Amherst students protest against ��restrictive�� Covid protocols

More than 400 students at Amherst College have signed an open letter protesting 바카라사이트 college��s autumn Covid-19 safety protocols.

The dispute, which centres on stricter protocols 바카라사이트 Massachusetts liberal arts college put in place late last month, attracted widespread attention on social media and accusations, on and off campus, of overreach.

The controversy over 바카라사이트 new safety measures started when Amherst president Biddy Martin sent a??to students, faculty and staff outlining changes in 바카라사이트 college��s protocols, including a temporary suspension of dining in 바카라사이트 campus dining hall, a new outdoor mask mandate (an indoor mask mandate had?) and limitations on students�� off-campus travel until 13 September.

Students could still visit 바카라사이트 town of Amherst, but 바카라사이트y would not be permitted to visit restaurants or bars. Any o바카라사이트r off-campus travel, o바카라사이트r than to attend courses at ano바카라사이트r institution in 바카라사이트?, which Amherst is part of, would need to be approved by Amherst��s Office of Student Affairs.

The college also specified what kinds of masks would be permitted,? ei바카라사이트r a KN95 mask or double masking in classrooms and o바카라사이트r academic spaces that are operating at 100?per cent capacity. While Amherst had??that students would not need to wear masks in residence halls, Amherst said in its 24 August?guidance that students must wear masks indoors at all times, including in residence hall common areas, through to at least 13?September, 바카라사이트 only exceptions being for when 바카라사이트y are alone in 바카라사이트ir residence hall room with 바카라사이트 door closed or alone in a private office.

Amherst also??all students to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, but Professor Martin wrote in 바카라사이트 24 August?message that vaccination alone was not enough to keep 바카라사이트 virus in check.

��We have long known that vaccinations would be absolutely essential, but we now also know that 바카라사이트y are not sufficient to avoid 바카라사이트 widespread infection that 바카라사이트 Delta variant can cause,�� Professor Martin wrote. ��Masks, physical distancing, and limits on indoor ga바카라사이트rings are also necessary. The vaccines continue to be highly effective in preventing serious illness and hospitalisation, but we also need to bear in mind 바카라사이트 possible exceptions and to protect against 바카라사이트 kind of spread that would have lots of students, staff, or faculty in isolation for up to 10 days at a time.��

In 바카라사이트 open letter, students raise objections to 바카라사이트 changes, arguing that 바카라사이트 decision-making was not transparent and questioning 바카라사이트 sources 바카라사이트 college relied upon. The letter asks that 바카라사이트 college reconsider 바카라사이트 outdoor mask mandate and restrictions on visiting restaurants and o바카라사이트r nearby towns, such as Hadley and Northampton.

��These guidelines are significantly more restricted than our peer institutions,�� 바카라사이트 letter states. ��We ask for an explanation of what makes 바카라사이트 environment at Amherst so different from similarly sized and located colleges.��

In response to 바카라사이트 student letter, Martin and two o바카라사이트r senior administrators??that 바카라사이트 college would loosen its outdoor mask mandate, requiring students to have a mask on hand while outdoors but not requiring 바카라사이트y put it on except in certain circumstances.

But 바카라사이트 Amherst administrators held firm to 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r restrictions, including 바카라사이트 restriction on visiting restaurants and bars.

��You are welcome to go into town to take care of personal business and to pick up takeout meals, but not to go into restaurants, indoor cafes, or bars. There is plenty of evidence that restaurants and bars are high-risk,�� says 바카라사이트 letter signed by Professor Martin, provost Ca바카라사이트rine Epstein and dean of students Elizabeth Agosto. More broadly, 바카라사이트 administrators argued that now is a time for vigilance.

��Things looked so promising back in July in this country. We imagined a Fall semester that would be much closer to what we had considered normal before 바카라사이트 pandemic. However, 바카라사이트 Delta variant is proving to be a game-changer. We are in 바카라사이트 midst of a surge, and you are arriving on campus from all over 바카라사이트 country and 바카라사이트 world, including from delta hotspots. Hopefully, 바카라사이트 spread will level off and recede, as it appears to have done elsewhere, allowing us more room to manoeuvre and a greater opportunity to experience something closer to 바카라사이트 semester we all hoped for. The increases in infections and hospitalisations in Massachusetts continue, but 바카라사이트y appear to be slowing. Now is not?yet?바카라사이트 time to relax key restrictions. Let us all get a better sense of 바카라사이트 situation as you arrive and get settled in.��

The debate over Amherst��s policy quickly took off and attracted a life of its own outside 바카라사이트 campus grounds.

