#and then ~2 weeks after the main place I work dropped its mandate for staff | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

newstfionline · 3 years

Text

Monday, March 15, 2021

Call of the wild: Great outdoors is great escape in pandemic (AP) For those venturing off the beaten path, be advised—it’s a little crowded out there. By nature’s standards, anyway, as the great outdoors has become the great escape. Hiking trails, parks and other open spaces were packed in 2020 with a cooped-up population searching for fresh air during the coronavirus pandemic. Locked down, shut in or just fearful of crowds, people took up hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, camping, tennis and golf—to name several—in significant numbers. 8.1 million more Americans went hiking in 2020 compared to ‘19, according to a preview of an upcoming outdoor participation report from the Outdoor Foundation, the philanthropic wing of the Outdoor Industry Association. 7.9 million more went camping last year. 3.4 million more participated in freshwater fishing. The foundation’s research also reflected a decline in inactivity for most age groups and across all income levels.

U.S. airport passengers hit highest level since March 2020 (Reuters) The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 1.357 million U.S. airport passengers on Friday, the highest number screened since March 15, 2020, as air travel begins to rebound from a pandemic-related drop. Covid-19 has devastated air travel demand, with U.S. airline passenger demand down 60 percent in 2020 and down 63 percent in January. But with a growing number of Americans getting vaccinated, demand and advanced bookings have started to rise in recent weeks. Friday’s numbers were still down 38 percent over pre-Covid-19 levels.

Winter storm closes roads in Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska (AP) A powerful late winter snowstorm intensified over the central Rocky Mountains on Sunday with heavy snow and wind leading to airport and road closures, power outages and avalanche warnings in parts of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. The National Weather Service in Wyoming called it a “historic and crippling” winter storm that would cause extremely dangerous to impossible travel conditions through at least early Monday. Major roads southeast of a line that crosses diagonally from the southwest corner of Wyoming to its northeast corner were closed Sunday, including roads in and out of Cheyenne and Casper. Farther south, a record of over 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow had fallen just outside Cheyenne by noon Sunday, the weather service reported. A SNOTEL site at Windy Peak in the Laramie Range reported 52 inches (1.3 meters) of snow in a 24-hour period ending Sunday morning, the weather service said.

FEMA to help manage unaccompanied minors at US-Mexico border (AP) The Biden administration is turning to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for help managing and caring for record numbers of unaccompanied immigrant children who are streaming into the United States by illegally crossing the border with Mexico. Government figures show a growing crisis at the border as hundreds of children illegally enter the U.S. from Mexico daily and are taken into custody. The Homeland Security Department is supposed to process and transfer unaccompanied minor children to the Department of Health and Human Services within three days so that they can be placed with a parent already living in the United States, or other suitable sponsor, until their immigration cases can be resolved. But more children are being held longer at Border Patrol facilities that weren’t designed with their care in mind because long-term shelters run by the Department of Health and Human Services have next to no capacity to accommodate them. Children are being apprehended daily at far higher rates than HHS can release them to parents or sponsors.

Spanish Police Seize Submarine Built to Carry Drugs (WSJ) Spanish police Friday said they had seized a 30-foot long narco-submarine that could carry 2.2 tons of narcotics, a sign of the lengths cartels are going to transport illegal drugs to the booming European market. Police said they discovered the narco-sub in Malaga on Spain’s Costa del Sol last month as part of an international police operation that led to the arrest of 52 people and seizure of more than 400 kilos of cocaine, along with other illegal drugs and cash. The vessel was made of fiberglass and plywood and powered by two 200-horsepower engines, although it had never sailed, police said. Narco-subs are semisubmersibles that float mostly below the waterline and have long ferried cocaine from Colombia to Central America. In 2019, Spanish law enforcement discovered a narco-sub off Spain’s Atlantic coast, confirming persistent rumors that they can reach Europe.

Italy prepares for an Easter lockdown as Covid-19 cases grow exponentially (CNN) Italy is facing another lockdown, as the government attempts to contain a recent surge of coronavirus cases, marred by the presence of new variants. Half of Italy’s 20 regions, which include the cities Rome, Milan and Venice, will be entering new coronavirus restrictions from Monday, March 15. The measures will be effective through April 6, according to a decree passed by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s cabinet on Friday. In regions demarcated as “red zones” people will be unable to leave their houses except for work or health reasons, with all non-essential shops closed. In “orange zones,” people will also be banned from leaving their town and their region—except for work or health reasons—and bars and restaurants will only be able to do delivery and take-away service. Additionally, over Easter weekend, the entire country will be considered a “red zone,” and will be subject to a national lockdown from April 3 to 5.

Born in Soviet Exile, They Might Die in a Russian One (NYT) Long lines of people waiting to buy milk, toilet paper and other essentials disappeared from Russia decades ago. But one line has only grown longer—the one Yevgeniya B. Shasheva has been waiting in. For 70 years. That is the time that has passed since her birth in a remote Russian region. Her family was sent into exile there from Moscow during the height of Stalin’s Great Purge in the 1930s, when millions were executed or died in prison camps. Throughout the past seven decades, Ms. Shasheva says, she has been waiting to move home to the Russian capital. A 2019 ruling by Russia’s Constitutional Court ordered that the government make this happen, mandating that such “children of the gulag”—around 1,500 of them, according to some estimates—be given the financial means to move to the cities from which Stalin banished their parents. But the process has stalled completely, leaving Ms. Shasheva with nearly 55,000 people ahead of her in line for social housing in Moscow. So she waits 800 miles away in Nizhny Odes, a town so far off the beaten track that wild bears appear regularly on the streets.

US-Turkey reset faces long list of hurdles (AP) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has toned down his anti-Western and anti-US rhetoric in an apparent effort to reset the rocky relationship with his NATO allies, but so far he’s been met by silence from U.S. President Joe Biden. Nearly two months into his presidency, Biden still hasn’t called Erdogan, which some in Turkey see as a worrying sign. By contrast, former President Donald Trump and Erdogan spoke just days after the 2016 election. Ties between Ankara and Washington—which once considered each other as strategic partners—have steadily deteriorated in recent years over differences on Syria, Turkey’s cooperation with Russia and more recently on Turkish naval interventions in the eastern Mediterranean, which U.S. officials have described as destabilizing. Despite tensions, many within Erdogan’s government were hoping for four more years of the administration led by Trump, who had a personal rapport with Erdogan and didn’t give him any lectures about Turkey’s human rights record. Biden drew ire from Turkish officials after an interview with the New York Times in which he spoke about supporting Turkey’s opposition against “autocrat” Erdogan. Analysts say it’s going to be very difficult to reset the relationship, given the range of issues where the two countries don’t see eye to eye.

At least 39 killed in Myanmar district after Chinese factories burned, media say (Reuters) Security forces killed at least 22 protesters in the poor, industrial Hlaingthaya suburb of Myanmar’s main city on Sunday after Chinese-financed factories in the area were set ablaze, according to local media. A further 16 people were reported killed elsewhere in Yangon and other parts of Myanmar and state television said a policeman had died in one of the bloodiest days of protests against the Feb. 1 military coup against elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. China’s embassy said many Chinese staff were injured and trapped in arson attacks by unidentified assailants on garment factories in Hlaingthaya and that it had called on Myanmar to protect Chinese property and citizens. As plumes of smoke rose from the industrial area, security forces opened fire on protesters in the suburb that is home to migrants from across the country, local media said.

In China, millennials embrace Spanish (NBC News) Yilin Ye, a student from Anji, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, China, is spending time abroad at the University of Zaragoza in Spain. Ye, 25, said she first started learning Spanish after having heard about its “excellent reputation.” She said she feels she takes on a slightly different persona when she speaks Spanish. “It’s a really beautiful thing, really fascinating,” she said. “When I’m speaking Chinese, I’m more calm. When I’m speaking English, I’m probably a bit more open, and when I speak Spanish, I’m very ‘wow.’” Just how popular is the world’s second-most-popular spoken language in China? There are about 50,000 Spanish speakers in China, a figure scholars say is growing by the year. “The Spanish language is making waves in China,” Lu Jingsheng, an author and national coordinator of Spanish for the Chinese government, said in an interview.

China Eases Visa Rules for Foreigners Who Get Chinese Vaccines (Bloomberg) The China-made vaccine is becoming the ticket to enter the mainland. China said it will ease visa application requirements for foreigners seeking to enter the mainland from Hong Kong if they have been inoculated with Covid-19 vaccines made in China. Foreigners visiting the mainland for work will face less paperwork in visa applications if they are able to show they have received vaccines produced in China. With the vaccine certificates, these travelers will also be able to skip the requirement for a Covid-19 test or fill out a travel declaration form. The rule also expands the scope of applicants eligible for a visa due to humanitarian needs, such as taking care of family or attending funerals, if they have received Chinese vaccines. Other applicants should still follow the earlier visa procedure, according to the statement.

