stalled normal life.

Public health experts worry about reservoirs of the virus fueling outbreaks. That possibility further strains year-old tensions in places such as Flathead County, where strangers and family members alike can be split on whether the virus is a threat and the decision to wear a mask marks where people stand. Covid vaccines are the latest phase of that divide.

Cameron Gibbons, who lives outside Kalispell, has worried about how covid could affect her 13-year-old son. He’s had coughs turn into lung infections that landed him in the emergency room for trouble breathing, so the family has played it safe during the pandemic.

“We haven’t seen family in a long time because they haven’t chosen to be careful, which is OK, as long as when we get back to normal we can all set our differences aside,” Gibbons said. “Now there’s this judgment of ‘Oh, you got the vaccine.’”

Some of Montana’s most vaccinated places overlap with tribal nations. Chelsea Kleinmeyer, the health director of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said the tribes’ members seemed to largely accept vaccines after the pandemic disproportionately sickened and killed Native Americans. But the reservation crosses four counties, including Flathead.

“We travel to those counties every single day,” Kleinmeyer said. “It goes back to: Are we really protected against this virus, these variants, if we don’t achieve herd immunity?”

States are shifting from mass clinics to bringing shots to where people are, but that strategy, too, can be unpredictable. The same day of the county’s final Thursday clinic, the local health system hosted a walk-in clinic in the middle of the Flathead Valley Community College campus in Kalispell. Most of the chairs for people to wait 15 minutes post-shot remained empty and, by early afternoon, the clinic had to send 200 doses to the county health department to avoid wastage.

Although organizers had hoped to vaccinate at least 100 people that day, Audra Saranto, a registered nurse who heads Kalispell Regional Healthcare’s vaccination team, said she counts the college event as a success — 50 people got vaccines who might otherwise not have.

The health system may host similar clinics at major job sites, like for a lumber company. A mobile team will offer shots in busy places like farmers markets, even if it means risking people not following up for a second dose.

It’s not surprising that covid vaccinations aren’t universally accepted yet in this divided county. Flathead’s board of health deadlocked over mask rules and crowd size limits amid the area’s worst covid outbreaks. Two top county health officials resigned in the past year. Thousands of people have signed dueling petitions to remove or keep one board of health member who had stirred doubt over covid-19 cases and opposed mask rules.

And the city of Kalispell is home to state Sen. Keith Regier, a Republican who repeated false claims on the Senate floor last month that covid vaccines may contain microchips to track people. Regier said in an interview he was “offering caution in how we progress with this vaccination.”

Meanwhile, Whitefish, roughly a 20-minute drive from Kalispell, has maintained a mask ordinance that has outlasted the statewide mandate. Banners downtown show local leaders asking people to mask up so people can pray together and keep schools open. Even so, the rule isn’t always followed there.

At the county’s final Thursday clinic, John Calhoun, 67, undid his pearl snap shirt to get his second shot and joked with the nurse, “I’m doing this so Joe Biden doesn’t throw me in jail.”

Calhoun said he hopes being vaccinated will help him ease tensions the next time someone tells him to wear a mask. He believes covid-19 is real but doesn’t think it’s as serious as health officials claim, even though he has diabetes, a risk factor for covid complications.

“Nothing seems to bother me all that bad,” Calhoun said. “I had a horse fall on me, broke my hip, and once stabbed myself with a hunting knife. All that caused me a bit of a problem, but other stuff just doesn’t bother me.”

He decided to get the shot after an old high school friend with a degree in biochemistry told him it was important — an opinion Calhoun trusted over those of government-paid experts and liberal politicians who he said have used the pandemic to grab more power.

Calhoun said he’s still trying to talk his wife, Lola, into getting vaccinated to play it safe: “She’s one of those ladies that you don’t talk her into much.”

Lola Calhoun, 59, said she got her shingles vaccine within the past year because she trusts the protection it offers. When it comes to covid, she said she’d rather risk the virus than be injected with vaccines that feel too new, despite decades of research underpinning their unprecedented development.

“The covid vaccine to me is experimental and we are the case studies,” she said. “Maybe a year from now, I’ll see what happens to these people who got the vaccine.”

On a recent evening, Ray Sederdahl, 63, sat on his girlfriend’s Kalispell porch while his grandkids picked dandelions. The Air Force veteran said even if he wasn’t skeptical of the vaccines, he thinks of covid as an illness that’s much like the flu.

“The VA keeps trying to get me to schedule an appointment and I just say, ‘At this time, I’ll pass,’” Sederdahl said. “A lot of the older vets I talk to, they didn’t get it either, and they’re not gonna get it.”

To Sederdahl, things feel normal enough. Businesses are open and he doesn’t have to wear a mask most places.

Erica Lengacher, an intensive care unit nurse in Kalispell who has worked covid units and vaccine clinics, said she’s sad but not surprised that vaccine rates are slowing. But, she said, the overall feeling at the county’s vaccine clinics is hopefulness — people are still showing up, even if the crowds are smaller.

Lengacher said Flathead was hit so hard this winter, she hopes some natural immunity from those already infected, along with the growing vaccination levels, will be enough to hold off further outbreaks over the next few months.

“Just given our lifestyle — single-family homes, no public transportation, a few people per square mile — we may get away with it,” Lengacher said. “But there’s a big question mark of how variants show up here. There are just a lot of big question marks.”

As of May 10, the county had 116 confirmed active cases of covid, up from 71 on April 23.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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What the Slowing Vaccine Rates Mean for One Rural Montana County published first on https://smartdrinkingweb.weebly.com/

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classof99 · 3 years

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A TALE OF TWO PITCHERS (a true story)

I hate to put people in a box, but Boyd was a meathead straight out of central casting. I only ever had a class or two with him during high school but he was easy to figure out. Socially Boyd oozed a certain playful arrogance which many found either charming or gross. He was tall and lean with an all-American jaw and perfect sandy blonde hair. His sense of humor generally floated between third and fourth grade. He loved the ladies but, most of all, he loved baseball.

You see, my high school always had a great tradition with baseball. Whether it was the coaching, name recognition, or just dumb luck, they truly excelled over the years. Even as I write this now, we have three alumni currently playing in the major leagues.

I didn’t keep tabs on the baseball team but ignorance was difficult to maintain. During the spring, the morning announcements almost always included an update on the team’s latest victory. Senior girls hung homemade posters around school with their favorite players’ number and words of encouragement and cooked up homemade treats on game days.

But, as the universe would have it, Boyd was only our SECOND best pitcher.

As a freshman, Boyd was the starting pitcher for the junior varsity team. Sophomore year he made varsity which was no small feat considering how stacked the team was with talent.

But, thirty miles outside of town, at a rural county high school, there was another young pitcher, also a sophomore, who was turning heads... Mark.

Mark was affable if dense, not blessed with a great deal of personality. He was shorter than Boyd, stockier, and kept his brown hair buzzed around the sides. Military style. But what Mark lacked in personality, he more than made up for with his left arm. At the age of 16, NATIONAL BASEBALL PUBLICATIONS named Mark as a “Player to Watch”.

How exactly Mark came to play at our school is still the stuff of speculation & mystery. Rumor had it that a wealthy alumni (and former baseball player) offered to pay Mark’s tuition if he would transfer after an outstanding year playing “out in the sticks” (yes, we were a low-key private school. I liked to refer to us as the “blue collar private school” as there were two other private high schools in town with tuitions 3 to 4 times higher). To this day, Brian Goodlow is rather obsessed with the matter, playing up the cloak-and-dagger aspect. I suspect he’s resentful of not having had a mysterious wealthy benefactor take an interest in him.

On the mound, a rivalry was brewing. At least, in Boyd’s mind. Sophomore year began with Mark pitching for the varsity baseball team. Boyd was mostly relegated to first base and his opportunities to pitch over the next three years were few and far between, usually during a 3-game week when the coaches thought it best to rest Mark’s arm.

For the next three years, Mark was selected as All-City by the local paper. Junior year, NATIONAL BASEBALL PUBLICATIONS named Mark as one of the best high school pitchers in the country. In. The. Country. (It was curious, however, that Boyd was voted Most Athletic by our class. Maybe we knew something everyone else didn’t…)

As graduation approached, Mark was offered a full college athletic scholarship to BIG STATE SCHOOL #1. BIG STATE SCHOOL #1 was an elite college baseball powerhouse. They had been to the last few College World Series and had an unequaled track record of players making the daunting leap into the majors. It was exactly where any high school baseball player would have wanted to be.

Boyd, too, was offered a college scholarship. To BIG STATE SCHOOL #2. Not on the same level as BIG STATE SCHOOL #1, but still something to be proud of. Boyd went in with the expectation that he’d play first base, as he’d done in high school but the coaches thought it best to redshirt him for his freshmen year.

Sophomore year of college arrived and Mark was a starting pitcher at BIG STATE SCHOOL #1. He was recognized around campus and had turned into something of a big shot although, to his credit, he maintained a sense of small town modesty.

That same year, the coaches at BIG STATE SCHOOL #2 had more first base talent than they knew what to do with so, in an effort to get Boyd more playing time, they offered him a spot in the pitching rotation. He jumped at the opportunity.

Both Boyd and Mark pitched for their respective teams the last two years of college. Both were well respected, both broke some of their school’s pitching records, and both were drafted into the minors. But that’s where their stories diverge.

Within two and a half seasons of minor league action, Boyd broke through to the majors. He was called up by WILDLY POPULAR MAJOR LEAGUE TEAM and shined when given the opportunity to play. Less than five years later, I watched Boyd throw the final pitch of the final game of the BIG ONE and win it all.

