It makes no sense to have in-person classes next month

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OP: 13 Goods vs 9 No Goods
Thread: 72 Goods vs 61 No Goods

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It makes no sense to have in-person classes next month

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Bethany

Omicron means an exponential increase in cases, and now this is also occurring in the South (especially Florida).

Most Ivy league schools (and schools outside the US) have already moved their January classes online.

Vaxxing is no longer a silver bullet. Your students will get sick this month, even the vaxxed ones and the ones who already had COVID. They might not even get back to campus with increasing flight cancellations and border restrictions.

From a liability standpoint, and from a business standpoint, it just doesn't make sense to have people on campus in January. You already have the money for the dorms, this isn't August.

6 months ago # QUOTE 13 YEA 9 NAY !
Cecelia

A lot of schools start later in the month. Omicron should crest pretty quickly. Most cases, esp. among students, are nothing to worry about.
I have no real problem if it's just a week or two online, but at some point we have to accept that cases will always be with us and what matters is hospitalization and really deaths. Just saying "well, Long COVID!" is not going to be able to justify everything forever.

6 months ago # QUOTE 5 YEA 6 NAY !
Art

Vaxxing is no longer a silver bullet.

lol at thinking these covid vaccines were ever a "silver bullet."

6 months ago # QUOTE 3 YEA 12 NAY !
Cyrille

I often wonder if they want us to get long COVID. If our IQ's were reduced by 20 or 30 points, we could be mindless teaching and admin drones with no future employment prospects, our intelligence is of no use to them anyway.

6 months ago # QUOTE 6 YEA 3 NAY !
Queen

Vaxxing is no longer a silver bullet.

lol at thinking these covid vaccines were ever a "silver bullet."

Of course they’re not “silver bullets” [sic]. They never claimed to have 100% efficacy. That said, they’ve cut down the infection rate significantly (even if recent variants have shown a lower rate of protection ) and they’ve been remarkably effective at cutting down on death and serious COVID cases requiring hospitalization.

Thank goodness for the vaccines.

6 months ago # QUOTE 7 YEA 2 NAY !
Queen

That said, OP is mostly right. There’s no sense in bringing students back to campus right now. Dorms are petri dishes.

6 months ago # QUOTE 6 YEA 0 NAY !
Cyrille

Yes, thank goodness for the vaccines.

But with omicron, your students and faculty will still get sick and this will make your uni unmanageable. Parents will sue if their dear child dies. I live in a country where nearly everyone is double-vaxxed, and where getting around without a vax certificate is very difficult. We still have more infections now than we did last January when no one was vaxxed, and nearly all those infections are among the vaccinated.

6 months ago # QUOTE 3 YEA 4 NAY !
Zoey

Do schools get sued when someone dies of the flu?

Yes, thank goodness for the vaccines.
But with omicron, your students and faculty will still get sick and this will make your uni unmanageable. Parents will sue if their dear child dies. I live in a country where nearly everyone is double-vaxxed, and where getting around without a vax certificate is very difficult. We still have more infections now than we did last January when no one was vaxxed, and nearly all those infections are among the vaccinated.

6 months ago # QUOTE 2 YEA 5 NAY !
Eartha

Do you honestly think that wealthy, well connected parents - some of whom are lawyers themselves - are not going to sue if their kid gets COVID in the dorms and dies?

Everyone knows that this is lethal, they know how to minimize the risk, and that it's not a case of the sniffles. 800k people in the US alone do not die of the flu each year.

Oh, and some admin-friendly mod always deletes posts whenever they mention lawsuits.

6 months ago # QUOTE 5 YEA 4 NAY !
Zoey

Very few people 18-21 are going to die of COVID. Very few die of the flu, but it happens. Have you heard of any lawsuits succeeding? I saw one where mold in dorms caused health issues, but that's a specific local problem, not a pandemic.

Do you honestly think that wealthy, well connected parents - some of whom are lawyers themselves - are not going to sue if their kid gets COVID in the dorms and dies?
Everyone knows that this is lethal, they know how to minimize the risk, and that it's not a case of the sniffles. 800k people in the US alone do not die of the flu each year.
Oh, and some admin-friendly mod always deletes posts whenever they mention lawsuits.

6 months ago # QUOTE 2 YEA 3 NAY !
Neely

Not sure about student death lawsuits, but I've seen plenty of worker death lawsuits that have succeeded in cases of employer negligence. Perhaps labor laws are looser where you are.

I could see a student death lawsuit succeeding on ADA grounds - child with a pre-existing condition was put in harms way by a university that did not make sufficient accommodations.