Mysterious attacks on at least a dozen tankers carrying Iranian oil are reportedly due to covert Israeli operations (Business Insider) Israel has used water mines and other weapons to sabotage at least a dozen tankers carrying Iranian oil and bound for Syria, according to a Wall Street Journal report, which cited US and regional officials. In violation of US and international sanctions, Iran has continued trading oil with Syria. Israel is reportedly concerned that the profits from these sales help fund terrorism in the region, and has targeted the tankers as a result. These tankers tend to carry hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil, per the Journal. A shipping professional told the Journal that Israel conducted three strikes against ships carrying Iranian oil in 2019, and a separate shipping professional said six ships used by Iran were targeted last year. There are not any known instances of ships being sunk as a result of these suspected operations, but at least two were forced to return to Iran. The alleged Israeli attacks may represent a new front in the conflict between these two historic adversaries.

#headlines #news

1 note · View note

magicui · 5 years

Text

Syllabus

MIAMI DADE COLLEGE – M.A.G.I.C.

WOLFSON CAMPUS

CAP2047 – User Interface Design

Professor Simpson/M W 2:30-4:10PM

SPRING 2019

Instructor: Mark Simpson

Class Location: Room #8115

Office Hours: online only

Email: [email protected]

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course is for students majoring in game development. It covers designing and developing interfaces for

games. Students will learn how to use different input/output hardware devices, how to create and use

existing interfaces for different types of hardware, and the development process for different types of gaming

systems. (3 hr. lecture 2 hr. lab)

Prerequisite: COP2335

IMPORTANT DATES:

Jan. 14 (Monday) : Last day to drop with refund

Jan. 19-21 : Martin Luther King day (holiday)

Feb. 16-18 : President’s Day (holiday)

Mar. 7 (Thursday) : Employee retreat (no classes, campus open)

Mar. 20 (Wednesday) : Last day to Withdraw with a W

Mar. 25 (Monday) : Last day to register for graduation so name appears in commencement program

Apr. 19 – 21 : Spring Recess

Apr. 27 - May 3 : Final Exams

May 4 (Saturday) : Commencement Ceremony (graduation)

TEXTBOOKS AND SUPPLIES:

Textbook:

Supplies:

· One (1) 2 GB or larger USB Flash Drive

· Google Drive access (included with MDC student email)

COMPUTER ACCESS:

Our facilities enable students to study collaboratively as well as individually and access our specialized collections of digital programs. M.A.G.I.C.’s open lab is here to help you achieve academic success.

Grading Scale and Percentages:

GRADING SCALE

RANGE

A 100 - 90

B 80 - 89

C 70 – 79

D (failing) 60 – 69

F (failing) 0 - 59

CLASS REQUIREMENTS

PERCENTAGES

Mid-Term 20%

Final Assignment 20%

Homework Assignments 50%

Attendance 10%

COURSE POLICIES:

Attendance Policy: https://www.mdc.edu/main/sas/about/attendance.aspx

Only 3 unexcused absences are allowed, if you miss 4 classes you can be dropped from the class and receive an F.

Attendance will be taken at the beginning of the class.

If applicable; students must sign the attendance sheet in class.

If absent, it is your responsibility to keep fully informed about the notes, class material, additional reading assignments, changes in examination material and dates, etc.

If you will be absent from class for any reason, please notify me in advance by way of email.

Lectures are given at the beginning of the class, therefore, if a student is absent during the lecture portion of the class, it is his/her responsibility to cover/study the material that is missed.

Late homework is subject to a late penalty for each day it is late.

No homework may be submitted more than 1 week late.

Withdrawal Policy: If a student withdraws from two classes, s/he will not be allowed to re-enroll. Only in special circumstances, approved by the program director, will an exception be considered.

Academic Dishonesty Procedure:

In the event that students are suspected of classroom cheating, plagiarism, or otherwise misrepresenting their work, they will be subject to procedural due process. The specific steps involved are outlined in

College Procedure 4035 Addressing Academic Dishonesty: http://www.mdc.edu/procedures/Chapter4/4035.pdf

Academic Dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

· A. Cheating on examination including unauthorized sharing of information.

· B. Collaborating with others in work to be submitted, if contrary to the stated rules of the course.

· C. Plagiarizing, taking and claiming, as one’s own the ideas, writings, or work of another, without citing the sources.

· D. Submitting work from another course unless permitted by the instructor.

Course Withdrawal: http://www.mdc.edu/financialaid/receive-aid/terms-conditions.aspx

If you withdraw, drop out of school (officially or unofficially) or drop below half-time enrollment, federal regulations mandate that you repay a portion or all of the aid paid to you, even if you have an approved petition for a 100 percent refund. The "Return to Title IV Funds Policy" includes the following financial aid programs: Pell Grant, Supplemental Education OpportunityGrant (SEOG), Teach Grant, Federal Direct Stafford Loan and Federal Direct PLUS Loan. The amount of aid to be returned is based on a formula provided by the U. S. Department of Education. Failure to repay funds due to a federal program may affect future eligibility for aid at MDC or any other College/University you may attend after leaving MDC. NOTE: An approved "Request for Petitions Committee Action-100 percent refund" may not result in a refund to your account.

Incomplete Grade: https://www.mdc.edu/procedures/Chapter8/8381.pdf

To set forth the process by which students may receive an Incomplete grade at the conclusion of a term and have an opportunity to complete the academic work in a subsequent term.

CLASSROOM POLICIES:

1. Electronic devices are to be either turned off or in silent mode.

2. No electronic devices or games allowed during class time.

3. No eating, gum chewing, eating, drinking, or smoking in the classroom.

4. All items such as soda cans, gum, food wrappings…etc. should be disposed of prior to entering the classroom.

5. Behavior in the electronic classroom is expected that will allow for conditions that foster learning and a free exchange of ideas. A positive learning atmosphere is one that shows respect and courtesy for the instructor and fellow students. For example, such things as whispering, sleeping, working on other subject matters, or interrupting students or instructor, will not be tolerated.

6. Students will be punctual. Being late to a class is disruptive and rude to both the instructor and to the rest of the class.

7. Personal matters will be discussed with the instructor outside of class. Either right outside the electronic classroom or in the instructor’s office.

Access Department:

The mission of ACCESS (Disability Services) is to meet the commitment of the College to ensure all College programs and activities are accessible to all students, including students with a wide range of disabilities. ACCESS offers a broad array of services, including but not limited to, academic and career advisement, class registration, auxiliary aids and services (i.e., accommodations), program modifications, and assistive technology to eligible students with a documented disability. Documentation should be provided by a licensed or certified professional, such as a physician, a psychologist, an audiologist, a learning disabilities specialist, etc., who has evaluated the individual within the past three years. Documentation can also be provided by an educational institution where services have been provided previously, such as copies of a high school Individual Educational Plan (IEP).

In addition to its role in the classroom, the department works to promote awareness of disability issues, federal and state regulations, and College procedures that encourage accessibility and inclusion. Faculty members with an eligible student enrolled in their course(s) receive a written notice from the ACCESS Department (hand-delivered by the student for face-to-face courses) identifying the auxiliary aids and services the student is receiving for the designated semester. Students must self-identify with ACCESS every semester at the campus where the course is taking place to receive auxiliary aids and services. While students are encouraged to self-identify with their respective faculty as early as possible to help increase success in a course, students may self-identify at any point in a given semester.

For more information, please visit www.mdc.edu/access for contact information, hours, and locations.

Who do I talk to? (Issues & Concerns, please follow chart below):

*Please address all concerns first with your course professor, who is best poised to help guide you through this course.

STAFF & FACULTY

FERNANDEZ, ARIANA

Instructional Assist/Advisor

[email protected]

305.237.7851

FERRAZZA, MAURICIO

Dept. Chairperson

[email protected]

305.237.7852

· All issues and concerns must be submitted in writing with student Name, current contact information and I.D. number.

Student's Rights and Responsibilities (please visit link below):

http://www.mdc.edu/rightsandresponsibilities/

COURSE COMPETENCIES:

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

Competency 1: The student will demonstrate understanding of designing interfaces for games by:

1. Analyzing existing games and applications for interface usability and intuitiveness.

2. Comparing the requirements and limitations of games and application interfaces.

3. Comparing the requirements and limitations of PC games and console games interfaces.

Competency 2: The student will demonstrate mastery of interface development by:

1. Using existing libraries to create new interfaces.

2. Creating reusable libraries for new interfaces.

3. Creating new interfaces for existing applications.

4. Creating new interfaces for PC and console games.

Competency 3: The student will demonstrate knowledge of input interface hardware programming by:

1. Analyzing existing input devices with respect to usability for different game genres.

2. Analyzing the restriction created by using different hardware for input such as, but not limited to: mice, trackballs, joysticks, and game pads.

3. Writing small games that use different input interfaces such as: mice, trackballs, joysticks, and game pads.

Competency 4: The student will demonstrate knowledge of output interface hardware programming by:

1. Analyzing existing output devices with respect to usability for different game genres.

2. Analyzing the restrictions created by using different hardware for output such as, but not limited to: touch screens, 3D glasses, sound, and motion simulation devices.

3. Writing small games that use different output interfaces such as: touch screens, 3D glasses, sound, and motion simulation devices.