Yes, that BIG ONE.

Boyd’s stature soared. He was on the cover of MAJOR SPORTS MAGAZINE (twice!) and even represented his entire team as the guest on SYNDICATED LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW. Less than ten years after high school graduation, Boyd had a breathtaking upward trajectory and attained the status of true sports rock icon. At least, for the moment.

Mark spent a couple more years toiling in the minor leagues and called it a career. For whatever reason, things just didn’t quite click. Last I heard, he was working a 9 to 5, like the rest of us.

And there’s no disrespect to Mark here. Let’s be clear about that. Working hard and doing everything you can to make your dreams come true is, essentially, all you can ever do. If you’re paying attention, that’s one of those hallowed platitudes from the commencement speech.

Boyd continued to play in the majors for a few more seasons, got traded around, signed a new contract for somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 million (or so it was reported) but, as his ability and stature slowly declined, his playful arrogance morphed into a short fuse and a bad temper. He eventually cut off all contact with anyone from school. He’d let his high school best friend know their friendship was over when he “no-called, no-showed” to his wedding.

Boyd lost significant portion of his fan base when, at a home game, he was called off the mound after a streak of soft pitches. After some “boos” from the locals, he flagrantly grabbed his crotch at the stands. This didn’t exactly endear him to the home crowd.

In 2016, seventeen years after high school graduation, Boyd retired from professional baseball. At the time, a POPULAR SPORTS WEBSITE voted him one of the most disliked players in the history of the major league.

GARY’S PLATITUDE

Winning rarely teaches us anything ourselves – it is often through failing that we come to any sort of significant self-discovery.

BIT OF WISDOM

Don’t give up on yourself if you don’t succeed early on. But if you do make it, just try and not be a jerk, okay?

#baseball #high school ball #pitching #pitcher #high school #MLB #true story #high school graduation #graduation #what ever happened to #what became of #class of '99 #class of 99 #class of 1999 #class of 2020 #class of 2021

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multipleservicelisting · 3 years

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A Report Card for U.S. Schools

This is the Coronavirus Schools Briefing, a guide to the seismic changes in U.S. education that are taking place during the pandemic. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.

For the past few months, my colleagues have worked on a sweeping project on the state of American education. They wanted to address a simple question, said James Dao, a national editor at The Times who oversees education coverage: “Are American children getting adequate schooling in the pandemic?”

“It is the most basic of questions,” he continued. “And yet in a country with 13,000 self-governing school districts setting 13,000 educational policies, one that is impossible to answer.”

Inconsistency and disruption have been the only constants. Nearly every district in the U.S. has had to forge its own way and use its own safety standard; the Trump administration and the federal government provided little guidance or data.

So instead of trying to take a numbers-driven approach, James said, “we set a more humble ambition for ourselves: to provide snapshots of seven districts that, together, provide a cross section of America in all its diversity.”

Some students have been in school buildings since the fall, while others haven’t seen a classroom since March 2020. Some split their time between remote and in-person instruction. There is only one common link: However students are learning right now, it has been a hard time for everyone.

But not everyone has struggled equally. Districts serving high percentages of nonwhite or poor students were significantly more likely to remain fully remote this fall. Many reported higher proportions of students failing classes, which many critics have reframed as classes that failed students.

“We believe these snapshots bring us closer to understanding how educators, parents and students are navigating what has arguably been the most disrupted school year since World War II,” James said.

Here’s a condensed version of each district profiled, but we strongly suggest you read it in full.

Los Angeles

Most students in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second largest, have not been in classrooms since March. Now, high rates of virus transmission and overwhelmed hospitals dominate headlines. The majority-Latino district will keep learning remotely for the foreseeable future.

Achievement gaps are widening. Compared with last year, D’s and F’s increased 15 percent among high school students, and reading proficiency dropped 10 percent among elementary school students, Austin Beutner, the superintendent, said.

“There is just no question this is disproportionately hurting students who can least afford it,” he said.

Cherokee County, Ga.

In August, schools opened in Cherokee County, Ga. to crowded hallways, packed football games and optional mask requirements. Contagion was swift: Within the first two weeks, nearly 1,200 students had to quarantine in the majority-white, Republican-leaning district outside Atlanta.

Many parents said that their children benefited from attending school in person. But by mid-December, more than 1,000 students and staff members had tested positive. After winter break, the entire district closed for at least two weeks because there were too many teachers in quarantine.

“This is what you get when you don’t try to protect the people in the schools,” said Lizzy Palermo, 17, who said she was one of few students to consistently wear a mask.

Wausau, Wis., a small, majority-white city, became a flash point for a parent-teacher fight over open classrooms.

After starting classes virtually, the school board bowed to community pressure and voted to open schools to students in November — just as the pandemic was surging across the state. Tensions flared.

“She didn’t swear at me, but she yelled,” one member of the school board remembered, after a parent harassed her. “I had to call the police.”

Since in-person classes began, hundreds of students and staff members have moved between in-person and remote learning, after possible exposures.

Washington, D.C.

Students in the District of Columbia Public Schools, a majority Black district, haven’t learned in classrooms since March. Many are “chronically absent” — they rarely log in to class.

The impact on learning is starting to show: A recent study of assessment scores this fall found students were, on average, four months behind in math and one month behind in reading. Black students had even more distance to cover.

At one public charter school, teachers make house calls to try to find missing students. “We try to let them know we’re not focused on judging,” a teacher said.

Providence, R.I.

This summer, Gov. Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island deployed the National Guard to help reopen schools for in-person learning. Remote teaching would disadvantage nonwhite and low income students and that was not an option, she said.

In Providence, more than 70 percent of the district’s majority Latino and Black students returned to their classrooms. That’s rare. In other American cities, Black and Latino families have by and large elected to keep their children learning from home.

Even as the state battles a dangerous new surge, classrooms are open. “I am grateful that she’s back in person,” one parent said about her daughter.

Lubbock, Texas

By the end of the first grading period, 77 percent of high school students in the Roosevelt Independent School District were failing at least one class. Those who opted to attend in person, by contrast, were mostly passing.

So the tiny, rural, mostly Latino district in West Texas made the fraught decision to require all students to return to classrooms. Academic performance rose, but so did infections. About a third of staff have tested positive this school year.

Still, teachers and administrators said it’s the best thing for their students. “This works for us in our little school district,” the superintendent said. “It’s not going to work everywhere.”

Edison, N.J.

Edison, N.J., a large suburban district where a majority of the students are Asian, has struggled to make hybrid education work.

Stephanie Rasimowicz, a math teacher, must balance teaching a handful of in-person (and socially distanced students) while attending to nearly 20 learning online. “Even if their cameras are on, you still don’t know exactly what they’re doing,” she said of her remote students.

Hybrid learning will always be a compromise.

“There’s no book for this,” a principal said. “The word of the year is ‘fluid.’”

Around the country

College update

The University of Wisconsin public college system could be in long-term financial trouble.

Brown University plans to hold commencement in person for graduates, but family and guests will attend virtually.

Baylor University will require weekly coronavirus tests for students. Those who don’t comply could be locked out of campus Wi-Fi.

A good read: The Chicago Tribune checked in with college athletes at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois struggling with their mental health after an interrupted season. “I really, really missed just having a schedule,” one volleyball player said. It’s not just athletes: A new study found that college students nationwide are grappling with more depression and anxiety.

K-12 update

Chicago will begin vaccinating teachers by mid-February.

President Biden signed an executive order designed to reopen schools. He’s pushing for more testing, more personal protective equipment, more data and more vaccines.

Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland urged schools to reopen by March. “There is no public health reason for county school boards to keep students out of schools,” he said.

A neat series: The Institute for Nonprofit News has been working with newsrooms around the country to look into rural schools right now. The most recent piece comes from New Mexico In Depth, previewing the spring semester.

A good listen: Evelyn Lauer, a high school teacher, hosts a podcast called “Beyond the Bell” where she interviews other educators. This week, she spoke with Sachin J. Jhunjhunwala, a math teacher. It’s a zippy, insightful conversation.

A good read: There has been a nationwide surge of children in mental health crisis during the pandemic. One 11-year-old boy in Texas considered suicide after months of remote learning.

Tip: Podcasts for kids

At this point, we’re all looking for anything to entertain little ones at home. Podcasts geared toward children might be a saving grace.

“Girl Tales” offers feminist fairy tales, performed by actors and playwrights. “What If World” is fantastical improv. And “Animal Sound Safari” is, well, just what it sounds like. Plug in, sit back and enjoy.

Multiple Service Listing for Business Owners | Tools to Grow Your Local Business

www.MultipleServiceListing.com

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#multiple #service #listing #news #local #business #ads #near #me

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billyagogo · 3 years

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Even from childhood bedrooms, socially distanced students work to get out the vote

New Post has been published on https://newsprofixpro.com/moxie/2020/10/31/even-from-childhood-bedrooms-socially-distanced-students-work-to-get-out-the-vote/

Even from childhood bedrooms, socially distanced students work to get out the vote

When Lauren Guzowski makes calls to potential voters in this election season, sometimes she also provides a bit of live music in the background — perhaps the guitar chords of “Stairway to Heaven.”

“I’ve got a little brother who loves his electric guitar,” she said. “So sometimes I’ll be phone-banking and you’ll hear a little Led Zeppelin.”