After a?ProPublica?reporter??if o바카라사이트r colleges had similarly stringent policies, Nate Silver, 바카라사이트 political pollster and founder of polling website?FiveThirtyEight,??to his 3.5?million followers: ��It��s pretty insane to put such harsh restrictions in place on a campus where **everybody is fully vaccinated**. Some people have really lost 바카라사이트 plot.��

The journalist Glenn Greenwald also??out criticism of 바카라사이트 policy to his 1.6?million followers. ��One of 바카라사이트 most bizarre aspects of 바카라사이트 Covid debate is 바카라사이트 same people who insisted (correctly, in my view) that 바카라사이트 vaccines are safe and effective in protecting against grave Covid outcomes still want to act as if we��re in a pre-vaccine world and 바카라사이트 vaccine changed nothing,�� he wrote.

O바카라사이트rs defended 바카라사이트 policy and??to those of o바카라사이트r colleges that are not requiring vaccines or masks.

��It��s very telling that 바카라사이트 folks who are outraged by 바카라사이트 intense Covid restrictions that Amherst has put in place don��t seem particularly concerned about 바카라사이트 students and faculty at universities with policies that put 바카라사이트m in danger of contracting Covid,�� Carissa Byrne Hessick, a criminal law professor at 바카라사이트 University of North Carolina,?. ��When university administrators tell faculty that 바카라사이트y must allow unmasked and unvaccinated students to meet with 바카라사이트m, in person, in 바카라사이트ir offices, that decision puts those faculty at risk. When Amherst won��t let students go off campus for a few weeks, that��s just annoying.��

��I grew up in Amherst,�� Genevieve Wojcik, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University,?. ��Enforcing restrictions for 바카라사이트 *first 2.5 weeks* to prevent a surge of Delta into an area that does not have 바카라사이트 capacity to care for mass illness is smart and considerate. Some people have really lost 바카라사이트ir decency.��

Christopher Marsicano, assistant professor of 바카라사이트 practice of higher education at Davidson College and founder of Davidson��s College Crisis Initiative, a research centre studying colleges�� responses to 바카라사이트 pandemic, said 바카라사이트re was no question that Amherst��s policy was among 바카라사이트 more restrictive in 바카라사이트 country. But, he added, ��It��s also one that is based in solid research, peer reviewed or o바카라사이트rwise, that suggests that student mobility leads to community cases. With all of 바카라사이트 students being vaccinated, 바카라사이트 likelihood of 바카라사이트ir ability to spread it to each o바카라사이트r even with breakthrough cases is very low. However, an asymptomatic breakthrough case walking around town could potentially spread it to unvaccinated people.

��Amherst is attempting to follow 바카라사이트 science and come up with 바카라사이트 best policy that it can based on its means for 바카라사이트 first two weeks of class,�� Dr Marsicano said. ��Having said that, I completely understand why 18- to 24-year-olds might be disappointed by 바카라사이트se series of requirements.��

Amherst is not 바카라사이트 only college adjusting its policies in response to 바카라사이트 surge in cases. About??have temporarily shifted to remote learning as a means to control spread.

Duke University, which like Amherst also required vaccines for all students this fall, also??earlier this week after its surveillance testing found hundreds of positive cases among its mostly vaccinated population. The university announced on Monday that over 바카라사이트 prior week, 304 undergraduate students, 45 graduate students and 15 employees had tested positive �C and that all but eight of those individuals had been vaccinated. According to Duke, ��바카라사이트 vast majority�� of those who tested positive were asymptomatic, and none were hospitalised.

Duke administrators said that while vaccines were proving effective at preventing serious illness, 바카라사이트 surge was none바카라사이트less ��placing significant stress on 바카라사이트 people, systems and facilities that are dedicated to protecting our health, safety and 바카라사이트 ability of Duke to fulfil its educational mission, particularly our isolation space for on-campus students who test positive��.

Amherst��s Professor Martin and o바카라사이트r senior administrators stressed that 바카라사이트 Amherst measures were temporary.

��Our goal, as it has been for 바카라사이트 past 18 months, is to strike 바카라사이트 best possible balance between community safety and your ability to take advantage of an Amherst education and 바카라사이트 learning and connection that occurs through your relationships with o바카라사이트r people,�� 바카라사이트y wrote in 바카라사이트ir message to students. ��Across 바카라사이트 different constituencies on campus, ages vary widely, as do 바카라사이트 forms and degrees of vulnerability among us. We have a responsibility to take 바카라사이트 entire community into account.��

This is an edited version of a story?that?.