Competency 5: The student will demonstrate knowledge of game console programming and development by:

1. Analyzing the programming and interface limitations of the console.

2. Analyzing different libraries and development tools for different game consoles.

3. Writing code that takes advantage of the console hardware for improving performance.

Competency 6: The student will demonstrate knowledge of hardware programming libraries by:

1. Using existing programming libraries to communicate with hardware.

2. Creating new reusable programming libraries and classes for handling hardware input and output

Competency 7: The student will demonstrate understanding of the future of interfaces by:

1. Researching past interface hardware.

2. Researching the failures of past computer input/output hardware.

Competency 8: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the history of computer interfaces by:

1. Researching current developments in interface hardware.

2. Researching the future of interfaces.

3. Researching the future of game consoles.

ALL WORK MUST BE COMPLETED BY APRIL 24TH AT 2:00 PM

Week

Topics and Assignments

Week 1

Class overview

User Interface definitions

Week 2

UX User Experience

Homework Due: Presentation on Front End, Gameplay Menu, and Control Mechanisms.

Week 3

Four Elements of User Experience

Web & Mobile UI/UX, Storefronts and purchasing

Homework: UI design without words, buttons

Week 4

Personas, Scenarios, User Stories

Homework: User Profiles, hardcore gamer, cool gamer, casual gamer

Week 5

Storyboarding

Mapping & Navigation Design

Homework: Wireframes and flow

Week 6

Style Guide – Unification

Color theory – using complimentary colors

Week 7

Typography

Pixel art and Vector art

Week 8

Midterm: UI Wireframes and Mockup

Week 9

Unity Canvas

Sound design

Week 10

Lootboxes storefronts & purchasing in-game

Week 11

Homework: Themed buttons – scifi, fantasy, modern

Week 12

Unity Camera and Materials

Week 13

Scripting in Unity

Week 14

Unity Optimization

Week 15

Final Due

Week 16

Final: UI in Unity

1 note · View note

livinginlandmarketing · 3 years

Link

As courthouses across Southern California begin to resume jury trials to tackle a backlog of criminal cases, public defenders are pushing state and county health officials to move them up the priority list for coronavirus vaccines.

Since December, public defenders in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Clara and San Luis Obispo counties, among others, have banded together and sent letters to Mark Ghaly, secretary of the state Health and Human Services Agency, pleading to be included on the same priority tier as jail inmates for COVID-19 inoculation.

Thus far, they say, their requests have fallen on deaf ears.

“Jury trials put our lawyers at extraordinary risk. Attorneys are in close contact with jurors and sitting right next to their clients in court. Trials can last anywhere from three days to five or six weeks,” said Riverside County Public Defender Steve Harmon, who wrote a letter to Ghaly on Dec. 3 urging him to prioritize vaccination for vulnerable inmates and his office staff.

Harmon said his office has 1,600 cases ready to go to trial, yet hardly any of his attorneys have been vaccinated against the coronavirus virus that killed veteran Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defender Salvador “Sal” Salgado last May and two Los Angeles County court interpreters in January.

Harmon said that while prosecutors do not have as much one-on-one contact with criminal defendants in jail and the more vulnerable indigent population, they should be prioritized for vaccination as well.

“I think that public defenders and district attorneys should be looked at and treated the same because both go into court and work in the courtrooms, and although we deal directly with inmates, district attorneys are still on the same battlefield, as far as I’m concerned,” Harmon said.

Who’s back, who’s not

Orange County, unlike most counties across the state, conducted a limited number of jury trials in 2020 but did shut down during severe COVID-19 outbreaks. The county resumed criminal jury trials earlier this month. San Bernardino County resumed jury trials this week and Riverside County plans to do the same by March 1. In L.A. County, criminal trials remain suspended until the end of the month, and it is unclear if they will be delayed beyond that, said Deputy Public Defender Christine Rodriguez.

Deputy public defenders maintain they are front-line essential workers who work, almost daily, with those at highest risk for the novel coronavirus, mainly jail inmates, the homeless, patients in drug treatment and others at high risk. And yet there are no plans to vaccinate them as jury trials resume.

“The work we do, we are required to do it,” Riverside County’s Harmon said in a phone interview. “There is a constitutional mandate that people need to be defended, so we have no choice. That’s why I say we are in harm’s way every day, and that it takes dedication, and it takes bravery.”

In San Bernardino County, interim Public Defender Thomas Sone said he worries about his staff’s exposure to the coronavirus.

“From day one until this pandemic is over, potential exposure will always be an issue,” Sone said in an email. “Even after we get our first (vaccination) doses, exposure will still be a concern. Even after the second doses exposure will be a concern.”

But he said his attorneys are nevertheless ready to get back into the courtroom. “If we’re not there for our clients, nobody else will be. We’re ready,” Sone said.

San Bernardino Superior Court has safety protocols in place as jury trials resume, including limiting the number of jurors called in to the courtroom at one time, enforcing social distancing, mandatory wearing of face masks, increased cleaning and sanitation, restricted elevator use, required health screenings, and fewer trials in session at one time.

Hardest hit counties

In a Jan. 15 letter to Ghaly, Jennifer Friedman, president of the California Public Defenders Association and a former deputy public defender in Los Angeles County, cited Los Angeles and Riverside counties as among the hardest hit in the state by COVID-19. Both counties, however, have failed to include public defenders in the 1B Tier 2 category for vaccinations, the same tier that includes jail inmates.

“Public defenders represent the poor, those with physical and mental impairments and individuals who are homeless,” Friedman said in her letter. “Public Defenders visit their clients in homeless shelters, treatment facilities, immigration detention, and other congregate living facilities.”

The state’s two-phase, multitier system prioritizes who will receive COVID-19 vaccinations based on risk level. Health care workers and people living in long-term residential care facilities were the first to be vaccinated, followed by emergency personnel, food and agriculture workers, educators, child care workers, and people 65 and older. The second tier includes those working in the transportation, shelter, and manufacturing sectors, as well as those residing in congregate settings such as jails and prisons.

In a Dec. 21 letter, Rodriguez, on behalf of the Los Angeles County Public Defenders Union, urged the Board of Supervisors and public health director Barbara Ferrer to prioritize deputy public defenders for vaccination and deem them essential workers, citing “alarming” daily reports they were getting from the Sheriff’s Department on the spike in COVID-19 cases at the jails. As of Dec. 21, nearly 25 percent of the county’s jail population was in quarantine, Rodriguez said in her letter.

In San Bernardino County’s four main jails, the biggest spike in COVID-19 cases occurred in December and January, with 503 inmates testing positive on Dec. 1 and 944 on Jan. 31 — an increase of more than 87 percent, a sheriff’s spokesperson said. In contrast, Orange County jail inmates testing positive for COVID-19 dropped dramatically from 1,200 at the end of December to just 12 this week.

Interim Orange County Public Defender Martin Schwarz (File photo by Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register/SCNG)

OC alone vaccinating public defenders

While public defenders in the Inland Empire and Los Angeles County continue pushing for a higher vaccination priority, Orange County appears to be ahead of the game. Interim Public Defender Martin Schwarz said deputy public defenders who work with jail inmates have been receiving vaccinations for the past few weeks, and that county health officials recognize the importance of inoculating those who come into contact with virus-prone inmates.

Schwarz said vaccination helps reduce viral spread in the county jail because it minimizes both the spread of the virus from inmates to public defenders and from public defenders to inmates.

“When COVID-19 is rampant in a custodial facility the pace of justice slows to a crawl,” Schwarz said. “Aside from wanting to keep my side safe, the flip side is wanting to keep the folks detained in these facilities safe.”

Dr. Clayton Chau, director of the Orange County Health Care Agency, said in an email Tuesday that his agency is vaccinating public defenders and prosecutors who are 65 years and older, as well as those who are interacting with jail inmates or in congregant settings, such as homeless shelters.

Waiting their turn

Elsewhere, public defenders and county prosecutors will have to wait their turn for vaccination, and there is no telling when that will be.

“Unfortunately, the biggest issue we continue to face in our ability to vaccinate is a scarcity of supply and variability in the amount of vaccine we receive from week to week,” said Natalie Jimenez, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. “At this time, vaccination is only open to health care workers, residents and staff at long-term care facilities, and people who are age 65 or older, and this accounts for approximately 2.2 million people here in L.A. County.”

Darrel Ng, a spokesman for the California Department of Public Health, said the state has not released any guidance yet on who will be eligible for vaccination after those ages 65 and older have been inoculated. The No. 1 constraint, he said, is vaccine availability.

“As you can imagine, every state in the country wishes they had more vaccines right now, and it’s constrained by manufacturing,” Ng said. He said the state has 1.1 million vaccines this week, in both first and second doses, to provide to counties across the state, and will have about 1.2 million on hand next week.

But there is a ray of hope. Ng noted that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House adviser, said supply could begin to meet demand by April. But for now, Fauci says the timeline for mass vaccination will likely be prolonged into mid-to-late May or early June.