Guzowski, 19, is a sophomore at George Washington University. Like many students her age, the COVID-19 pandemic means she’s spending this semester not in a dorm room but back home, living with her parents in Pittsburgh.

Yet on top of online coursework for her political science degree — including a “very topical” class called “The American Presidency” — Guzowski works as deputy director of campaign operations for her school’s College Democrats chapter. Amid parents walking into her room unannounced and, yes, the occasional guitar solo, she’s spending her quarantine digitally organizing “get out the vote” efforts for campaigns across the country.

“My field office is my bedroom,” she said.

Guzowski is not alone. Young people nationwide — cooped up indoors, their social lives, work, school and housing disrupted — have spent the weeks before Nov. 3 making calls, sending texts and even hand-writing letters to influence voters in what some see as a potentially generation-defining election.

Most of the young activists The Times spoke with were Democrats. This tracks with polling from the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, which in mid-June found that 68% of registered voters between 18 to 29 support former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, versus 28% who support President Trump.

With his unexpected surplus of free time, 22-year-old Dylan Cohen, a recent graduate of USC, read up on politics and, working through a volunteer group called Postcards to Voters, wrote dozens of letters to Georgia voters in support of Democrat Jon Ossoff’s campaign to unseat Republican Sen. David Perdue. He also applied to be a poll worker, but hadn’t yet heard back.

“If I were still a senior in college and everything was normal, and I could have chosen between spending 45 minutes to go get drinks with a friend at a bar or hand-write letters, I would have just gone to the bar and gotten beer,” Cohen said.

Cohen’s cross-continent outreach — from his parents’ house in Malibu to voters in Georgia — is standard for pandemic-era campaign work, especially among Democrats. Unlike many Republicans, Democrats generally consider in-person door-knocking a potentially deadly tactic amid the coronavirus contagion, and many campaigns have moved their efforts online — meaning that anyone, anywhere, can hop on to canvass voters virtually.

“Before, if the campaign was doing a phone bank, they would have just done it in person [and] I would not have been able to join,” said Tyler Kusma, a George Washington University senior who’s moved home to Pennsylvania. “Now it’s a Zoom call, so it doesn’t really matter if I’m from Scranton or down the road.”

That flexibility means Kusma, 22, who’s president of GW for Biden, can pick and choose online which other campaigns to help. In addition to supporting his local member of Congress, he’s texted or called voters in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana and Texas on behalf of various candidates on those states’ ballots.

With location no barrier to entry, choosing where to volunteer becomes a more strategic decision.

Agnes Mok, a senior at Pomona College who moved to Washington, D.C., after her classes went online, chose to work with the liberal super PAC Flip the West after deciding that “flipping the Senate was going to be more important … than [volunteering for] other individual candidates,” she said. David Pernick of Silver Lake said he chose “empirically” to phone-bank for Iowa Senate candidate Theresa Greenfield, the Democrat challenging Republican Sen. Joni Ernst.

“I’m like, ‘OK, what are really close races in really small states?’ Because the smaller the state, the more impact each call has, right?” said Pernick, 29, who had time to spare after his test preparation and tutoring business slowed down. “I was thinking Iowa versus Montana, and I just, flip of a coin, decided to go with Iowa.”

For other young volunteers, campaign work is a way to stay socially active. Rhea Trainson, who leads Pennsylvania college outreach for the progressive organizing group Swing Left, said digital campaign events offer a chance to connect with friends and chat with peers.

“We’ve really started advertising these as parties in their own way, and having fun themes for events,” said Trainson, 21. “I know one of my favorite events that I hosted was a Timothée Chalamet costume contest and letter-writing event.”

For some students, moving back home means sharing a roof with family members of different political persuasions. Guzowski said her father is a Republican, and family discussions can sometimes get “a little heated.”

“I think they’re really worthy discussions,” she said. “[It’s] very different than being on a college campus with a bunch of other poli-sci majors.”

While pandemic-related adjustments have in some ways made volunteering easier, voting itself can be more complicated for college and post-college young people who’ve relocated. For an extreme case, consider Iris Chen.

Chen, a sophomore at Atlanta’s Emory University, took the semester off and moved to a cousin’s house in South Lake Tahoe to work, hike and explore. In late July, she filed to receive her Georgia absentee ballot at the Tahoe house, but later discovered that the area is too rural and isolated to receive mail, as a worker at a local post office explained.

Chen’s ballot was delivered to Tahoe, then bounced back to Georgia. She requested a second ballot, and drove to Sacramento for an affidavit swearing she wouldn’t use the first one, signed it and faxed it back to Georgia. A state website showed that a second ballot was shipped to Sacramento on Oct. 7.

Chen hadn’t received it by Friday, more than three weeks later. Meanwhile, she’d bought plane tickets to fly to Atlanta for in-person early voting; Friday was the last day to do so. “It’s much more difficult [to vote] than I thought for my first election,” she said. But once she got to her polling place in Atlanta, “it went really smoothly.”

Even for students who still live in the state where they’re registered, relocations can upend voting arrangements.

Chris Wig, chair of the Democratic Party of Lane County, Ore. — home to the University of Oregon, which is primarily online through the winter — said the party is seeing “a diffusion of Democratic voters” away from the county as some students move home and re-register there. Because Lane County is safely blue, Wig said, the shift of pro-Democratic students to other areas of the state can only help the party.

Not all college towns are experiencing such changes. William Ellis, the Republican Party chairman in Monroe County, Ind., said that enough Indiana University Bloomington students have remained on campus that he hasn’t “seen any changes to the student dynamic with voting.” And Scott Grabins, Republican Party chair in Dane County, Wis., said that the College Republicans of the University of Wisconsin-Madison “continue to be engaged with campaign activities.”

But for many of America’s youngest voters, the pandemic has redefined if, how and why they engage with politics.

“I would offer a broad apology for how many phone calls people are getting, … but I think it’s really worthwhile work,” Guzowski said. “I hope that people know that, a lot of the time, it’s young people and kids who are on the other end of those phone calls, doing the best that they can.”

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techcrunchappcom · 4 years

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New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/the-latest-indias-daily-cases-continue-to-slow-down-national-news/

The Latest: India's daily cases continue to slow down | National News

NEW DELHI — India reported 85,362 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours with infections slowing down this month.

The Health Ministry raised the nation’s confirmed total to more than 5.9 million on Saturday. It said 1,089 more people died in the past 24 hours, for a total of 93,379.

Authorities have decided to hold the first legislative election in Bihar state since the pandemic. Nearly 72 million people are eligible to cast votes during three days beginning the end of October with social distancing restrictions.

The average new cases in India have fallen by around 7,000 daily in the past week, after reaching a record of 97,894 on Sept. 16. However, authorities are preparing for a major religious festival season beginning next month that generally sees huge congregations in temples and shopping districts.

———

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

— Virus cases rise in US heartland, home to anti-mask feelings

— California virus hospitalizations could surge in next month

— Madrid resists government pressure to extend soft lockdown

— Cities around the U.K. are imposing new coronavirus restrictions as they race to slow the spread of COVID-19, and London could be next. The city of Leeds in northern England barred people from meeting members of other households indoors or in private backyards.

— Angry restaurant and bar owners have demonstrated in Marseille to challenge a French government order to close all public venues as of Saturday to battle resurgent virus infections.

— President Donald Trump’s remarks at a campaign event in Ohio this week reverberated all the way to a sparkling waterfront in Florida, where senior citizens parsed his assessment of the coronavirus pandemic.

———

Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

———

HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

MELBOURNE, Australia — The health minister in Australia’s Victoria state has resigned in the fallout from an inquiry into why security guards were used instead of police or the military at quarantine hotels. Lapses in security at the hotels were given as the major reason for a second wave of COVID-19 cases.

Victoria reported just one more coronavirus death as Melbourne’s new case average continued to fall. The death took the state toll to 782 and the national figure to 870. There were 12 new cases, while Melbourne’s 14-day average fell again on Saturday to 23.6.

Melburnians, who have been in lockdown for more than a month, are waiting for the easing of restrictions on Monday. It’s expected to include a staged return to school for some students and outdoor gatherings of five people from two households.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos on Saturday issued a statement confirming her resignation, just a day after Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews gave evidence to the inquiry and pointed partial blame at Mikakos for her role in the bungled quarantine program.

“I am disappointed that my integrity has sought to be undermined,” she wrote in a one-page statement. “I have never shirked my responsibility.” She said she also plans to resign from Victoria Parliament.

Mikakos appears to be taking the blame when no one else would. After six weeks of hearings into the hotel inquiry, it was still not known who made the decision to use security guards instead of police or soldiers, which were used in other Australian states.

———

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California has begun to see concerning upticks in coronavirus data after a period of decline.

The state health secretary said Friday that there have been increases in the number of newly confirmed cases, hospital emergency department visits for COVID-19 and new hospitalizations for confirmed or suspected cases.

Dr. Mark Ghaly says the trends appear largely attributable to the Labor Day holiday and could lead to an 89% increase in hospitalizations in the next month.

Ghaly notes the state is heading into another hot weekend, which could increase people gathering with others. He urged renewed efforts to prevent spread.

———

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has reported 61 new cases of the coronavirus, the first time in four days its daily increase has been below 100 as officials urges citizens to be vigilant ahead of a major holiday break.

The numbers released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Saturday brought the national caseload to 23,516 cases, including 399 deaths.

Health officials say the annual Chuseok harvest festival that begins Wednesday and continues through next weekend will be a critical period in the country’s anti-virus campaign. Millions of South Koreans usually travel across the country during Chuseok to visit relatives, but officials are pleading for people stay home this year to help stem transmissions.