6 months ago # QUOTE 3 YEA 5 NAY !
Zoey

Worker death lawsuits based on COVID-19? I doubt it. For asbestos or something like that, yes. The family of the woman Alec Baldwin killed will get a settlement or win in court etc. Just "died during COVID" does not demonstrate negligence.

Not sure about student death lawsuits, but I've seen plenty of worker death lawsuits that have succeeded in cases of employer negligence. Perhaps labor laws are looser where you are.
I could see a student death lawsuit succeeding on ADA grounds - child with a pre-existing condition was put in harms way by a university that did not make sufficient accommodations.

6 months ago # QUOTE 3 YEA 2 NAY !
Neely

Employer did not take necessary steps to ensure a safe working environment, like requiring students to be vaxxed as a condition of staying in the dorms and attending classes.

Sally Student has COPD and a documented disability. She contracts COVID on campus and dies. Extremely wealthy and politically connected parents sue, the best attorneys that money can buy point to lax safety measures.

Outside the courts, same inconsolable mother runs the media circuit, writes a book, all the while pointing to local LAC as the cause. Her pride and joy only child, Skylar's becomes the cause célèbre for mothers who also lost their children due to COVID. Said LAC suffers lasting reputational damage.

6 months ago # QUOTE 2 YEA 3 NAY !
Zoey

So this is an enormous country. This scenario should already have happened if it's going to. Link to such a case.

Employer did not take necessary steps to ensure a safe working environment, like requiring students to be vaxxed as a condition of staying in the dorms and attending classes.
Sally Student has COPD and a documented disability. She contracts COVID on campus and dies. Extremely wealthy and politically connected parents sue, the best attorneys that money can buy point to lax safety measures.
Outside the courts, same inconsolable mother runs the media circuit, writes a book, all the while pointing to local LAC as the cause. Her pride and joy only child, Skylar's becomes the cause célèbre for mothers who also lost their children due to COVID. Said LAC suffers lasting reputational damage.

6 months ago # QUOTE 3 YEA 2 NAY !
Charline

Department of Justice long COVID guidance as an ADA disability: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/doj-and-hhs-issue-guidance-long-covid-and-disability-rights-under-ada-section-504-and-section

Most cases are still working their way through the courts, here's an update for workers with disabilities who need accommodations that are pending:

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2021/09/08/630688.htm

https://thecollegepost.com/professor-sues-south-university/

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/essex/2021/12/14/essex-county-college-nj-lawsuit-covid-lung-damage/6493945001/

6 months ago # QUOTE 1 YEA 0 NAY !
Zelda

academics are so pa/thetic. what a weaselly group of weaklings that don't deserve an ounce of respect.

6 months ago # QUOTE 1 YEA 1 NAY !
Amilia

Sally Student has COPD and a documented disability. She contracts COVID on campus and dies. Extremely wealthy and politically connected parents sue, the best attorneys that money can buy point to lax safety measures.

So Sally never stepped off of campus to go to Starbucks and got covid there

6 months ago # QUOTE 1 YEA 0 NAY !
Zoey

Cases of faculty/staff seeking accommodations != college student dying and parents successfully suing re a COVID-19 death.

Department of Justice long COVID guidance as an ADA disability: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/doj-and-hhs-issue-guidance-long-covid-and-disability-rights-under-ada-section-504-and-section
Most cases are still working their way through the courts, here's an update for workers with disabilities who need accommodations that are pending:
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2021/09/08/630688.htm
https://thecollegepost.com/professor-sues-south-university/
https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/essex/2021/12/14/essex-county-college-nj-lawsuit-covid-lung-damage/6493945001/

6 months ago # QUOTE 1 YEA 1 NAY !
Sloan

Agree. All January classes should be online. No need to take the risk just for 1-2 weeks of in-person teaching.

6 months ago # QUOTE 4 YEA 0 NAY !
Cherilyn

Sally Student has COPD and a documented disability. She contracts COVID on campus and dies. Extremely wealthy and politically connected parents sue, the best attorneys that money can buy point to lax safety measures.

So Sally never stepped off of campus to go to Starbucks and got covid there

Maybe you work at a commuter school in a city, but many unis are self-contained entities with a Starbucks and lots of other amenities on site, and not much outside the school. More likely that Sally Student at a rural LAC would be on campus for the entire semester - with the contract tracing and cell phone data to prove it - than most other people.

6 months ago # QUOTE 1 YEA 2 NAY !

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It makes no sense to have in-person classes next month

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