While vaccination efforts are moving more slowly than most would like, Jimenez said L.A. County has made much progress over the past several weeks and is currently ahead of other large U.S. jurisdictions in its vaccination rates. She said the county hopes to begin inoculating law enforcement and other emergency responders, education and child care workers, as well as food and agriculture workers, with the first doses of the vaccine in the next couple of weeks.

Still no word

Riverside County Deputy Public Defender Paulette Sandler, president of the Riverside County Attorneys Association, said that as of Feb. 11 her office had received no word from the state or county public health about when they would begin the vaccination process.

“We have employees who are higher risk and older, yet we all still continue to work, going to court and the jails where the outbreaks have been very high,” Sandler said in an email. “I receive email inquiries weekly from deputy public defenders about the vaccine and how to get us all placed on a higher tier. I wish I had answers.”

Staff writer Tony Saavedra contributed to this report.

Cal State LA hosts first federally supported coronavirus mass vaccine site – with many more to come

Vaccine delays leave grocery workers feeling expendable

Medical marijuana retail workers move to head of vaccine line, ahead of teachers

Vaccines can start March 15 for people ages 16-64 with certain health conditions

How to track San Bernardino County’s coronavirus vaccine progress

-on February 17, 2021 at 09:30AM by Joe Nelson

#riversidenews

0 notes

toxicrants · 7 years

Note

Hey, can you write and unbiased labour VS Conservative post? This is my first time voting, and seeing as we never learnt anything like this in high school or college, I haven't a clue what I'm going to do. Thank you!

So I’ll break down just the Tories and Labour manifestos into different topics for you to compare.

Brexit -(Conservatives)- Seek a new “deep and special partnership with the EU”- Leave the single market and customs union- No deal is better than a bad deal for the UK- Control immigration and secure the rights of EU nationals in the UK and Britons in the EU- Maintain a common travel area with a “frictionless” border with Ireland

Analysis: May is being “upfront and straight” about the difficulties ahead, with a language that will allow her to claim voters endorsed a hard Brexit. She takes little notice of the half of the population that didn’t want Brexit. Her planning for Brexit has been laughable no matter who you are because of her ‘few sentences long’ statement on it.

(Labour)- Scrap the Conservatives’ Brexit white paper and replace it with fresh negotiating priorities with a strong emphasis on retaining the single market and customs union- Reject “no deal” as a viable option. Guarantee existing rights for EU nationals living in Britain and UK citizens living in the EU

Analysis: Labour sits on the fence on Brexit, neither voicing a strong commitment to staying in the single market nor indicating a dedication to deliver Brexit

Economy (Conservatives) - Continue to restore public finances and have a balanced budget by middle of next decade- Meet OECD average for investments in R&D - 2.4% of GDP within 10 years. -- Launch a new £23bn national productivity investment fund- Introduce energy tariff cap to extend price protection for vulnerable customers, but maintain competitive element of the retail energy market- Increase national living wage to 60% of median earnings by 2020

Analysis: The original 2015 deadline of setting public finances straight is now 2025, and the manifesto creates wriggle-room by ditching Osborne’s pledge not to increase NI or income tax

(Labour)

- Eliminate the government’s deficit on day-to-day spending within five years

- Mandate a new national investment bank to fill existing gaps in lending by private banks and provide long-term finance to R&D-intensive investments

- Balance government spending with the amount it raises in taxes

- Bring private rail companies into public ownership. Cap fares

- Transition to a publicly owned energy system and reverse Royal Mail privatisation

Analysis:- Many eminent economists support the idea of an investment bank to boost major infrastructure spending and polls show 58-60% of the public back renationalising railways

Health(Conservatives)- Increase NHS spending by a minimum of £8bn in real terms over the next five years- Make it a priority in Brexit negotiations that the 140,000 staff from EU countries can carry on their contributions to NHS and social care- Build and upgrade primary care facilities, mental health clinics and hospitals- Recover the cost of medical treatment from non-UK residents

Analysis:- Tories have been slowly privatising the NHS for years and have put their friends in managerial positions (positions that pay thousands but are completely un-needed) They are not beyond privatising the NHS. They’ve been working towards it for years. Extra funding is significant, but £8bn is still a relatively modest sum compared to Labour’s pledge – and it’s doubtful if it will match demand

(Labour)- Scrap NHS pay cap and commit to over £30bn in extra funding over the next parliament- One million people to be taken off NHS waiting lists by guaranteeing access to treatment within 18 weeks- Free parking in NHS England for patients, staff and visitors- Increase funding to GP services and ringfence mental health budgets

Analysis:- The pledges are expensive but the NHS has consistently said it needs more money to meet demand and costs, though it’s unlikely that focusing on the top 5% of earners will raise all the funds required.

Education(Conservative) - Increase overall schools budget by £4bn by 2022 and redirect £1bn of national funding formula to help schools- Build at least 100 new free schools a year, end ban on selective schools and ask universities and independent schools to help run state schools- No new places in schools rated ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted- Free breakfast to every child in every year of primary school in place of free school lunches for first three years

Analysis:- The return of grammar schools is a key part of May’s new “meritocracy”, and end of free lunches scraps a key Lib Dem achievement. She wants to end free school lunches completely.

(Labour)- Create a unified national education service for England that is free at the point of use- Abolish university tuition fees, reintroduce maintenance grants, and restore the education maintenance allowance for 16-18 year olds from lower and middle income backgrounds- Free school meals for all school children

Analysis:- Labour hopes pledge to scrap tuition fees will attract students and 18- to 24-year-olds who still strongly support the party

Immigration(Conservative)- Reduce immigration to “sustainable” levels, meaning annual net migration in the tens of thousands rather than hundreds of thousands- Increase earnings threshold for those wishing to sponsor migrants for family visas- Overseas students will remain in the immigration statistics- Offer asylum and refuge to people in parts of the world affected by conflict and oppression, but work hard to reduce asylum claims in the UK

Analysis - Continuation of the net migration pledge for a further five years despite never being met in the past seven years is a divisive manifesto vow for May’s cabinet

(Labour)- Prioritise growth, jobs and prosperity over “bogus immigration targets” and honour the spirit of international law and moral obligations by taking in a fair share of refugees- Will not include students in immigration numbers but will crack down on fake colleges

Analysis:- While rejecting “bogus immigration targets” for the first time, a new immigration system “may include employer sponsorship, work permits, visa regulations or a tailored mix of all these”

Tax and Spending (Conservative)- Increase personal allowance to £12,500 and the higher rate to £50,000 by 2020, ensure local residents can veto high council tax increases via a referendum. No VAT increase- Stick to plan to cut corporation tax to 17% by 2020- Maintain pensions triple lock until 2020 and introduce a new double lock afterwards. - Means test winter fuel payments

Analysis:- May has scrapped Cameron’s triple lock, antagonising a key source of Tory support (older voters) and indicating a confidence in victory at the polls

(Labour) - No rises in income tax for those earning below £80,000 a year, no increases in personal national insurance contributions or rate of VAT, and guarantee the state pension triple lock- Ask large corporations to “pay a little more” in tax while still keeping UK corporation tax among the lowest of major developed economies

Analysis:- The IFS said lowering the threshold for the 45p rate could raise £7bn, but critics say the measure could spark mass avoidance and drive top earners offshore. However, big business dropping would give a chance to smaller, local British business to grow. This exodus of big business isn’t confirmed but has it’s own pros.

Housing (Conservative)- Meet 2015 commitment to deliver 1m homes by the end of 2020 and deliver 500,000 more by the end of 2022- Deliver reforms proposed in the housing white paper to free up more land- Build new fixed-term social houses which will be sold privately after 10-15 years with automatic right to buy for tenants

Analysis:- The pledge to build more homes is made despite slow progress towards the previous aim and little detail about how it will be achieved.

(Labour)- Build over 1m new homes, and 100,000 council and housing association homes a year- Help-to-buy funding until 2027 for first-time buyers. Controls on rent rises for private renters- Suspend the right to buy until councils can prove they have a plan to replace homes- Scrap the bedroom tax and reverse decision to abolish housing benefit for 18-21 year olds

Analysis:- The pledge to build 1m new homes a year is ambitious and tackles head-on Labour’s concerns that housebuilding has fallen under the Tories.

Environment(Conservative) - Meet 2050 carbon reduction objective and take action against poor air quality- Develop the shale industry, legislate to change planning law for fracking applications, and set up a shale environmental regulator, with more tax revenues going to communities that host extraction sites

Analysis:- There is only a brief mention of air pollution and the Conservatives are the only main party to support fracking, controversial among environmentalists.

(Labour)- Ensure UK meets its climate change targets and transitions to a low-carbon economy- Ban fracking, stay committed to renewable energy projects, support further nuclear projects, and introduce a new Clean Air Act to deal with illegal air quality

Analysis:- Environmentalists welcome Labour’s vision for a sustainable energy system that bans fracking and shows commitment to the Clean Air Act

Foreign and Defence(Conservative)- Continue to help maintain the UN and Nato- Meet Nato target of at least 2% of GDP on defence and increase budget by at least 0.5% above inflation in every year of the new parliament- Retain Trident, invest £178bn in new military equipment for the armed forces over the next decade, and complete the Astute class of hunter-killer submarines

Analysis:- May commits to playing a leading role in Nato and maintaining ability for future interventions, placing emphasis on “special relationship” with the US

(Labour)- Put conflict resolution and human rights at the heart of foreign policy- Back effective action to alleviate the refugee crisis- Commit to spending at least 2% of GDP on defence- Support the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent

Analysis:- The manifesto does not promise to scrap Britain’s nuclear deterrent but Corbyn’s refusal to guarantee he would press the nuclear button reduces its value in the eyes of some. However, many people oppose the renewal of Trident.

