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Partying college students spread coronavirus in Worcester

Why, hello there, Holy Cross students! Sup?

The party in question was this weekend, several days after the school announced it was moving to online learning this fall. Holy Cross announced it is very, very disappointed in the students.

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Comments

EXPEL. THEM.

Or be sued for negligence.

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In this day and age students (and their parents) are essentially considered "customers" of colleges and do not get expelled.

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Now, cue BC, BU, and Northeastern.

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The students are coming to the city one way or another. Either you can have the the schools test them weekly and isolate those who are positive or you can claim to be "online only" and not even try to stop the spread.

Test, isolate, and enforce mask usage indoors is the only solution. Pretending everyone is going to confine themselves to their house no longer works.

That goes for everyone, not just students.

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No. If the universities had gone online, there would be no students living on campus. Yes, maybe some would still move into off campus housing to do zoom in an apartment with their friends, but there would still be LESS. I think the universities are doing what they can to control behavior on-campus but off campus it is not so easy. Stop pretending this age group doesn't have a reputation for doing dumb things, we all did this at that age.

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some would move into off-campus housing because it's actually a better and safer place for them to be rather than staying at home. Why is everyone assuming that these adults are all currently sitting in mansions in the Hamptons where they can have a separate room just for Zoom classes?

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These students are not high school, middle school, elementary school or pre-school children at that age. They're adults, who, if they're old enough to go to college, they're old enough to understand why the rules for mask-wearing and social distancing, and against large gatherings of people, especially indoors are in place. It's no use pretending that they're just children who don't know any better. No sympathy for any of them who get fined, arrested, expelled from school or whatever for violating those rules. They not only put themselves at risk for contracting the Covid-19 virus, but they put everybody else at risk, as well. They simply do not care about anybody except themselves. They're the ones who'll end up undoing any progress that Massachusetts has made in controlling the spread of Covid-19.

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But I think I did not make it clear. They are certainly old enough to behave responsibly, but I don't think they will.

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The students are coming to the city one way or another.

If classes are online, why is this necessary?

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If the students want proximity and/or if there is a chance of in person classes in the spring, sections of Boston will see an influx of college students living in off campus housing. Particularly for the latter, even the parents will see that getting a 6 month lease on a place with a few weeks notice will be impossible, so they play the local rental game of September through August leases (in case you did not know, in Boston a vast majority of lease run for this time period, to the level that the period of moving in and out is called "Allston Christmas.") They won't be socially distancing, but it's kind of tough to keep people from moving into apartments.

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You didn't answer my question. You didn't even begin to. All you did was talk about what, in your view, students want. The discussion is about what they need. All the shell games in the world about the off campus rental market do not change that.

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You just don't like the answer. There's a difference between a question being answered and getting the answer you desire. I'm guessing you want everyone to say "it isn't necessary," but that answer is at odds with the reality.

I mean, we can get in a time machine and go back to the 1980s and explain to people that AIDS could be ended if people only had monogamous sex and didn't use intravenous drugs, but I'm willing to bet you might say that that idea isn't the answer.

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My question was about needs, not wants. Try to set your academic discourse aside for a moment and deal with the real world. We are now in a situation where everyone, including college students, needs to set aside the selfishness of what they want and focus on what they need. It is in fact not necessary for college students to be on campus, and if you want to say that that means that for now they effectively are not college students, then feel free to take the W for that semantic argument. But their lives won't cease to exist if they don't come to campus and socialize. Their existence as students does not depend on their ability to party, but if you want to argue that partying is essential to being a "student", again, take the W, I don't care. Right now the priority is survival, not giving everybody their first choice. I've given things up, I'm sure you have too. Do you really believe that college students should not do the same?

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The answer to “why is this necessary?”, as I said before, is that regardless of the current situation, the students want proximity and both the students and those who may be footing the bill for housing see the sense in having leases and living in apartments in September if there is a possibility of in person classes come January. That’s why.

Here’s something that gets me, and trust me, any animosity between us is not the reason, but you have given me an example. When people say things like “I don’t understand why...” people do something, whatever it is, typically they are really saying “I lack the intellectual ability to understand why something is the way it is or why someone believes the thing they do”. It’s fine to think the answer is not okay, but don’t pretend that an answer wasn’t given.

