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THREAD: Brown University's president lays out how she believes campuses can open in this @nytimes piece, saying doing so should be a "national priority." A few thoughts below: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/opinion/coronavirus-colleges-universities.html
First, Paxson says mobile app contact tracing can follow the spread of disease more reliably than students' ability to remember who they sit next to in class. She says this is "likely to raise concerns about threats to civil liberty."
That is perhaps an understatement.
That is perhaps an understatement.
Before Covid-19, one emerging higher ed story was surveillance on campus. Students were blasting campuses for using facial recognition.
I contacted some whose profs considered software in the class and whose police used cameras with similar technology. Few wanted to talk.
I contacted some whose profs considered software in the class and whose police used cameras with similar technology. Few wanted to talk.
Mass testing, Paxson says, is an "absolute prerequisite." This opinion is widespread. Last week, Purdue president @purduemitch, the former Indiana governor, described his idea of how this would unfold. https://www.purdue.edu/president/messages/campus-community/2020/2004-fall-message.php?_ga=2.109533381.1134557030.1587428196-1139376489.1587428196
There's a question of optics here that I wonder how college leaders will grapple with: Say you have testing capabilities on your campus.
What happens to town-gown relations when you use that capacity to test your community — and yours only — over and over to keep campus open?
What happens to town-gown relations when you use that capacity to test your community — and yours only — over and over to keep campus open?
Paxson says that college life is less vibrant on Zoom. This, amid calls to refund tuition for exactly that.
But she raises the important $$$ argument: If campuses stay closed. "It's not a question of whether institutions will be forced to permanently close, it’s how many.”
But she raises the important $$$ argument: If campuses stay closed. "It's not a question of whether institutions will be forced to permanently close, it’s how many.”
This is less of a concern for Brown than it is for private campuses elsewhere in New England. That's the question I have as we swing into week ??? of all this. (End)
Oh! Never mind on the end. One more point that has been on my inbox:
For an institution like Brown, where many students are traditional age/live on campus, the risk may be lower than for campuses with older/commuting students. What happens there? And what about profs' safety?
For an institution like Brown, where many students are traditional age/live on campus, the risk may be lower than for campuses with older/commuting students. What happens there? And what about profs' safety?