Hope that was of some help! A lot of this is either directly from manifestos or from other UK resources. So, some of this is my own words but a lot is as exactly you should find it in manifestos or other sources. i.e. no exaggerations.

#tories #labour #uk election #general election

18 notes · View notes

brajeshupadhyay · 4 years

Text

California Becomes First State to Report 600,000 Cases: Live Updates

michael barbaro

From The New York Times, I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.”

[music]

So far, the debate over school reopenings has been dominated by a president who is determined to send students back into classrooms —

archived recording (donald trump)

We want to reopen the schools. Everybody wants it. The moms want it. The dads want it. The kids want it. It’s time to do it.

michael barbaro

— and by local school officials, who are answering that call.

archived recording (donald trump)

So we’re very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools.

michael barbaro

Today: My colleague Dana Goldstein on why teachers and their unions are defying those plans.

It’s Thursday, August 13.

archived recording (ron desantis)

Good evening. I stand here tonight not only as governor of Florida, but as a husband, a father, a son and a friend to have a conversation about how we as Floridians approach these challenging times. As a parent of three, I know that my fellow parents here in Florida want nothing more than to provide a bright future for their children. And here’s the hard truth. While the risks to students from in-person learning are low, the cost of keeping schools closed are enormous.

michael barbaro

Dana, tell me about this situation with schools in Florida.

dana goldstein

In early July, just as the Trump administration from Washington was pushing schools to reopen their physical campuses across the country, Florida was the state that really leaned heavily in that same direction under their Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.

archived recording (ron desantis)

The important thing is that our parents have a meaningful choice when it comes to in-person education. Let’s not let fear get the best of us and harm our children in the process.

dana goldstein

The state issued this executive order.

archived recording

The state is announcing it’s requiring all schools to reopen for in-person classes next month, August.

dana goldstein

Telling schools that they had to reopen five days a week.

archived recording 1

So that announcement coming today, given where Florida is. Your analysis.

archived recording 2

I mean my analysis is that that is insane

dana goldstein

And this was shocking to superintendents and school boards. You know, they had spent the months of May, June, into July mostly planning for a hybrid model of education. Kids would go to school two or three, or maybe even just one day a week in person, and be home learning online the rest of the time. School districts all of a sudden were being told you have to offer parents and families the option of five days a week in the building.

archived recording

So we are not ready to open schools in four weeks. We need to slow down and take a pause and get this right around the state first.

michael barbaro

And what would happen if schools didn’t physically reopen five days a week?

dana goldstein

You know, I think the kind of underlying threat was that you would lose state dollars if you don’t provide families with this option for in-person learning. And this threat to them was quite scary. Because state funding for education is the main funding that funds our school system in the United States.

michael barbaro

And what was the state of the pandemic when the state of Florida makes this demand?

dana goldstein

So these numbers were so shocking to us when we did reporting on this that we actually fact checked them many, many times to make sure they were correct.

archived recording

Florida shattering its daily record, recording more than 15,000 cases, accounting for a quarter of the total new daily cases in the United States.

dana goldstein

In some south Florida counties in the month of July —

archived recording

South Florida’s Miami-Dade has seen a staggering daily positivity rate of 33 percent.

dana goldstein

— between 20 and 30 percent of coronavirus tests were coming back positive. And the World Health Organization, the state of California, the state of New York have tended to use a range of about 5 percent to 10 percent test positivity rates as something to look at when deciding whether or not to open schools. So here you might see, you know, four times that number in a city like Miami.

archived recording

Here in Miami-Dade, according to county data released yesterday, the goal for the county is not to exceed 10 percent. They have exceeded that for the past 14 days.

dana goldstein

A strong indication that the virus is completely unchecked in that region. In fact, it was one of the most dangerous cities for the virus in the United States.

michael barbaro

Right. So what was the reaction across Florida to this executive order?

dana goldstein

Anger.

archived recording

If the governor wants to open schools publicly, how about we invite him to come and teach in the classroom? [CHEERING]

dana goldstein

A lot of teachers and educators were angry.

archived recording

If he wants to open schools, how about he provide teachers with hazard pay? Because that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re on the frontlines of a pandemic that you didn’t start, you didn’t call for and we don’t have control for. [CHEERING]

dana goldstein

Because they felt that their safety and, in some respects, safety of the entire community from a public health perspective was nowhere in this conversation.

archived recording

I teach my students the history of America, how this government has run, how it works. This is a democracy. Our voices need to be heard.

dana goldstein

And my inbox and social media were filled with messages from teachers.

archived recording

So I want everyone to hear my voice that if I die from catching Covid-19 from being forced back into Pinellas County Schools, you can drop my dead body right here! Leave my body right here! [CHEERING]

[music]

dana goldstein

And it was just this sense that the question of whether we should go back did not pay enough attention to teachers’ health risks.

archived recording 1

Do you feel ready to return to your classroom?

archived recording 2

I do not. I personally have lost sleep over it. I’ve cried over it. I cry over it a lot. It’s very, very scary. And the one thing I’m going to say, I will say online learning is not ideal. But it will keep our children safe.

archived recording

I’m a teacher. I’ve been with Duval County for 23 years. I have a mother at home that is sick. And if I am to get the coronavirus, I don’t want to bring it back to her.

dana goldstein

Yes, it’s really important that kids get educated. It’s really important that parents be able to work during the day and children have the basic childcare that schools provide. However —

archived recording 1

We teachers love our students. And we agree that the best place for students is in school. But that’s only if they’re safe. If going to school is more dangerous for students or for their families, then we should hold off and do some sort of distance learning or a hybrid model until it’s safe for them.

archived recording 2

I think there’s no way to social distance in our already crowded classrooms. There is not enough money to provide for the extra staff that we would need and the extra P.P.E. that we would need. I don’t think that it’s worth the risk.

dana goldstein

We are used to going into schools that sometimes don’t have soap in the bathrooms, that sometimes have broken windows that prevent us from circulating fresh air, that have dated heating and ventilation systems. And where is our health in this equation?

archived recording

This is not how I want to go back. And I want to go back so bad. Because I love teaching. I miss my classroom. I miss my kids.

michael barbaro

So what did teachers in Florida do?

archived recording

The largest teachers union in Florida is suing the state over its executive order mandating that schools reopen next month with in-person instruction.

dana goldstein

So a bunch of the local and national union groups that represent teachers came together and they sued the state of Florida.

archived recording

In the lawsuit, the union says the state is unconstitutionally forcing millions of students and teachers into unsafe schools.

dana goldstein

Saying that this executive order requiring schools to reopen five days a week in person actually violated Florida’s own state law that also calls for schools to be safe.

archived recording

The suit says children are at risk of contracting and spreading the virus and of developing severe illness, resulting in death. And the state mandate to open schools is impossible to comply with C.D.C. guidelines on physical distancing, hygiene and sanitation if schools are operating at full capacity.

dana goldstein

It’s really very simple what they were arguing, that going back five days a week is not safe and therefore, cannot be legal.

michael barbaro

Huh. I have to think that it’s a pretty unusual act, you know, teachers suing to stop their own schools from reopening.

dana goldstein

Yes. It’s definitely unusual and notable. And interestingly, it paved the way for similar threats to sue across the country, including in northern cities like Chicago and New York. And shortly after this Florida suit came down —

archived recording

The American Federation of Teachers has told its 1.7 million members that if they choose to strike, the union will have their back.

dana goldstein

The American Federation of Teachers, which is one of the two national unions, authorized any of their locals across the country to plan a strike in the event that safety precautions are not being met to reopen schools.

michael barbaro

Wow. So a national teachers union is saying, a grounds for striking — which traditionally we’ve always thought of as wages, health care, those kinds of issues — they’re now saying you may decide to strike over unsafe school conditions in the middle of this pandemic?

dana goldstein

Exactly. The threat to strike is very powerful and pragmatic. Because once teachers threaten to strike over the safety measures and questions of funding, it really puts pressure on the local school districts to give them a big seat at the table. And just the core decision, which is, are we even going to try to have in-person school this fall?

michael barbaro

We’ll be right back.

