Jun 9, 2020, 12:38 PM
(From The Washington Post) The World Health Organization gathered Tuesday to clarify its position on whether people without symptoms are widely spreading the new coronavirus, saying much remains unknown about asymptomatic transmission. A comment by a WHO official on Monday — calling such asymptomatic transmissions “very rare” — touched off a furious scientific debate over the unresolved question. The question of whether asymptomatic people help drive the virus’s spread is critical, especially as countries around the world move to reopen their economies and struggle to contain rising caseloads.
(from Inside Higher Ed) Statements from college presidents in response to the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody have received criticism from faculty and students for sharing words without taking action. “Institutions should hire more black people to be deans and provosts... They should give more financial support and materials to black studies programs and departments. And they should do a thorough investigation of their campus police or campus safety unit to ensure that they are not racially profiling and harassing black students," said Shaun Harper, executive director of the Race and Equity Center at the University of Southern California. Meanwhile, some universities have rescinded offers of admissions to students who have shared racist comments on social media.
(from the New York Times) "As the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education begin to be felt, many people are wondering why America’s richest universities can’t spend more of the vast sums of wealth they have accumulated to protect their educational missions, and the people who work and study at these schools," argues a University of Colorado law professor. While he acknowledges that endowment spending may be restricted, he urges institutions to spend now to ameliorate a crisis of historic proportions.
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