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these students are not children any longer. They're adults. If they're old enough to go to college, they're plenty old enough to understand why the rules for mask-wearing and social distancing, and against large gatherings of people are in place. Not only do they put themselves at risk for contracting Covid-19, but they put others in the communities into which they move, as well as their families at risk, as well. There's also a rule that students coming from out of state must quarantine themselves for at least 2 weeks, and have 2 or three Covid-19 tests that test negative, because one can be infected with the Covid-19 virus and still be symptomatic.

A lot of these students just plain don't care, either. That's the problem. The Boston City Councilor was very smart, and spot-on, when she told BU and Northeastern University to keep their students at home. It won't kill these students to learn on line.

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But adults are allowed to live wherever they want. Want to try litigating a ban on renting apartments to college students as a city policy?

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The reason that the Covid-19 pandemic is so out of control here in the United States as a whole is because far too many people just want to do whatever they damn well please, and the hell with everybody else. A lot of these students don't care who they sicken or kill by their arrogance and selfishness. The rules for social distancing and mask wearing, and against large gatherings of people were put in place for a damned good reason, and people who refuse to comply with these rules need to be leaned on--really, really hard, so they won't set back any progress we've made here in the Bay State in flattening the curve and controlling the spread of disease. Mask-wearing and social distancing have worked in flattening the curve and controlling the spread of disease. A lot of these students don't give a shit about anybody but themselves, and that's what's wrong with a lot of people here in the United States, generally.

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And heck, I kind of agree with you, but at the end of the day, the question asked by the guy who lacks imagination is why are there college kids living off campus in Worcester when there are colleges doing remote learning, and I stand by my answer.

The question that should have been asked IMHO is "why are these kids (who, as you note, are adults with the power of reasoning) not taking care to avoid screwing up the fall semester?" I mean the answer is simply "because twentysomething adults aren't bright," but were the question phrased like that rhetorically, perhaps the students would be thinking about what they are doing.

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Maybe they can't live safely at home.
Maybe there isn't room for them to study/work safely at home.
Maybe they're already paying for a lease that they can't get out of and can't afford to not live there.
Maybe they need to be in the city for a non-remote job or something similar while they're in classes.
Maybe the place they live in is doing a worse job of handling Covid-19 than Boston, so it's actually safer for them to be here than there.

It's easy to assume all college students are rich spoiled brats just looking to party, but for a lot of people, going away to college can be a much better environment for them for any number of reasons. Let's not just blindly assume that every student coming to Boston is just a selfish jerk who doesn't care about anyone else.

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None of them imply a necessity to party. If people want to live in Massachusetts because Massachusetts is the safest place for them, as long as they observe a quarantine on entry and behave in a manner consistent with good public health practices thereafter, I have no problem with that.

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there are enough college students who are irresponsible and careless enough so that they don't follow the necessary rules for their own protection, as well as that of others, especially much older adults, and those, regardless of age, who have underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, asthma, etc.

I hope the colleges and universities hire police or other people to bust up student parties. It would serve these students right.

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yeah because cops shooting people for partying is safe.

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IMAGE(//boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2020/08/HolyCrossParty.jpg)
“They’re not taking this seriously. People are dying all the time. This is a pandemic, why aren’t you listening?” said [a lady not wearing a mask].

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...outside, on the top step of her front porch, talking to a reporter down on her lawn, ten feet away.

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Half the people think if you aren't under your bed covers and wearing a mask you might as well be a terrorist.

The other half the people seem to think having a mask in your general proximity, even if it isn't over your mouth and nose, is good enough.

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Half the people think if you aren't under your bed covers and wearing a mask you might as well be a terrorist.

this is the straw man standard that anti maskers use to own the libs. see: that viral pic of fauci at a baseball game with his family, seated miles away from anyone else

the other half of people actually just complain internally about having to wear masks but do it anyway

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I think part of the criticism of Fauci on the opening night baseball game was that he stayed in attendance at a game no other fans could be at due to the guidelines/ dictates of the CDC/ other agencies- Fauci has seemed to enjoy the spotlight in this situation every bit as much as Cuomo/ Baker/ Walsh/ every other public/ elected official who's gotten an open mic/ TV time the past 5 months

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This sounds like projection. Don't think so? Perhaps you can substantiate this "enjoyment" of the "spotlight".