So Dana, as teachers are seeking a place at the table and threatening to strike if they don’t feel like schools are safe, what exactly are they asking for in order to feel ready to return to the classroom?

dana goldstein

We’re seeing a very broad range of demands from teachers. And it runs the spectrum from very specific and achievable requests, to ones that are hugely ambitious, time consuming, expensive, or maybe even impossible to achieve while we’re still experiencing any transmission of Covid-19.

michael barbaro

What do you mean?

dana goldstein

So for example in Orlando, when I spoke to teachers there in July, the requests were really quite reasonable. They wanted face masks to be required. They wanted temperature checks in all school district buildings. And then, the American Federation of Teachers, the national union that authorized strikes, had a very specific set of demands that they were looking for nationally. They wanted to see test positivity rates for the virus below 5 percent, transmission rates below 1 percent, effective contact tracing for the entire region, the school to require masks, update ventilation systems, and put in place procedures to maintain six feet of distance.

michael barbaro

Wow.

dana goldstein

So very much sort of in line with C.D.C. guidelines for being as safe as possible.

michael barbaro

So the union is making demands of an entire community, and level of infection and transmission and contact tracing beyond the school?

dana goldstein

Exactly. They’re expecting those things to work in the whole region before you sort of even get to the question of what sort of P.P.E. is available to teachers or something like that.

michael barbaro

What about less practical requests from teachers?

dana goldstein

So there you see this big movement bubbling up on social media under the hashtag #14daysnonewcases. And this is really quite a radical demand for schools not to reopen physically until there are no new cases in a region for 14 days. Now many nations have been able to reopen their schools safely without achieving that standard. And when I’ve spoken to public health experts about this, what they say is, you know, “14 days no new cases” is not just a controlled pandemic, it’s essentially the end of the pandemic in that region. And it might require a vaccine to get to that standard. Not just a vaccine that exists and works, but that has actually been deployed widely. When will that occur? Will that occur six months from now, 12 months from now, two years from now? We just don’t know the answer to that. And those start to be very big numbers when you’re thinking about children being out of school.

michael barbaro

I wonder what these demands from teachers look like to parents in this moment. I mean, I’m mindful that many parents want their kids to return to school for a variety of very understandable reasons.

dana goldstein

That’s right. I mean, I think the really hard thing is that there is no consensus or even strong majority opinion among parents. One recent national poll found about 60 percent of parents at this moment believe it’s smarter to delay reopening physical schools until the virus subsides somewhat and there are more safety measures in place. But in some big cities, where the virus has been relatively well-controlled, like New York and Chicago, polls have found that a majority of families do have some willingness to send their kids back to school. And to add another layer of complication, it tends to be parents of color and low income parents that are the most scared of the health threats to their children of congregating in school buildings. But those families are also the most concerned about their kids falling back socially and academically because schools are closed. So there is just no consensus among parents as to what they feel is safe. It would in some ways be easier if American parents all agreed with each other about what was right here.

michael barbaro

Mhm. And of course in the absence of physically returning to schools, we’re left with online learning. And we have covered on the show the problems with how teachers and school districts are approaching that. Yeah. So in the spring, only a small segment of American school districts actually required teachers to teach live lessons over something like Zoom video. And here I think there is actually more risk of tension between parents and teachers. Because we’re starting to see from polls what parents are asking for in a situation of continued remote learning. They were not happy that in the spring, many of their kids did not see teachers live over video. Many teachers were interacting with their students primarily over email at sort of random times per day. And that’s not what parents want. They want their students to log on at very specific times and be in something like an online class, where they would have small group breakout sessions and discussions and have the opportunity to ask the teacher questions and get individualized feedback. And teachers unions are still, in some cases, resisting some of these practices, including even showing their faces on live video. And Dana, why would that be? I guess I’m confused. If teachers are deeply reluctant to return to schools for very understandable reasons that you just outlined, and they don’t feel school districts are meeting them halfway, why would they simultaneously be resisting a more enriched online remote teaching experience?

dana goldstein

Well, some of them make the argument that it’s not fair to provide too much live instruction, because students who don’t have an adult to supervise their online learning at home, say, at exactly 10:00 a.m., might just miss out on the live lesson. So they think that that mode of education is not effective. But I’ve also heard some arguments much simpler than that, that they don’t want their homes to be shown. They’re not comfortable in that medium. And they believe it’s a violation of their own privacy to be shown from home in that way. So it’s a range of different arguments there.

michael barbaro

That would seem to raise a real crisis. I mean, teachers both not wanting to be in classrooms, but also not wanting to teach online the way parents want them to.

dana goldstein

Well, this has been the sort of crux of these very tense latest negotiations across the country between teachers and school district leaders.

michael barbaro

Dana, I know a bunch of school districts around the country have actually started classes in schools. And I wonder how that has played out.

dana goldstein

Well, there have been some horror stories, unfortunately.

archived recording

In Georgia, this photo of a crowded hallway, no mask in sight, from North Paulding High School went viral after the school opened for in-person learning on August 3.

dana goldstein

You know, for one of the first school districts to reopen, which was in Georgia, hundreds of staff were told to stay home because of potential exposure to the virus.

archived recording

Today the school remain closed, a week after that reopening.

dana goldstein

In Indiana —

archived recording

One student at Greenfield Central Junior High tested positive on the very first day of school.

dana goldstein

— right away this junior high school was having to call teachers and call students’ families and ask them to stay home for two weeks.

archived recording

Students at Elwood Junior Senior High now have to go remote after staff members there tested positive for Covid-19.

dana goldstein

Now that’s extremely alarming. But I want to say that nobody who’s a public health or education expert believes that we’re going to reopen schools without students and teachers showing up from time to time positive for Covid-19. That’s not a realistic expectation. But what we do need is procedures in place to deal with that when it happens. I mean, it needs to be clear who is getting told to stay home for two weeks. And, is their access to testing for anyone who came in contact with that positive individual? So in many ways, I think these anecdotes that we’re hearing of kind of first-day-back crises in towns and cities that are trying to reopen physically do show that many of the concerns that teachers have brought to the table here are quite legitimate.

michael barbaro

So those are a small number of districts that have already reopened. But of course, many of the nation’s largest school districts — Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., among others, are now firmly saying that they will not physically reopen schools at least initially. And that represents millions of students. So do teachers unions and teachers see that as a kind of victory?

dana goldstein

They do see it as a victory, absolutely. They believe that it’s not only what’s necessary to protect their health but to prevent schools emerging as potential hot spots for spreading Covid-19. But I think within that victory, there is also a real tragedy for American children and actually for our country. Because to be in a place where the needs of public health and safety are really juxtaposed against our ability to fully educate our kids, is to be in a place that very few other developed nations are in right now. And it is because of our failure to control the pandemic itself. We are looking at the real likelihood that millions or tens of millions of children do not attend school for an entire year. A full year of no school. And we just know that it’s going to lead to big problems. It’s going to make kids less likely to learn to read. It’s going to probably lead to higher high school dropout rates. It’s going to lead to students who don’t have enough to eat, because school is where they are fed. And to students that don’t have access to the mental health counseling and the special education services that they get at schools. So the fact that we’re having to choose between everything crucial that the physical school provides and public health, it’s stunning. It’s stunning to me as a 15-year veteran on the education beat and just also as a parent. You know, my daughter is going to come through this pandemic just fine. She has access to a great childcare and we have a lot of resources in our home and family to bring her through this. But still, it’s really sad for our family that she’s missing the preschool experience that we really wanted her to have. It’s been months since she was with teachers and socializing with a group of students. And she’s started even to become more timid around other kids, we’ve noticed when we do take those walks out to the playground. And you know, it’s sad for our family. And it’s just a tiny microcosm of how sad it is for our country.

michael barbaro

Dana, thank you very much.

dana goldstein

Thank you so much, Michael.

michael barbaro

Starting this week, several Florida school districts began holding in-person classes, even as the lawsuit filed by the state’s teachers union moves ahead. A court hearing in that case is scheduled for later today. Meanwhile, in New York City on Wednesday, the influential unions representing principals and teachers called on the city to delay starting in-person instruction by several weeks. In a statement, one of the union’s leaders said that the city had failed to address teachers’ safety concerns and had failed to give them enough time to implement complicated safety protocols.

We’ll be right back. Here’s what else you need to know today.

archived recording (joe biden)

Good afternoon, everyone. To me and to Kamala, this is an exciting day. It’s a great day for our campaign and it’s a great day for America, in my view.

michael barbaro

During their first joint appearance as a ticket on Wednesday, Joe Biden praised Kamala Harris for her record as the attorney general of California and as a United States senator, calling her an unapologetic advocate for justice.

archived recording (kamala harris)

Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Joe. As I said, Joe, when you called me, I am incredibly honored by this responsibility. And I’m ready to get to work. I am ready to get to work.

michael barbaro

In her remarks, Harris immediately delivered a stinging indictment of President Trump as a self-absorbed leader who has repeatedly failed America, above all, during the pandemic.

archived recording (kamala harris)

America is crying out for leadership. Yet we have a president who cares more about himself than the people who elected him. A president who is making every challenge we face even more difficult to solve. But here’s the good news. We don’t have to accept the failed government of Donald Trump and Mike Pence. In just 83 days, we have a chance to choose a better future.

michael barbaro

And —

archived recording (dr. anthony fauci)

I hope that the Russians have actually definitively proven that the vaccine is safe and effective. I seriously doubt that they’ve done that.

michael barbaro

The Trump administration’s top adviser on the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, expressed deep doubts about Russia’s rushed plan to distribute a vaccine for the coronavirus. The vaccine, called Sputnik V, was approved by Russia’s government without evidence that the largest and most important phase of human testing had ever occurred.

archived recording (anthony fauci)

So if we wanted to take the chance of hurting a lot of people or giving them something that doesn’t work, we could start doing this, you know, next week if we wanted to. But that’s not the way it works.

michael barbaro

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.