———

NEW YORK — New York City’s health commissioner has issued an order reiterating that private schools in some neighborhoods have to follow pandemic safety protocols.

The directive comes amid concerns about an uptick in coronavirus cases in certain Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods with large Orthodox Jewish populations.

The order says that nonpublic schools in the specified areas must maintain six feet of distance between people and that face coverings are required in all buildings.

New York City’s current overall infection rate remains low, but official figures indicate the affected neighborhoods accounted for 20% of the city’s coronavirus cases in recent weeks.

————

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania has asked a federal appeals court to put on hold a ruling that found Gov. Tom Wolf’s pandemic restrictions on gatherings to be unconstitutional.

Officials told the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday that medical researchers have determined that so-called superspreader events where many people gather are driving the spread of the coronavirus.

The move came as the governor accused President Donald Trump of blatantly disregarding social distancing and mask requirements during frequent campaign rallies in Pennsylvania, a battleground state for the Nov. 3 elections.

Another Trump rally is planned for Saturday. The campaign says everyone will get a temperature check, be given a mask and have access to hand sanitizer.

———

HELENA, Mont. — The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council is imposing a 14-day lockdown as COVID-19 cases surge on the reservation east of Glacier National Park in Montana.

The tribe’s business council says the shutdown will begin at midnight Sunday.

Statewide, Montana reported 323 newly confirmed cases of coronavirus infections Friday and five more deaths.

More than 100 of the new cases involve people between the ages of 20 and 29, while 67 were confirmed in people 19 and younger. State health officials have said reopening schools and colleges have contributed to an increase in cases.

———

BOSTON — An outbreak of coronavirus infections at a major Boston hospital has grown to 19 confirmed cases.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital originally said it had identified 10 cases among staff and patients connected to two inpatient units.

A new hospital statement says 98 employees have been tested to date, and 11 of them tested positive. In addition, it says 50 patients have been tested, with eight positive.

An additional 445 people are in the process of being tested, and the hospital expects the number of positive cases to grow.

No other areas of the hospital have been affected.

———

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas says it recorded more than 1,300 new coronavirus cases in two days in one of its biggest spikes of the past two weeks, and most of the cases were in rural counties in the central and western parts of the state.

The state health department said Friday that of the 10 counties with the biggest per-capita increases in cases, eight had fewer than 7,200 residents and all were in western or central Kansas.

The biggest spikes for the two weeks ending Friday were in Cheyenne County in the state’s far northwestern corner and Pawnee County in central Kansas.

———

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s movie theaters and other venues can reopen in two weeks after nearly seven months of closure during the coronavirus pandemic, and the limit on how many people can attend funerals and other indoor events is being raised.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also issued an order Friday requiring the vast majority of students to wear masks in classrooms as of Oct. 5, and mandating that public and private schools publish information on coronavirus cases.

Indoor cinemas, performance venues, arcades, bingo halls, bowling centers, indoor climbing facilities and trampoline parks can reopen starting Oct. 9. A 10-person cap on indoor events has been revised to instead allow 20 people per 1,000 square feet or 20% of fixed seating capacity, up to a maximum of 500 people.

———

SALEM, Ore. — The Oregon Health Authority has reported 457 new confirmed coronavirus cases, the state’s largest daily total since the the start of the pandemic.

Officials on Friday attributed the rise in cases to Labor Day celebrations, the return of college students to campus and the interruption of testing during recent wildfires in Oregon.

Health experts had said last week that the rate of virus transmission in Oregon was in a “downward trend,” but case numbers have been rising this week.

More than 32,300 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Oregon since the start of the pandemic. The death toll is 542.

———

WASHINGTON — The nation’s top infectious disease expert is cautioning people not to let pandemic fatigue weaken efforts to keep the coronavirus from spreading.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says that “people are exhausted from being shut down” and some give up on doing things that contain the virus.

The head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases made the comment Friday in a podcast with a medical journal editor.

Fauci urges people to remember that “there is an end to this” and “we just have to hang in there a bit” as researchers work on a vaccine. Fauci says that “what we don’t want to have to do is to shut down again” if cases really spike.

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#cases #continue #daily #india #latest #National

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vsplusonline · 4 years

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College campuses empty as virus scare pushes learning online - Times of India

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/college-campuses-empty-as-virus-scare-pushes-learning-online-times-of-india/

College campuses empty as virus scare pushes learning online - Times of India

CAMBRIDGE: College seniors began making tearful goodbyes, not knowing if they’d return to see friends on campus. Some were heading to homes without internet, leaving them to wonder if they could keep up with online classes. And some worried about finding a way to afford a flight on only a few days’ notice.

As dozens of universities cancel in-person classes and move instruction online amid fears over the new coronavirus, thousands of students are left scrambling to find their way home while their professors puzzle over how to move weeks of courses to the internet.

Schools nationwide announced plans to cancel in-person classes through spring break or beyond amid fears about the virus’ spread. Some are pausing campus classes for a few days or weeks, including Columbia, Princeton and Indiana University, while others are canceling classes through the end of the term, including Stanford and Harvard.

On Tuesday, Harvard undergraduates were told to leave campus by Sunday and stay home until the end of the semester. The abrupt order drew outrage from students who are also juggling midterm exams, senior projects and daily classes.

Harvard student Silvana Gomez didn’t know how she would afford to return on such short notice to her family’s home in West New York, New Jersey. Gomez, a junior studying psychology, also worries about the risk she could pose to her father, who is 66 and has a health condition that could make him more vulnerable to the virus.

“It’s terrifying. I’m definitely very scared right now about what the next couple days, the next couple weeks look like,”https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/” she said. “I have to stay on campus and if Harvard doesn’t allow me to stay on campus, then I really don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Harvard senior Nick Wyville doesn’t know how he’ll take online courses at his family’s home near Anniston, Alabama. It’s a rural area, he said, and the closest internet access is at the county’s only Starbucks, miles from his home.

“We are really panicking right now, and a lot of students have anxiety,” he said. “A lot of us woke up this morning to a very ominous email that’s essentially evicting us from campus.”

Stores were selling out of boxes near Harvard, one of several schools including Amherst College and St. John’s University that asked students to move out of student housing and finish their courses for the year from home. Others, like Princeton University, are temporarily moving to online learning, even for students who remain on campus, and telling them to prepare for tight restrictions on social activities.

Yale University also told students that classes will be moved online following the end of spring break. Students were also encouraged to move back home as soon as Sunday and not to travel abroad in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.

With more campuses canceling classes by the day, the potential impact looms large into the spring for final exams, new student tours and graduation ceremonies.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus.

Dan King, president of the American Association of University Administrators, predicted “many, many more” colleges will move learning online as campuses work to contain the virus and the anxiety around it.

At Amherst College, senior Tommy Mobley said news that classes were moving online for the rest of the semester was met with disappointment and panic as students scrambled to move off campus while wondering whether they would ever return.

“There were just hundreds of students on their phones, there were students crying. You know, a lot of students seemed panicked and a lot of students seemed devastated by the news because, frankly, it’s very shocking. And it’s a major change,” said Mobley, 23, from Newton, Massachusetts.

As professors scramble to prepare online lessons, they have a long list of concerns. Without personal contact, some wonder how they’ll know if students are falling behind. Some worry students won’t participate in online discussions. And there are concerns about how to offer fair exams in an online setting.

At Columbia University, Vincent Racaniello plans to teach his virology class through live video lectures that students can also watch later on YouTube. But he’ll miss being able to walk around the lecture hall and look students in the eye to gauge if they’re following along.

“The best part of lecturing is the contact,” said Racaniello, a professor of microbiology and immunology. “I really do enjoy going and talking to the students. Afterward, they come down to ask questions. We walk to the subway together. It’s all part of the educational experience, and that is hard to lose.”

He expects the virus to continue spreading among students anyway.

“Students are still going to be moving around the world, they’re going to be moving around New York City, they’re going to get infected,” he said. “I think it has minimal benefit in the long run and is more disruptive than it’s worth.”

At Fordham University, Rory Varrato said his philosophy classes, which rely heavily on classroom discussion, will likely become more like lectures as he moves to a video conference. He said he expects he’ll take it easier on students when it comes to grading this term, given the unusual circumstances caused by the virus.

“My hunch is that I will be more flexible, just recognizing it’s likely that some students will become ill or have an increased stress level in general,” he said. “I’ll definitely take all of that into consideration.”

At New York University, which is moving to online classes starting on Wednesday, sophomore Mareda Michael, 19, wondered whether she would get her tuition’s worth.

“We’re paying so much to go to this school, to not have the school experience is a waste of money,” said Michael, who was weighing whether to go home to Los Angeles, California.

At Harvard, students were told only a number of exceptions would be made for the orders to leave campus, primarily for international students who come from countries that have been hit hardest by the virus. Students were encouraged to raise any issues with housing officials or their faculty deans, said Harvard spokeswoman Rachael Dane.

“We are working individually with them to meet their needs and ensure they are supported in this transition,” Dane said in a statement.

Sophomore Lucy Wickings is requesting to stay on campus during the closure but doesn’t know if she will qualify. Wickings, 19, is homeless and has been saving income from three campus jobs to stay afloat over the summer. Now she fears she’ll have to use her savings during the closure to cover meals and for travel to stay with a classmate’s family.

