Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Many College Students Working Online From Cars Are On Verge Of Homelessness
USA Today: 'Living In My Car'? Fall Semester Online Means College Students Are Scrambling For Housing, Wi-Fi
When California State University announced May 12 its schools would be online for the fall semester, Graciela Moran thought she might end up homeless. The San Bernardino student is immunocompromised and had been living in her dorm as a residential assistant. But with the Cal State announcement, her contract ended and her stipend was taken away. Her father, a carpet installer, had to keep working during the city's increase in coronavirus infections, so she couldn't move home without putting herself at risk. (Aspegren, 8/21)
Burlington Free Press: In-Person Classes Begin At Arizona State Despite Pandemic
Thousands of students return to Arizona State University on Thursday for the first day of the fall semester despite concerns from faculty and students and a shaky track record for universities in other states that have gone back to campus during the pandemic. The start of the semester looks much different than the norm since COVID-19 has altered the world. But ASU will operate like many other places do now. (Leingang and Wilder, 8/20)
The New York Times: College Officials Clamp Down On Student Behavior Over Covid-19 Fears
Syracuse University and Vanderbilt fired warning shots across the bow of newly arrived students who seem intent on having an ordinary campus experience in a year that is anything but ordinary. The warning at Syracuse came after a campus gathering alarmed officials. “Last night,” one Syracuse official said in a letter, “a large group of first-year students selfishly jeopardized the very thing that so many of you claim to want from Syracuse University — that is, a chance at a residential college experience. I say this because the students who gathered on the Quad last night may have done damage enough to shut down campus, including residence halls and in-person learning, before the academic semester even begins.” (8/20)
Also —
Kaiser Health News: Swab, Spit, Stay Home? College Coronavirus Testing Plans Are All Over The Map
Yousuf El-Jayyousi, a junior engineering student at the University of Missouri, wanted guidance and reassurance that it would be safe to go back to school for the fall semester. He tuned into a pair of online town halls organized by the university hoping to find that. He did not. What he got instead from those town halls last month was encouragement to return to class at the institution affectionately known as Mizzou. The university, in Columbia, would be testing only people with symptoms, and at that point, the university said people who test positive off campus were under no obligation to inform the school. (McAuliff, Martinez Valdivia, Herman and O'Neill)
Boston Globe: Flu Shot Mandate For Mass. Students Leaves Many Questions Unanswered
The state’s new first-in-the-nation rule mandating flu vaccines for students under age 30 is drawing nearly as many questions as plaudits from health and education leaders who said the initiative will help curtail illnesses, but they’re uncertain how it will operate or be enforced. The regulation, announced by the Baker administration Wednesday, requires the vaccination for anyone 6 months or older in child care centers, preschool, K-12 schools, and colleges and universities, unless they have a religious or medical exemption, are home-schooled, or are a higher education student living off campus and taking remote-only classes. (Lazar and Freyer, 8/20)