The post California Becomes First State to Report 600,000 Cases: Live Updates appeared first on Shri Times News.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2DXcwOu via Blogger https://ift.tt/3fZTX9v

#Blogger #000 Cases: Live Updates #California Becomes First State to Report 600followme instagood

0 notes

brajeshupadhyay · 4 years

Quote

michael barbaro From The New York Times, I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.” [music] So far, the debate over school reopenings has been dominated by a president who is determined to send students back into classrooms — archived recording (donald trump) We want to reopen the schools. Everybody wants it. The moms want it. The dads want it. The kids want it. It’s time to do it. michael barbaro — and by local school officials, who are answering that call. archived recording (donald trump) So we’re very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools. michael barbaro Today: My colleague Dana Goldstein on why teachers and their unions are defying those plans. It’s Thursday, August 13. archived recording (ron desantis) Good evening. I stand here tonight not only as governor of Florida, but as a husband, a father, a son and a friend to have a conversation about how we as Floridians approach these challenging times. As a parent of three, I know that my fellow parents here in Florida want nothing more than to provide a bright future for their children. And here’s the hard truth. While the risks to students from in-person learning are low, the cost of keeping schools closed are enormous. michael barbaro Dana, tell me about this situation with schools in Florida. dana goldstein In early July, just as the Trump administration from Washington was pushing schools to reopen their physical campuses across the country, Florida was the state that really leaned heavily in that same direction under their Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. archived recording (ron desantis) The important thing is that our parents have a meaningful choice when it comes to in-person education. Let’s not let fear get the best of us and harm our children in the process. dana goldstein The state issued this executive order. archived recording The state is announcing it’s requiring all schools to reopen for in-person classes next month, August. dana goldstein Telling schools that they had to reopen five days a week. archived recording 1 So that announcement coming today, given where Florida is. Your analysis. archived recording 2 I mean my analysis is that that is insane dana goldstein And this was shocking to superintendents and school boards. You know, they had spent the months of May, June, into July mostly planning for a hybrid model of education. Kids would go to school two or three, or maybe even just one day a week in person, and be home learning online the rest of the time. School districts all of a sudden were being told you have to offer parents and families the option of five days a week in the building. archived recording So we are not ready to open schools in four weeks. We need to slow down and take a pause and get this right around the state first. michael barbaro And what would happen if schools didn’t physically reopen five days a week? dana goldstein You know, I think the kind of underlying threat was that you would lose state dollars if you don’t provide families with this option for in-person learning. And this threat to them was quite scary. Because state funding for education is the main funding that funds our school system in the United States. michael barbaro And what was the state of the pandemic when the state of Florida makes this demand? dana goldstein So these numbers were so shocking to us when we did reporting on this that we actually fact checked them many, many times to make sure they were correct. archived recording Florida shattering its daily record, recording more than 15,000 cases, accounting for a quarter of the total new daily cases in the United States. dana goldstein In some south Florida counties in the month of July — archived recording South Florida’s Miami-Dade has seen a staggering daily positivity rate of 33 percent. dana goldstein — between 20 and 30 percent of coronavirus tests were coming back positive. And the World Health Organization, the state of California, the state of New York have tended to use a range of about 5 percent to 10 percent test positivity rates as something to look at when deciding whether or not to open schools. So here you might see, you know, four times that number in a city like Miami. archived recording Here in Miami-Dade, according to county data released yesterday, the goal for the county is not to exceed 10 percent. They have exceeded that for the past 14 days. dana goldstein A strong indication that the virus is completely unchecked in that region. In fact, it was one of the most dangerous cities for the virus in the United States. michael barbaro Right. So what was the reaction across Florida to this executive order? dana goldstein Anger. archived recording If the governor wants to open schools publicly, how about we invite him to come and teach in the classroom? [CHEERING] dana goldstein A lot of teachers and educators were angry. archived recording If he wants to open schools, how about he provide teachers with hazard pay? Because that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re on the frontlines of a pandemic that you didn’t start, you didn’t call for and we don’t have control for. [CHEERING] dana goldstein Because they felt that their safety and, in some respects, safety of the entire community from a public health perspective was nowhere in this conversation. archived recording I teach my students the history of America, how this government has run, how it works. This is a democracy. Our voices need to be heard. dana goldstein And my inbox and social media were filled with messages from teachers. archived recording So I want everyone to hear my voice that if I die from catching Covid-19 from being forced back into Pinellas County Schools, you can drop my dead body right here! Leave my body right here! [CHEERING] [music] dana goldstein And it was just this sense that the question of whether we should go back did not pay enough attention to teachers’ health risks. archived recording 1 Do you feel ready to return to your classroom? archived recording 2 I do not. I personally have lost sleep over it. I’ve cried over it. I cry over it a lot. It’s very, very scary. And the one thing I’m going to say, I will say online learning is not ideal. But it will keep our children safe. archived recording I’m a teacher. I’ve been with Duval County for 23 years. I have a mother at home that is sick. And if I am to get the coronavirus, I don’t want to bring it back to her. dana goldstein Yes, it’s really important that kids get educated. It’s really important that parents be able to work during the day and children have the basic childcare that schools provide. However — archived recording 1 We teachers love our students. And we agree that the best place for students is in school. But that’s only if they’re safe. If going to school is more dangerous for students or for their families, then we should hold off and do some sort of distance learning or a hybrid model until it’s safe for them. archived recording 2 I think there’s no way to social distance in our already crowded classrooms. There is not enough money to provide for the extra staff that we would need and the extra P.P.E. that we would need. I don’t think that it’s worth the risk. dana goldstein We are used to going into schools that sometimes don’t have soap in the bathrooms, that sometimes have broken windows that prevent us from circulating fresh air, that have dated heating and ventilation systems. And where is our health in this equation? archived recording This is not how I want to go back. And I want to go back so bad. Because I love teaching. I miss my classroom. I miss my kids. michael barbaro So what did teachers in Florida do? archived recording The largest teachers union in Florida is suing the state over its executive order mandating that schools reopen next month with in-person instruction. dana goldstein So a bunch of the local and national union groups that represent teachers came together and they sued the state of Florida. archived recording In the lawsuit, the union says the state is unconstitutionally forcing millions of students and teachers into unsafe schools. dana goldstein Saying that this executive order requiring schools to reopen five days a week in person actually violated Florida’s own state law that also calls for schools to be safe. archived recording The suit says children are at risk of contracting and spreading the virus and of developing severe illness, resulting in death. And the state mandate to open schools is impossible to comply with C.D.C. guidelines on physical distancing, hygiene and sanitation if schools are operating at full capacity. dana goldstein It’s really very simple what they were arguing, that going back five days a week is not safe and therefore, cannot be legal. michael barbaro Huh. I have to think that it’s a pretty unusual act, you know, teachers suing to stop their own schools from reopening. dana goldstein Yes. It’s definitely unusual and notable. And interestingly, it paved the way for similar threats to sue across the country, including in northern cities like Chicago and New York. And shortly after this Florida suit came down — archived recording The American Federation of Teachers has told its 1.7 million members that if they choose to strike, the union will have their back. dana goldstein The American Federation of Teachers, which is one of the two national unions, authorized any of their locals across the country to plan a strike in the event that safety precautions are not being met to reopen schools. michael barbaro Wow. So a national teachers union is saying, a grounds for striking — which traditionally we’ve always thought of as wages, health care, those kinds of issues — they’re now saying you may decide to strike over unsafe school conditions in the middle of this pandemic? dana goldstein Exactly. The threat to strike is very powerful and pragmatic. Because once teachers threaten to strike over the safety measures and questions of funding, it really puts pressure on the local school districts to give them a big seat at the table. And just the core decision, which is, are we even going to try to have in-person school this fall? michael barbaro We’ll be right back. So Dana, as teachers are seeking a place at the table and threatening to strike if they don’t feel like schools are safe, what exactly are they asking for in order to feel ready to return to the classroom? dana goldstein We’re seeing a very broad range of demands from teachers. And it runs the spectrum from very specific and achievable requests, to ones that are hugely ambitious, time consuming, expensive, or maybe even impossible to achieve while we’re still experiencing any transmission of Covid-19. michael barbaro What do you mean? dana goldstein So for example in Orlando, when I spoke to teachers there in July, the requests were really quite reasonable. They wanted face masks to be required. They wanted temperature checks in all school district buildings. And then, the American Federation of Teachers, the national union that authorized strikes, had a very specific set of demands that they were looking for nationally. They wanted to see test positivity rates for the virus below 5 percent, transmission rates below 1 percent, effective contact tracing for the entire region, the school to require masks, update ventilation systems, and put in place procedures to maintain six feet of distance. michael barbaro Wow. dana goldstein So very much sort of in line with C.D.C. guidelines for being as safe as possible. michael barbaro So the union is making demands of an entire community, and level of infection and transmission and contact tracing beyond the school? dana goldstein Exactly. They’re expecting those things to work in the whole region before you sort of even get to the question of what sort of P.P.E. is available to teachers or something like