“College for me is the place where I’m supposed to be getting stable housing and food,” said Wickings, who is originally from Port Huron, Michigan. “I’m not really sure what to do. I figure I’ll start packing today just in case.”

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#"yale university"#american association of university #Fordham University #Indiana University #New York University #Princeton University #Career

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paulbenedictblog · 4 years

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%news%

New Post has been published on %http://paulbenedictsgeneralstore.com%

Usa today Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend

Usa today

Editors, USA TODAY Printed 4: 53 p.m. ET Oct. 27, 2019 | Up to this point 11: 50 p.m. ET Oct. 27, 2019

Usa today Islamic Order leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is ineffective after U.S.-led raid in Syria

President Donald Trump stated Sunday that terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, perchance the sector's most wished man, was killed in some unspecified time in the future of a particular operations raid over the weekend. "Final night the US brought the sector's No. 1 terrorist leader to justice," Trump stated at the White Apartment. Al-Baghdadi led the extremist organization identified as the Islamic Order, also called ISIS. Trump stated he died after running from a home into a ineffective-live tunnel whereas being chased by United States Particular Operations commandos in Syria. Al-Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest that killed him and three of his early life, Trump stated. Al-Baghdadi is the splendid-ranking terrorist to be killed or captured for the reason that loss of life of Osama bin Weighted down in 2011.

Here is what we all know about ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Allege of Trump looking at al-Baghdadi raid compared toObama looking at bin Weighted down operation.

Usa today Salvage. Katie Hill to resign amid allegations of relationship with staffer

Freshman Salvage. Katie Hill, D-Calif., confronted with allegations she had a sexual relationship with a workers member, announced her resignation on Sunday. In an announcement posted to Twitter, Hill known as her resignation "the toughest ingredient I maintain ever had to total, but I assume it's miles basically among the finest ingredient for my constituents, my community, and our country." The Apartment Ethics Committee announced Wednesday it had launched an investigation into allegations Hill engaged in a sexual relationship with a workers member. The allegation of Hill's relationship with one in every of her staffers was first published by conservative web web state RedState.com. The positioning also posted a nude photo purportedly of Hill with yet another particular person, alongside with a second allegation that Hill had a relationship with an unidentified marketing campaign staffer.

Usa today Astros on the point of World Series title

The Astros’ 7-1 victory over the Washington Nationals in Game 5 gave them a 3 video games-to-two lend a hand and persevered the stir of the visiting crew a hit every sport on this yr’s World Series. Gerrit Cole regarded every bit the dominant starter he was in some unspecified time in the future of the extraordinary season, permitting one inch over seven innings Sunday night to e-book the Houston Astros to the brink of their second World Series title in three years. The Nationals, meanwhile, failed to generate any offense for a third consecutive sport. Juan Soto’s solo home inch off Cole within the seventh accounted for all their scoring. The Astros can maintain two potentialities to shut out the assortment as the two groups return to Houston for Game 6 on Tuesday and Game 7, if wished, on Wednesday.

President Trump greeted with boos at Game 5 of World Series, followers chant 'lock him up'

Usa today Tiger Woods matches long-standing PGA Tour document

Ten weeks after he final played and two months after having a fifth surgical diagram to his difficult left knee, Tiger Woods joined Hall of Famer Sam Snead within the document books with his 82nd PGA Tour victory. At the storm-delayed Zozo Championship, the first genuine PGA Tour match in Japan, Woods played seven holes to wrap up his ancient triumph. With rounds of 64-64-66-68, Woods performed at 18 below to take dangle of by two shots over native hero Hideki Matsuyama. The grab comes 23 years after Woods won his first title at the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational. It was the eighth time he won his season opener. And he also has now won a PGA Tour match in seven nations – the U.S., Canada, Japan, Spain, Ireland, England and Scotland.

Usa today No longer no longer as much as 2 ineffective after Texas off-campus shooting; suspect at astronomical

Two folks had been ineffective, 14 had been injured and a manhunt was underway Sunday after a gunman opened fireplace at a Halloween secure collectively no longer removed from Texas A&M University-Commerce, igniting "total chaos" as quite a bit of of shy partygoers scrambled for quilt. Hunt County Sheriff Randy Meeks stated the shooting took field at The Event Venue in Greenville, around 50 miles northeast of Dallas, the put at the least 750 folks at the secure collectively had been celebrating homecoming weekend at Texas A&M University-Commerce. No suspect had been acknowledged, but Meeks stated that he would now not assume the shooter poses an instantaneous hazard to quite a bit of the folks.

Usa today Amid blackouts, big fireplace forces virtually 200,000 to hover homes

Shut to 200,000 Northern California residents, quite a bit of them left at nighttime by a third vitality shutdown in a month, were ordered to drag away their homes as ancient winds fueled an explosion of wildfires within the San Francisco Bay Situation. The explain’s splendid utility shut off vitality to an estimated 2.3 million folks starting up Saturday evening to be capable to retain far from setting off fires. However the precautionary switch did no longer discontinuance the Kincade Fire from igniting Wednesday. The blaze has now grown to 30,000 acres and was finest 10% contained as of Sunday morning, forcing authorities to impose crucial evacuations for 180,000 residents in Sonoma County. Issues that the winds can even spread the fireplace all the draw thru a important freeway prompted the evacuation orders holding parts of Santa Rosa, a metropolis of 175,000 that was devastated by a wildfire two years within the past.

Usa today True swiftly

Ragged U.S. Salvage. John Conyers, frail dean of Congress, died at 90.

A pseudo Samsung put satellite tv for computer fell from the sky in a rural Michigan neighborhood.

Surgeons in Boston done the first full face transplant on an African American patient.

"There was never a digicam": Southwest Airlines denies lawsuit claiming pilots streamed airplane lavatory video.

Tree of Existence bloodbath: A yr later, U.S. Jewish communities quiet coping with "important threats."

Paul Barrere, guitarist and singer for the rock community Minute Feat, died at 71.

Usa today 42 bodies came upon in a mass grave in Mexico near the Arizona border

The preference of bodies recovered from a mass grave in Mexico near the Arizona border rose to 42 folks this weekend. A community of Mexican mothers procuring for missing liked ones came upon 27 bodies within the mass grave final week near the coastline resort town of Puerto Peñasco, progressively identified as Rocky Point, according to explain officers. Extra bodies had been uncovered Saturday. No longer no longer as much as 2 of the bodies had been buried lately, whereas the final had been largely skeletal remains, indicating they had been there longer, the explain stated. Lupita Orduño, spokeswoman for the explain's attorney overall's field of job, stated that it was too early to speculate why the bodies had been buried.

Usa today As Ohio Order rolls and Oklahoma falls, Alabama and LSU ready for showdown

This weekend in college football was filled with critical outcomes. Oklahoma virtually erased a 25-point deficit within the fourth quarter but in a roundabout draw misplaced 48-41 to Kansas Order for its first loss of the season. However it ought to be too early to put in writing them off as a College Football Playoff contender. Jim Harbaugh and Michigan got heading within the correct course with a demolition of Notre Dame, and Ohio Order persevered to roll having a search relish a No. 1 crew with its rout over Wisconsin. And in a system, Kansas got its first conference grab below Les Miles and sixth for the final decade. Here’s a search at the diversified mountainous winners and losers from the week, as properly as our forecast of the Football Four, which beneficial properties two SEC groups. In the kill, after LSU’s grab in opposition to Auburn, it's now No. 2 on the most fashioned Amway Coaches Ballot.

Usa today World Series all tied up: Scherzer scratched from pivotal Game 5

In a World Series dominated by the away crew, the Houston Astros took Video games 3 and 4 within the nation's capital to power a 2-2 tie. Astros starter Zack Greinke was moving in Friday night's affair, permitting one inch on seven hits, whereas Alex Bregman delivered the knockout blow Saturday night, a vast slam to attach the Astros firmly in front, 8-1. Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer was the scheduled starter for a key Game 5 Sunday night, but was scratched resulting from neck and lend a hand spasms. Upright-hander Joe Ross is scheduled to exchange him.

P.S. Cherish this spherical up of tales? We send it to inboxes every afternoon. Impress in for "The Short List" e-newsletter right here.

Here's a compilation of tales from all the draw thru the US TODAY Network. Contributing: Associated Press.

Be taught or Piece this memoir: https://www.usatoday.com/memoir/news/2019/10/27/abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-texas-a-m-shooting-kincade-fireplace-weekends-biggest-news/2478349001/

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eathealthylivefree · 4 years

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Neighbors As Family

Have you been celebrating the 50 years of Mr. Rogers? If you follow the stories, you know there are many ways to watch, learn and celebrate. For example, check out the Won’t You Be My Neighbor? film, the new movie (coming soon) A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and a United States Postal Service Forever Stamp. To celebrate World Kindness Day last week, not only did adults wear their cardigans but the newborn babies at Pittsburgh’s West Penn Hospital were also dressed in miniature red cardigans to recognize the kindness messages of Mr. Rogers.