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I guess the cover of InStyle magazine being interviewed by a network news anchor is only for the most truly humble of our public servants?

https://www.instyle.com/news/dr-fauci-says-with-all-due-modesty-i-think-...

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Aside from the baseball game- appearing poolside on the cover of In Style magazine for an interview by a network news anchor seems like he's rather enjoying the spotlight a bit

https://www.instyle.com/news/dr-fauci-says-with-all-due-modesty-i-think-...

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The mature adults of the world think you are an idiot and a crybaby and a whiner.

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[...]We will not be able to welcome back the entire campus community [...] this fall, if students cannot demonstrate the self-discipline, mutual respect, and care for others by following requirements to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (emphasis mine).

The desire for restoring social contact above all else is the common denominator for the spread around colleges and universities - they think since they're out of the public eye, they can pick up from where they left off with parties and drinking. In their minds, bonding through booze is more important than the "self-discipline, mutual respect and care for others."

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The desire for restoring social contact above all else is the common denominator for the spread around colleges and universities

And elsewhere. Here in Massachusetts, there's a lot of college-based social contact, but it certainly isn't the only place where this factor is driving people to act foolishly and create risk for themselves and others. Colleges are an obvious place to focus, because there is a possibility of controlling or at least significantly influencing a lot of people. But it's happened also in churches, in businesses, in private gatherings of friends and family.

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I was concentrating more on the college aspect, but you're correct - it does apply to a whole lot more than what I mentioned.

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and i’m wondering if people actually understand the crux of the column

there’s enough blame to spread around to more than one group

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Colleges: Our students are adults and would never violate the spirit of our attempts at an ersatz on-campus experience (and collecting tuition) by partying unsafely. And besides we're testing them. We haz plans.

Neighborhood residents near a college: Excuse us, have you met your students late Friday night? We'd like some of those hormones back, please. And not get sick from them. Kthxbai!

Students: My horniness trumps stupid restrictions. Covid just fancy pants sniffles. Besides they put us in hotel and feed us. Not so bad!

Colleges: : We're all online now, go home you bad students!

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Colleges: We are taking lots of precautions to keep people safe, including lots of testing. We've developed our plans in conjunction with experts and guidance from health authorities.

Neighborhood: Nothing you can ever do will make us happy.

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making the effort to restrict their students the way they should, because they're just so into making money hand over fist. It's disgusting. The students, imho, are adults, and therefore old enough to understand why the rules against large gatherings of people, including large parties, and for mask-wearing and social distancing are in place, and to act responsibly. By being arrogant, selfish, nasty and entitled, they're putting the populations of communities into which they move, as well as themselves at risk for Covid-19, not to mention their families. The fact that the Covid-19 pandemic is so out of control here in the United States is due to the fact that there are a lot of people who really don't act responsibly, and they get everybody else screwed, as a result.

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This is why the state should have been the grownup in the room and banned in-person until at least Thanksgiving break.

Some colleges in Canada are operating in-person, but locked down. No leaving campus. If you are from the US, you come 2 weeks early and they quite deliberately lock you in for two weeks.

Campuses can be closed - if they have enough housing. There can be rules and structure in place. Too many are trying to have it both ways - forcing opening, but making students sign waivers of liability that basically say "we required you to come here but it isn't our fault blah blah blah" and then wash their hands of the responsibility.

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The BU, Harvard, Emerson, Suffolk, and Berklee campuses are completely intermixed with commercial and non-college-owned residential areas.

The Northeastern campus feels a little more cloistered, until you recall that it stretches across Huntington Avenue to St. Stephen Street, and over the commuter rail tracks into Roxbury.

MIT is on both sides of Mass. Ave. and also overlaps a bit into Kendall Square and Cambridgeport.

Tufts has a fairly ragged edge on both the Somerville and Medford sides, plus MBTA bus routes running right through the middle of campus.

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and the neighbors will just love the schools buying up more housing stock to force students to live on campus.

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