that. michael barbaro What about less practical requests from teachers? dana goldstein So there you see this big movement bubbling up on social media under the hashtag #14daysnonewcases. And this is really quite a radical demand for schools not to reopen physically until there are no new cases in a region for 14 days. Now many nations have been able to reopen their schools safely without achieving that standard. And when I’ve spoken to public health experts about this, what they say is, you know, “14 days no new cases” is not just a controlled pandemic, it’s essentially the end of the pandemic in that region. And it might require a vaccine to get to that standard. Not just a vaccine that exists and works, but that has actually been deployed widely. When will that occur? Will that occur six months from now, 12 months from now, two years from now? We just don’t know the answer to that. And those start to be very big numbers when you’re thinking about children being out of school. michael barbaro I wonder what these demands from teachers look like to parents in this moment. I mean, I’m mindful that many parents want their kids to return to school for a variety of very understandable reasons. dana goldstein That’s right. I mean, I think the really hard thing is that there is no consensus or even strong majority opinion among parents. One recent national poll found about 60 percent of parents at this moment believe it’s smarter to delay reopening physical schools until the virus subsides somewhat and there are more safety measures in place. But in some big cities, where the virus has been relatively well-controlled, like New York and Chicago, polls have found that a majority of families do have some willingness to send their kids back to school. And to add another layer of complication, it tends to be parents of color and low income parents that are the most scared of the health threats to their children of congregating in school buildings. But those families are also the most concerned about their kids falling back socially and academically because schools are closed. So there is just no consensus among parents as to what they feel is safe. It would in some ways be easier if American parents all agreed with each other about what was right here. michael barbaro Mhm. And of course in the absence of physically returning to schools, we’re left with online learning. And we have covered on the show the problems with how teachers and school districts are approaching that. Yeah. So in the spring, only a small segment of American school districts actually required teachers to teach live lessons over something like Zoom video. And here I think there is actually more risk of tension between parents and teachers. Because we’re starting to see from polls what parents are asking for in a situation of continued remote learning. They were not happy that in the spring, many of their kids did not see teachers live over video. Many teachers were interacting with their students primarily over email at sort of random times per day. And that’s not what parents want. They want their students to log on at very specific times and be in something like an online class, where they would have small group breakout sessions and discussions and have the opportunity to ask the teacher questions and get individualized feedback. And teachers unions are still, in some cases, resisting some of these practices, including even showing their faces on live video. And Dana, why would that be? I guess I’m confused. If teachers are deeply reluctant to return to schools for very understandable reasons that you just outlined, and they don’t feel school districts are meeting them halfway, why would they simultaneously be resisting a more enriched online remote teaching experience? dana goldstein Well, some of them make the argument that it’s not fair to provide too much live instruction, because students who don’t have an adult to supervise their online learning at home, say, at exactly 10:00 a.m., might just miss out on the live lesson. So they think that that mode of education is not effective. But I’ve also heard some arguments much simpler than that, that they don’t want their homes to be shown. They’re not comfortable in that medium. And they believe it’s a violation of their own privacy to be shown from home in that way. So it’s a range of different arguments there. michael barbaro That would seem to raise a real crisis. I mean, teachers both not wanting to be in classrooms, but also not wanting to teach online the way parents want them to. dana goldstein Well, this has been the sort of crux of these very tense latest negotiations across the country between teachers and school district leaders. michael barbaro Dana, I know a bunch of school districts around the country have actually started classes in schools. And I wonder how that has played out. dana goldstein Well, there have been some horror stories, unfortunately. archived recording In Georgia, this photo of a crowded hallway, no mask in sight, from North Paulding High School went viral after the school opened for in-person learning on August 3. dana goldstein You know, for one of the first school districts to reopen, which was in Georgia, hundreds of staff were told to stay home because of potential exposure to the virus. archived recording Today the school remain closed, a week after that reopening. dana goldstein In Indiana — archived recording One student at Greenfield Central Junior High tested positive on the very first day of school. dana goldstein — right away this junior high school was having to call teachers and call students’ families and ask them to stay home for two weeks. archived recording Students at Elwood Junior Senior High now have to go remote after staff members there tested positive for Covid-19. dana goldstein Now that’s extremely alarming. But I want to say that nobody who’s a public health or education expert believes that we’re going to reopen schools without students and teachers showing up from time to time positive for Covid-19. That’s not a realistic expectation. But what we do need is procedures in place to deal with that when it happens. I mean, it needs to be clear who is getting told to stay home for two weeks. And, is their access to testing for anyone who came in contact with that positive individual? So in many ways, I think these anecdotes that we’re hearing of kind of first-day-back crises in towns and cities that are trying to reopen physically do show that many of the concerns that teachers have brought to the table here are quite legitimate. michael barbaro So those are a small number of districts that have already reopened. But of course, many of the nation’s largest school districts — Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., among others, are now firmly saying that they will not physically reopen schools at least initially. And that represents millions of students. So do teachers unions and teachers see that as a kind of victory? dana goldstein They do see it as a victory, absolutely. They believe that it’s not only what’s necessary to protect their health but to prevent schools emerging as potential hot spots for spreading Covid-19. But I think within that victory, there is also a real tragedy for American children and actually for our country. Because to be in a place where the needs of public health and safety are really juxtaposed against our ability to fully educate our kids, is to be in a place that very few other developed nations are in right now. And it is because of our failure to control the pandemic itself. We are looking at the real likelihood that millions or tens of millions of children do not attend school for an entire year. A full year of no school. And we just know that it’s going to lead to big problems. It’s going to make kids less likely to learn to read. It’s going to probably lead to higher high school dropout rates. It’s going to lead to students who don’t have enough to eat, because school is where they are fed. And to students that don’t have access to the mental health counseling and the special education services that they get at schools. So the fact that we’re having to choose between everything crucial that the physical school provides and public health, it’s stunning. It’s stunning to me as a 15-year veteran on the education beat and just also as a parent. You know, my daughter is going to come through this pandemic just fine. She has access to a great childcare and we have a lot of resources in our home and family to bring her through this. But still, it’s really sad for our family that she’s missing the preschool experience that we really wanted her to have. It’s been months since she was with teachers and socializing with a group of students. And she’s started even to become more timid around other kids, we’ve noticed when we do take those walks out to the playground. And you know, it’s sad for our family. And it’s just a tiny microcosm of how sad it is for our country. michael barbaro Dana, thank you very much. dana goldstein Thank you so much, Michael. michael barbaro Starting this week, several Florida school districts began holding in-person classes, even as the lawsuit filed by the state’s teachers union moves ahead. A court hearing in that case is scheduled for later today. Meanwhile, in New York City on Wednesday, the influential unions representing principals and teachers called on the city to delay starting in-person instruction by several weeks. In a statement, one of the union’s leaders said that the city had failed to address teachers’ safety concerns and had failed to give them enough time to implement complicated safety protocols. We’ll be right back. Here’s what else you need to know today. archived recording (joe biden) Good afternoon, everyone. To me and to Kamala, this is an exciting day. It’s a great day for our campaign and it’s a great day for America, in my view. michael barbaro During their first joint appearance as a ticket on Wednesday, Joe Biden praised Kamala Harris for her record as the attorney general of California and as a United States senator, calling her an unapologetic advocate for justice. archived recording (kamala harris) Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Joe. As I said, Joe, when you called me, I am incredibly honored by this responsibility. And I’m ready to get to work. I am ready to get to work. michael barbaro In her remarks, Harris immediately delivered a stinging indictment of President Trump as a self-absorbed leader who has repeatedly failed America, above all, during the pandemic. archived recording (kamala harris) America is crying out for leadership. Yet we have a president who cares more about himself than the people who elected him. A president who is making every challenge we face even more difficult to solve. But here’s the good news. We don’t have to accept the failed government of Donald Trump and Mike Pence. In just 83 days, we have a chance to choose a better future. michael barbaro And — archived recording (dr. anthony fauci) I hope that the Russians have actually definitively proven that the vaccine is safe and effective. I seriously doubt that they’ve done that. michael barbaro The Trump administration’s top adviser on the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, expressed deep doubts about Russia’s rushed plan to distribute a vaccine for the coronavirus. The vaccine, called Sputnik V, was approved by Russia’s government without evidence that the largest and most important phase of human testing had ever occurred. archived recording (anthony fauci) So if we wanted to take the chance of hurting a lot of people or giving them something that doesn’t work, we could start doing this, you know, next week if we wanted to. But that’s not the way it works. michael barbaro That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow. The post California Becomes First State to Report 600,000 Cases: Live Updates appeared first on Shri Times News. from WordPress https://ift.tt/2DXcwOu

http://sansaartimes.blogspot.com/2020/08/california-becomes-first-state-to.html

#SEO #Local SEO training #daily news paper #daily news india #daily news newspaper #technology news a

0 notes