The highlights and celebrations remind us of the intentional work and messages by Fred Rogers that encourage all of us, young and old, to:

feel good about ourselves

understand our feelings

build relationships with others

wonder and learn

be ready for new experiences

learn how to talk about difficult subjects

The work of Mr. Rogers is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago. How do you define your neighbors? Another organization that is using the theme of neighbors is the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS). Since 2014, nearly half a million people have committed to “Dining In” on December 3rd, Family & Consumer Sciences (FCS) Day. Each year AAFCS promotes a theme, shares information and tallies the number of people who commit to eating a meal together. With the 2019 theme, Neighbors as Family, AAFCS notes that neighbors come in many different forms. We can be neighbors with others from where we live (urban, suburban, city, rural/farms) to types of housing (Single dwelling homes, Homeowners group, Subdivision, Condo/high rise, Apartment building) to types of communities (Retirement community, College dorm, College sorority/fraternity house, Campus neighbors) and to places where we spend time with others (Office building, Office staff, Office neighbors, Gym). In addition to their list, other definitions of neighbors as family can be sports teams, those we worship with, cultural clubs, 4-H clubs, extended family, and friends as family.

I have a child in elementary school, so some of our neighbors as family include families in scouts and dance club. This year our scout meeting happens to land during the week of December 3rd so we’re meeting, learning and eating together as neighbors and family that evening at school. Are you interested in being part of an online neighbors as family this year? Please join me and others in signing up at the AAFCS webpage, hosting a simple meal, and posting your photos for Dine In Day 2019. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be a formal, elaborate meal! The important thing is to take some time, sit down together, enjoy some food and camaraderie.

I not sure that the AAFCS 2019 theme for Dine In Day, December 3rd was planned to coincide with celebrations of Mr. Roger’s 50 years but I’d like to think that Mr. Rogers would approve of the theme Neighbors as Family.

Sources:

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, movie trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VLEPhfEN2M

Cheers to 50 Years, PBS https://www.pbs.org/parents/rogers

Dine In With Us, FCS Day, American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, https://www.aafcs.org/fcsday/home

For World Kindness Day, a hospital dressed newborns in red cardigans like Mister Rogers, Joshua Bote, USA Today

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/parenting/2019/11/13/world-kindness-day-newborns-red-cardigans-honor-mister-rogers/4181101002/

Mister Rogers Forever Stamp, USPS https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2018/pr18_022.htm

Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, https://www.misterrogers.org/the-messages/

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? PBS http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/wont-you-be-my-neighbor/

Author: Patrice Powers-Barker, CFLE, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, OSU Extension, Lucas County

Reviewer: Jenny Lobb, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, OSU Extension, Franklin County.

from Live Healthy Live Well https://ift.tt/2XpTOVd

#Live Healthy Live Well

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scottyhorsman · 5 years

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Storm Team: Assemble!

CANCELLATIONS Wed Feb 13 2019

Anglo East Schools closed today

Franc South Schools closed.

Anglo North Schools Closed.

Anglo West: All Schools Closed.

Anglo South All Schools Closed

Chignecto Central Regional School Board: all schools will be closed

Kingswood Academy Montessori School and Early Learning Centre

Northend Learning Center closed

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UNB (Moncton) Faculty of Nursing will be closed today

Crandall University: closed

NBCC Moncton and CCNB Dieppe will be closed today

The Moncton campus of the Université de Moncton will be closed for the day. All activities and classes are canceled

Mount Allison University: The Mount Allison University campus will open at 6pm today, Wednesday, February 13, 2019. Classes and labs scheduled before that time are cancelled due to the winter storm.

Eastern College: closed!

NSCC Cumberland Campus (Springhill and Amherst sites) will be closed today.

Oulton College: closed!

Atlantic College of Therapeutic Massage closed

Medes College closed

McKenzie College and McKenzie Language Centre classes are cancelled for the day.

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Moncton Headstart will be closed today

YMCA of Greater Moncton will be closed for the day due to the weather.

YWCA Friends Academy After School Program closed

Atlantic Wellness Community Centre: closed

Riverview Boys & Girls Club closed (including day care)

Boys and Girls Club of Dieppe closed

Salisbury Boys & Girls club closed

Daycare at the Moncton SportsDome closed

Little Tykes Learning Center closed

Miracles at First Child Care Centre closed

Building Futures Daycare closed

Wee College locations are closed today

East Coast Kids Riverside-Albert closed

East Coast Kids Hillsborough closed

Hands On Learning Centre closed

*Reaching for Rainbows Child Development Centre and After-School Program will delay opening until noon. We will re-evaluate sooner if weather clears.

JD Taekwondo Daycare closed

Love and Learn Childcare closed!

Look at us Grow Daycare closed

Centre Hebert & Safari Social Daycare closed

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Some flights are already being impacted at Greater Moncton Airport

All Town of Riverview recreation facilities will be closed February 13 due to expected weather conditions. This includes the Pat Crossman Memorial Aquatic Centre, Byron Dobson Arena, Riverview Indoor Skate Park and Biggs Drive fitness studio. Administrative offices are open. ‬

Dieppe: The City of Dieppe wishes to advise residents that non-essential services will be suspended as of 10 a.m. due to current weather conditions. City Hall will be closed for the remainder of the day... Update – The following community facilities will reopen as of 4 p.m.: Rotary Pavilion, AJL and Centenaire arenas, Aquatic Centre.

Moncton law courts closed

Service NB: Moncton/Dieppe/Sackville/Bouctouche/Shediac/Richibucto closed

Memramcook: Due to weather conditions, the Municipal Building will be closed for the day. Please note that the Eugene (Gene) LeBlanc Arena will be closed until 4 p.m.

Canadian Blood Services - Moncton Centre 500 Mapleton Rd closed

Village of Saint-Antoine municipal building: closed.

Kent Regional Service Commission's offices will be closed today

Richibucto town office closed

Beaubassin East Rural Community Office is closed today.

Anglo West Office of the Superintendent and all Education Centers will be also closed.

Anglo South Education Centre Offices will be closed today.

All Anglophone East School District Operations will be closed today

Waste collection for Wednesday February 13th, will be canceled for all of the Kent County regions whose collection is managed by the Kent RSC*. Collection will instead be held on Friday, February 15th.

All Miller Waste garbage collection scheduled for today has been postponed until Saturday

Karing Kitchen closed

Meals on Wheels delivery for Moncton, Dieppe, and Shediac will be cancelled for today.

Moncton, Dieppe & Riverview public Libraries closed

Riverview Lions Bingo cancelled

Pregnancy & Wellness Centre of Moncton

Kini Wellness closed

WorkSafeNB - Dieppe closed

Integrity Home Health Services office closing at Noon

Canada Post: Due to the current weather conditions, a Red Alert has been issued for the province of New Brunswick. A red alert means there is no delivery for the day as it is unsafe to do so.

DanceEast: Classes at DancEast cancelled

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Brain Tumour Support Group Scheduled for this evening is cancelled

Office of Dr. Mark Kenney closed

Protherapy Orthotics closed

Riverview Blood Clinic is closed today

Greater Moncton RBC Branches: closed

Feeds' N Needs Moncton: Delaying opening until 12pm

Canadian Plasma Resources closed

Vogue Optical Dieppe, Riverview, St. George and Shediac will be closed today

BMO Bank of Montreal Greater Moncton delayed opening until noon.

The Radio Station Office will be closed for the day- congratulations to my colleagues.

0 notes

sickandvomiting · 7 years

Note

multiples of twoooooo

Wow this was a lot of questions haha! Thank you!!!! It was fun :D

————-is your room messy or clean?Messy. Definitely messy.

do you like your name? why?No I don’t. It’s boring just reminds me of the Christian values that have been pushed in me since birth that I don’t agree with and that have caused me and my sister more harm than good over the course of our lives.

describe your personality in 3 words or lessSarcastic, caring, witty (????) Alternatively, quirky, asshole, and curious.

what kind of car do you drive? color?I drive a metallic grey Scion IQ. It’s tiny and fantastic.

how would you describe your style?Weird. And probably ill fitting for my body type but fuck society I’ll wear short shorts if I goddamn want to. Really though I have like two modes: biker girl with leathers and dew rags and skinny jeans, or crazy bright colors and patterns and overalls and flower crowns and converse. There’s no in between.

what size bed do you have? Twin. Lifted. It’s nice.

if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why?Austria. Just outside Wien, I think. Wien is one of the safest cities in the world to live, I already speak the language, many of my idols (composers) lived there and roundabouts, and there’s mountains and shit there which is super cool because here in OH it’s just flat for miles and miles and miles in every direction. favorite makeup brand(s)Ummmmmm, the cheap ones??? I can’t afford expensive shit…. Though I did get some eye shadows from online, a company called BH Cosmetics, for pretty cheap and they are FANTASTIC. So shiny.

favorite tv show?You can’t do this to me man I can’t choose just one there’s way way way too many that I LOVE.

how tall are you?5'2".

do you go to the gym? Nope. Too self conscious. I do work out but in my own home.

how much money do you have in your wallet at the moment?Ha. Haha. Ha. One single dollar. That’s it. One dollar and an empty debit card.

how many pillows do you sleep with?Like six or seven I wanna say? Honestly the pillows take up more of my little bed than I do.

how many friends do you have? A few close ones, and a couple not so close ones, and one or two acquaintances.

whats your favorite candle scent? CINNAMON. I love cinnamon scented ANYTHING.

3 favorite girl namesSaoirse, Jacqueline, and Fritzi haha

favorite actress? Currently probably Daisy Ridley just because she’s so frickin cute I die

favorite movie? I CANT CHOOSE ONE OH MY GOD

money or brains? BRAINS for sure. Money doesn’t matter.

how many times have you been to the hospital?I wanna say like three times in my entire life. And only twice to emergency services. Once for physical, once for mental. I’ve been in and out for studies and testing and ultrasounds and shit all the time but I don’t think that actually counts.

do you take any medications daily? I’m supposed to but have I been? No RIP

what is your biggest fear? Failure. And disappointing others. And being abandoned.

whats your go to hair style?The “I barely brushed this when. Woke up and haven’t washed it in like three days so I’m just gonna hide it under a hat” style. Or a high ponytail if a hat is too hot.

who is your role model? I have a lot of them. One is Sta//cy Pers//hall, a mental health activist and author with BPD. One is Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H, minus the drinking and womanizing. Another is a cardiologist I shadowed who was honestly the sweetest man I’ve ever met. And there’s plenty more. Like, A LOT.

what was the last text you sent?To my sister: “Dad is being disgusting and racist help me”

what is your dream car? Pontiac GTO, 1967. Black. Those things are sexy as hell and they’ve got enough torque in there to make the good start bouncing when you rev the engine.

do you go to college? Yes. I’m a biomedical engineering major with minors in German and American Sign Language, and maybe a cluster in Piano Performance who knows hahawould you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs? UGH rural for sure. I’ve always wanted to live on a huge plot of land in the country. Own goats and cows and horses and chickens and lots of cats. Maybe have a small field to grow and sell sweet corn and a corner of the big yard designated to fruit trees and blueberry bushes.

do you have freckles? If I get enough sun, I get a few light ones on the bridge of my nose. Other than that, no.

how many pictures do you have on your phone? Too many. I hoard pictures it’s kinda bad.

do you still watch cartoons? No not really. I watch some animated films *cough*Ghibli*cough* but those are hardly cartoons.

Favorite dipping sauce? Ummmmm ranch??? Maybe FLG sauce from KFC just because I lived on that shit for the year I worked there in high school?

have you ever won a spelling bee?Yeah. Won the class then the school-wide one in fourth grade, went on to counties and then got out on some stupid hard word when the kid before me had the word “ballerina” and the kid after me had “thunderstorm”. Fuckin BALLERINA AND THUNDERSTORM. I’m still goddamn salty all these years later.

can you draw? I like to think so haha

what was the last concert you saw? Tony Bennett, still alive and kicking and a great showman at 90 years old. He did the last song a Capella with no microphone and honestly it was one of the greatest things I love him.

Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts?Don’t really give a fuck but since Starbucks is more available at my school, Starbucks.

what is your crush’s first and last initial?Don’t really have crushes. More squishes. And a lot of them. Hahawhat color looks best on you? Dark reds and oranges, probably. They match my hair.

do you sleep with your door open or closed?Closed. I’ve got a personal AC unit in my room and I ain’t sharin’ that with the whole rest of the house. No way that cold air is mine.

what is your biggest pet peeve? There’s a lot of them. Mansplaining and patronization are up there, chewing loudly is too, getting unreasonably upset about tiny things, belittling people for things they can’t control (or literally anything else), bad spelling/grammar in educated native speakers which shows that they’re just not trying…. basically everything my dad does….

favorite ice cream flavor? Cake batter, cotton candy, mint chocolate chip, and cookies and cream.

chocolate or rainbow sprinkles? RAINBOW.

what is your phone background?A picture of my lovely cat, Cheddar.

do you like it when people play with your hair?Depends on the context.

do you wash your face? at night? in the morning?When I shower and sometimes in the mornings if I have time. At night if I wore makeup that day but that’s rare.

have you ever been drunk? Nope. Which is simultaneously a good thing and kind of unfortunate. favorite lyrics right nowMozart’s entire “Leck mich im Arsch”. A beautiful and wholesome piece. \s

day or night? Night. I love the stars. Also the temps are way lower so walking at night is nice

favorite month? Tied between December and February. December is Christmas and my sister and Beethoven’s birthdays (they share one), and February is my birth month.

who was the last person you cried in front of? Campus public safety I think. I was having a panic attack at like 4 am in the lounge and someone called public safety to make sure I was all right and they found me bawling, hyperventilating, rocking back and forth, and ripping a newspaper to shreds. They were a little confused to say the least haha

#g talks #long text #asks #ask meme

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multipleservicelisting · 3 years

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What One District Did to Prevent Students From Failing

LUBBOCK, Texas — Madison Hermosillo started her sophomore year at Roosevelt High School alone in her room, bewildered and quickly falling behind.

Set among cotton fields and oil derricks outside Lubbock, Texas, her school was open for in-person classes. But coronavirus cases were rampant, and her mother decided to keep her home.

Madison, who is 16, muddled through remote assignments in geometry, chemistry and world geography. Soon, she was failing in every class but gym.

“My mom would tell me to go do it, and I would just go in my room and watch TikTok on my phone,” she said.

She was not the only one. By the end of the first grading period in September, 77 percent of the district’s remote high school students were failing at least one class. Those who opted to attend in person, by contrast, were mostly passing.

Similarly, about 30 percent of the youngest students, particularly in first and second grades, were not meeting grade-level expectations on a reading assessment administered at the start of the school year — roughly double the number from previous years, Delynn Wheeler, the elementary school principal, said.

To district officials, that was evidence that remote education last spring had set students back. And those who remained remote at the start of the fall semester struggled to catch up.

So the district took a drastic step: It ended its remote instructional option and required all of its 1,010 students — from prekindergarten to the 12th grade — to return to the classroom.

“This works for us in our little school district,” said Dallas Grimes, the superintendent. “It’s not going to work everywhere.”

The Roosevelt Independent School District resembles many others across Texas: small and rural, with a heavily Hispanic student population, including many living in poverty. Like others, the district struggled to provide remote instruction, despite creating mobile hot spots for students without internet and checking in frequently with those falling behind.

The results of mandating in-person instruction have been mixed. Dozens of teachers, staff and students have been infected, and many more have had to quarantine at home because of exposure. The absences have disrupted everything from classroom instruction to building maintenance.

But teachers and administrators said the best thing for their students was to be in school.

“When those kids were walking through that door, it was good,” said Theresa Hoffman, assistant principal in the district’s elementary school, recalling her emotion at watching students return. “The schools that didn’t do that — I just can’t imagine.”

The entire Roosevelt Independent School District sits on one campus, along a straight, flat country road. A fleet of yellow buses arrives each morning carrying the vast majority of students, many wearing the maroon school colors of the Eagles.

The students are 57 percent Latino and 37 percent white, with a small number of Black students and fewer of other races. More than three quarters qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Roosevelt was among the first districts in Texas to end remote learning, notifying parents on Sept. 22. All students had to return the following Monday. (A majority of Texas students attend school in person.)

Of about 140 students who were studying remotely, 15 withdrew from school because their families were worried about the health risks of in-person classes.

Seven others had already left the school district, located in a conservative and frequently Covid-skeptic part of West Texas, for the opposite reason: Their parents objected to a state mandate that all children 10 or older wear masks, Mr. Grimes said.

So far, the decision to bring everyone back into the classroom has improved performance, Mr. Grimes said. By the winter break, only 9 percent of high school students were failing at least one class.

But as performance has improved, the pandemic has intruded.

A large number of the district’s 170 teachers, administrators and other staff have tested positive for the coronavirus (52) or had to quarantine because of exposure (27), from the start of the school year through the beginning of January.

Absences have forced teachers to combine classes, serve lunch and even take out the garbage. Mr. Grimes, the superintendent, has had to drive a bus when the regular drivers tested positive or had to quarantine because of an exposure.

“We’re still recovering from Covid now,” said Tim Crane, the high school principal, who along with his wife, a special-education teacher, tested positive in early November. “My wife and I do everything we can, and yet we got it.”

As more schools across the country opened their doors in the fall, evidence has suggested that in-person learning has not necessarily led to widespread coronavirus transmission within schools — though the emergence of a new, possibly more infectious coronavirus variant has raised new concerns about reopening schools.

In Roosevelt, there is no regular coronavirus testing, but the district has imposed basic safety measures, including requiring masks, except when eating, and staggering arrivals and dismissals.

The greater risk has been infections outside of school. The surrounding community of Lubbock County had among the worst outbreaks in Texas during the fall, fueled by a mix of returning college revelers and local residents fed up with pandemic precautions.

No cases have been linked to contact at school, Mr. Grimes said. But contact tracing has been incomplete. Mr. Crane said neither he nor his wife heard from Lubbock County contact tracers after they fell ill.

And the community has not been immune from the pandemic’s toll: A bus driver, who tested positive at the end of a weeklong Thanksgiving break, died a few days later.

Cafeteria tables with seats for a dozen students are limited to three. Numbered lunch tables fill a school gym. Some students eat on the bleachers, at spots marked by blue tape.

The school does not have the space to maintain six-foot spacing in classrooms. And collaborative work, or a desire to gossip, draws students close.

“Guys, you’re going to have to sit down,” Kylie Martinez, an English teacher, told three students who were standing together in her freshman English class one morning last fall.

In the dim light of her second-floor classroom, students read quietly and answered questions on their laptops — a much larger part of life in the school this past year, and a way to keep students learning if they have to quarantine at home.

“As a mom, I was worried,” said Ms. Martinez, who has two young children attending the district’s elementary school. “I was concerned about them getting sick and us getting quarantined.”

So far, that hasn’t happened. But the pandemic has directly affected about one in three students: As of the second week in January, 53 had tested positive since the beginning of the school year, and another 282 have had to quarantine for two weeks because of an exposure.

“I’m in a big geometry class, and half of that class is in quarantine,” Madison Hermosillo, the sophomore who struggled with remote learning, said just before Thanksgiving break.

Madison has adjusted to the new routines of being back in school, from wearing a mask to sitting in an assigned lunch seat. After a few weeks back in school, her grades began to improve.

By the start of January, she was passing all her classes.

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billyagogo · 3 years

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Coronavirus is surging in college towns. The worst spot? Texas

New Post has been published on https://newsprofixpro.com/moxie/2020/10/24/coronavirus-is-surging-in-college-towns-the-worst-spot-texas/

Coronavirus is surging in college towns. The worst spot? Texas

As football fans tailgated without masks outside Texas Tech University’s 60,000-seat stadium in West Texas this weekend ahead of the Red Raiders’ homecoming game, it was easy to forget that Lubbock — a rural county of 310,000 — has one of the highest coronavirus infection rates in the country.

The outbreak at Texas Tech, which has infected at least 2,200 students, comes as the U.S. reported a national single-day record of new infections — 83,757 — Friday. Part of what’s driving the national increase in infections has been a surge in college towns where restrictions have eased since students returned this fall. And nowhere is it more prevalent than in Texas — which has more infected college students than any other state in the country, 17,133, according to a New York Times database — and at Texas Tech itself, with more infected students than any other school statewide.

Texas Tech fans file into the Red Raiders’ Jones AT&T Stadium, where they were required to wear masks until seated.

(Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times)

As at many Texas high schools, canceling football wasn’t seen as an option by officials at Texas Tech or other universities in the Big 12 Conference. On Friday, the Big Ten also started its season — but with empty stadiums.

At Texas Tech, though the traditional homecoming parade was called off, last year’s king and queen still met this year’s winners in person wearing masks for the crowning. And 15,000 fans, 25% of the stadium’s capacity, were allowed to attend Saturday’s football game, with tailgating OK’d for small groups outside.

Officials at Texas Tech, like those at other universities, say they’re trying to preserve as much of campus life as possible at the behest of students, parents and alumni.

“Students consider the culture of a place when they select a university. I also think this is important for the continued connection to alumni,” Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec said as he watched Saturday’s game from a suite atop the stadium, where masks and temperature checks were required. “We’re trying to balance safety with some sense of normalcy.”

Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec and his wife, Patty Schovanec, center, talk to tailgaters outside the stadium Saturday.

(Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times)

As COVID-19 has surged on college campuses, some have moved to reevaluate their responses. This month, University of Michigan students were ordered to stay home until election day by health authorities because they accounted for 60% of local infections. In upstate New York, the president of SUNY Oneonta resigned after 700 of its 6,000 students tested positive.

At Texas Tech, where 60% of classes have met in person this fall, it’s full speed ahead, with Schovanec saying he hopes to expand to 75%, including hybrid classes.

“People have different levels of anxiety regarding COVID-19,” he said. “We were very flexible.”

Joyce Zachman, executive director of the nonprofit Texas Tech Parents Assn., said she hears more concern from parents about students being forced to take classes online than about them catching COVID-19.

“It’s not the college experience that parents had hoped for their kids,” said Zachman, who’s asthmatic but still attended Saturday’s game, where fans sang the school fight song with its chorus of “Wreck ’Em!” and pointed their trigger fingers in the Texas Tech “guns up” victory sign.

Russ Smith, 49, a truck driver based near Fort Worth, traveled to tailgate Saturday with a group that included his son, a freshman attending his alma mater. They didn’t wear masks, and he noticed the students were not maintaining social distance as they played cornhole and snapped selfies.

Officials at Texas Tech say they’re trying to preserve as much of campus life as possible at the behest of students, parents and alumni.

(Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times)

“There’s some pandemic fatigue,” he said.

Though studies this month show enrollment has dipped slightly at universities nationwide since the pandemic began, Texas Tech’s is up 4%, and applications for next year have increased 10%.

“I was going to do community college if it was all online,” said Emma Thompson, 18, a Texas Tech freshman from Boerne, Texas, during lunch at the student union Friday.

Across the table, classmate Major Thurman, 18, of Austin said his father had warned that if Texas Tech classes were all online, he wouldn’t pay the tuition. Thurman has since had a friend test positive for the virus, and his roommate had symptoms but tested negative.

“We have a lot of corona scares,” said Thompson, who joined a sorority and goes to bars with friends but said they wear masks.

Lubbock County ranked 10th in the country for per capita coronavirus infections this week, with 1 in 18 residents infected, at least 30% of them in their 20s. Because student testing is voluntary, the number of infections could actually be significantly higher. As in other college towns that have seen infections surge since students returned to campus this fall, most of the 175 people who have died of COVID-19 in Lubbock were older than 70, about 68%.

Like several other schools in the Big 12 Conference, Texas Tech is selling tickets to its football games with capacity limited to 25%, or 15,000 fans at Jones AT&T Stadium.

(Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times)

Lubbock is a medical hub amid the oil fields of West Texas, more than 300 miles from the nearest major city, but its hospitals have been challenged by the influx of COVID-19 patients. For nearly the past week, more than 15% of those hospitalized had COVID-19, a threshold set by the governor that local officials expect will soon force them to halt elective surgeries, close bars and reduce restaurant capacity from 75% to 50%.

“We’re on a trajectory to reach that trigger,” said Steve Massengale, a Lubbock City Council member and Texas Tech alumnus who owns the Matador, a Texas Tech-themed store across from the university’s entrance.

Massengale said that he believes university officials have done all they can do to prevent the virus from spreading but that having in-person classes and football fans in the stands is vital given his business is already down by half because of the pandemic. Still, he said, students’ off-campus parties are concerning.

“We know that it does seem to be spreading at some of these small gatherings. They just don’t contemplate that they may be endangering other people,” Massengale said before attending Saturday’s game.

Of Texas Tech’s 40,322 students, 7,000 live in the dorms, with the rest living nearby. Although the university has isolated sick students at dorms and local hotels, it hasn’t mandated testing of potentially asymptomatic students or shut down off-campus parties, although Schovanec said the university has worked with fraternities and Lubbock police to curtail them.

Critics say the school and local officials are more worried about their bottom line than lives and fear the COVID-19 outbreak will spread farther across Texas and beyond as students — many of whom live in major cities or out of state — head home for Thanksgiving.

“It doesn’t sound like Lubbock is doing its due diligence in terms of keeping its students safe,” said Corina Flores, 43, a Dallas healthcare worker whose 22-year-old son is studying nursing at Texas Tech.

Flores said she was aghast seeing this season’s Texas Tech football crowds on television.

“How are they allowing all these people to be there?” she said.

Flores was also shocked to read a Twitter page created by an anonymous Texas Tech student replete with videos and texts showing scores of students at parties without masks or social distancing, some of the gatherings sponsored by Texas Tech fraternities and sororities. At least one Texas Tech student posted a video on Twitter this fall in which she claimed to be partying after testing positive for the virus.

“What are they going to do when some of these parents come back and say you didn’t protect my child?” Flores asked.

Schovanec said that officials were aware of the Twitter posts and parties and that some student groups have faced discipline for violating COVID-19 safety guidelines. But, he said, “it’s difficult to control people’s behavior off campus.”

“I believe our student body has been responsible,” he said, adding that although he’s concerned about the case increase in the surrounding county, based on contact tracing, “the problem is certainly not Texas Tech University.”

Experts disagree.

A. David Paltiel, a professor of health policy at the Yale School of Public Health, said universities need to proactively test students to prevent those who are asymptomatic from spreading the virus.

With the holiday season approaching, experts worry that college students returning home could spread the coronavirus to family members.

(Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times)

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers broad guidelines for universities to prevent and respond to the coronavirus, but many schools go further, Paltiel said. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has tested 20,000 students daily, he said, “identified them, isolated them and gotten them contained.” In California, Paltiel noted, UC San Diego has been monitoring wastewater for signs of outbreaks.

By contrast, Paltiel said, “Most of the schools in Texas and Florida have been shielding themselves in the CDC guidelines and saying we don’t have to do anything. They’re just hoping that everything that could go wrong will go right.”

He said voluntary coronavirus testing at Texas Tech and other schools wasn’t helpful because those without symptoms probably won’t get tested.

“Waiting until you have symptoms with a disease that’s such a silent spreader is like waiting to call the fire department until a house is ablaze,” he said. “Who is a voluntary program going to bring out? The worried well or the kid with the runny nose. That’s not who I want. I want the asymptomatic spreader. I want the kid toddling off to do Jell-O shots in an unventilated room.”

Paltiel said universities also need to test students before allowing them to return home for Thanksgiving, when they could expose relatives.

“What’s concerning to me is schools will say as long as you don’t have symptoms, you’re good to go. You could be sending home silent spreaders,” he said. “I’m not sure people understand how much risk a returning college student poses to elderly relatives.”

More than 80% of Texas Tech students come from more than 200 miles away, twice as far as the average U.S. college student, Schovanec said. Most are from Texas, thousands from the state’s largest cities: Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston. Hundreds also come from out of state, primarily New Mexico (744) and California (408).

“Honestly, I feel we shouldn’t be here on campus,” said freshman Timothy Odusola-Stephen, 18, while eating lunch with two fellow freshmen from Houston at the student union Friday.

The trio said they had been partying and planned to party this weekend and to return home for Thanksgiving.

Sophomore Tayvion Wheeler, 21, an information technology major, lives off campus and has tried to isolate, but he has one class in person. He was debating how to return safely to Dallas next month.

“I have a grandmother that stays at my mom’s house. I’m scared to go back home,” he said by phone last week.

Wheeler also worries there will be further outbreaks after the holidays when students return to campus.

“People are going to get things and then come back,” he said.

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