The scene: Costco. A young woman, desperate, shoves strangers aside as she breaks for the cleaning products aisle. On a high shelf stands the last two tubes of Lysol wipes. Several hands stretch to snatch this quarantine prize, but the woman, shedding all dignity, leaps over the crowd, scoops the containers in one expert sweep, then lands on her feet.
Some tense situations may have played out in stores amid the coronavirus, but this depiction didn’t actually happen. This was one Globe correspondent’s weird pandemic dream.
I feel sorry for them.
In social media posts, web searches, and newly created websites, people are claiming to have an onslaught of odd, vivid dreams — even those who say they rarely remembered dreams in the past.
We all share the startling experience of living in the age of a pandemic. We may also be united in our subconscious — psychologically dealing with reality by way of distorting it.
That is what by lying, agenda-pushing pre$$ does day in and day out for it is their function.
Why is this happening? While no one can say with certainty, some sleep researchers say the pandemic has altered routines for many people and may have thrown off their natural sleep rhythms.
“It’s a very stressful time for a lot of people. There’s a lot to think about,” said Dr. Sanford Auerbach, who directs the Sleep Disorders Center at Boston Medical Center. “It can be very anxiety-provoking. We’re not doing the things that help us maintain sleep — like exercise.”
Auerbach also said the stay-at-home guidelines provide additional opportunity to sleep, and some people may "react to [this crisis] by becoming depressed. So, they sleep [even] more.”
Dr. Robert Stickgold, director of the Center for Sleep and Cognition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said the added strains of the pandemic may play a key role.....
That's when I woke up in a cold sweat!
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What do you mean that kid ain't outta bed yet?
"Teens up all night and sleeping half the day. Endless Netflix binges. In lockdown, kids carve out whole new schedules" by Hayley Kaufman Globe Staff, May 5, 2020
It's 11 a.m. Do you know where your teenager is?
These days, with schools closed and Google Hangouts the only appointments on kids’ schedules, the answer might be: Still asleep.
“I’m not fighting with her about it the way I was in the beginning,” said Reading’s Leah Leahy, mom to a 13-year-old daughter who, like so many other “quaranteens,” has taken to sleeping in late each day. “I mean, she has such a structured life, and now it’s so unstructured. There are no boundaries.”
Julie Hall, the mother of two Charlestown teenagers who are often up half the night, put it more succinctly: “They are vampires.”
What kind of thing is that to say about your children, and if so, I suppose the mothers love them like they do serial killers.
Maybe I am out of line, but WTF are they doing up so late to begin with?
Surely, some families have life during lockdown all figured out. Pandemic or no, they're keeping to a schedule, staying on top of homework, and refusing to yield to the notion that ice cream can be dinner if not eaten directly from the carton, but six weeks in, most of us with teenagers are still finding our footing. While families with young kids juggle homeschooling and the constant supervision it requires, parents of teens face a different set of issues.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for..... oh, sour!
“We need to recognize that this is a traumatic event,” said Dr. Shaheen Lakhan, a neurologist and supervising physician for Thriveworks Counseling in Boston. Many of the usual coping mechanisms teenagers rely on are “being obliterated.”
I've recognized that since the beginning of March.
“The other night the four of us spent an hour debating how we would survive a zombie apocalypse, so that was a new insight into their thinking I hadn’t been privy to before,” said Emily Norton, a member of the Newton City Council and a mom of three boys ages 12, 14, and 17.
Just helping the kids navigate the obstacles of distance learning amid the pandemic.
As in any household, it hasn’t been easy. Her sons often sleep till afternoon. To get them off video games, she has had to unplug and hide the router. On Easter, a game of basketball, being played indoors, ended with a trip to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for a minor finger injury.....
WTF?
What are they doing playing basketball INSIDE?
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Oh, it is all smiles and she feels fortunate that she has a job right now and that her family is healthy, but it can be a slog and she is "ready for this to be over.”
That's the kind of thing that makes one toss and turn in their sleep. I hope her kids can pass the test for a prestigious school.
Related:
"This was going to be the spring when Brendan Holland, a rangy, untested sophomore for the North Andover Scarlet Knights, took his talent to the next level, hoping to impress college recruiters, but then the coronavirus hit. Massachusetts canceled school, and with it, the spring baseball season....."
He will be a legend like Casey at the bat, and its the robbing of dreams that is the most evil part of this COVID $CAM!
At least the kid still got his drivers license.
Also see:
Madison Park high school searches new search for headmaster, its eight in eight years
Communities find new ways to celebrate graduating seniors amid social distancing measures
Abigail Feldman, a Globe Correspondent, was able to attend.
"Like other after school programs, The Paraclete in South Boston has had to adapt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the nonprofit continues to help children learn. Teachers are tutoring Boston Public School students in grades 4 to 8 online, and student interns from Boston College have made videos to inspire kids as they learn from home. Lesley University interns are providing one-on-one meetings with students focused on their well-being. “We haven’t missed a beat,” said Joe Burnieika, the executive director. In addition to tutoring public school students, the Paraclete is providing virtual test prep for future MCAS exams. Parents have been inquiring about the program, specifically regarding the test prep, while their children are learning from home. About 10 new students are expected to start within the week, said Molly Zollo, the program director. The Paraclete has also provided groceries for students through a partnership with Lovin’ Spoonfuls, a Boston-based food rescue agency, Burniekika said. The organization hopes to run its summer program, which usually lasts from June to August and features field trips, but this year, events may have to be held at the group’s center on E Street, possibly offering such things as yoga, arts and crafts, and cooking demonstrations, Burnieika said. “Everything depends upon the restrictions that the city and other officials will give us,” he said. “We’re hopeful that we can and we’re planning on it.”
Related:
Unbelievably, it's for the Bo$ton $peakers $eries at Lesley University, which are thought-provoking evenings of diverse opinions and world perspectives, and how about that wonderful genocidal fella with the nice smile on the far left there? He's appearing in October when everything will be back to "normal."
I suppose they are in no danger once summer is over:
"Amid coronavirus pandemic, a growing list of colleges in financial peril" by Deirdre Fernandes Globe Staff, May 8, 2020
The number of private colleges and universities in New England at risk of closing or merging has doubled amid the financial shock of the coronavirus pandemic, a new report by an education technology firm has found.
Before COVID-19 ravaged higher education budgets — forcing institutions to temporarily shut down campuses, offer refunds to students, and invest in online teaching tools — 13 institutions in New England were in danger of closing within six years. That number has jumped to 25, according to Edmit, a Boston-based college advising company.
Nationwide, 110 more colleges and universities are now in peril because of the financial impact of the virus, bringing the total number to 345 institutions, Edmit found.
The pandemic has even deteriorated the financial outlook of colleges that have historically been cushioned by substantial endowments and strong enrollments, according to Edmit. Nationwide, the number of private colleges at a low risk of failure slipped from 485 institutions before the virus to 385, Edmit found.
“Higher ed has been one of the more severely impacted sectors by the COVID epidemic,” said Nick Ducoff, the cofounder of Edmit and a former Northeastern University vice president. “The risk of college closures is no longer an academic exercise.”
Edmit it to yourselves: you f**ked up hitching your star to Gates' genocidal wagon.
Edmit, a startup that aims to inform students and families about the cost of higher education and the institutions’ long-term stability, now includes COVID-19-related financial health information on its website for each college. Edmit’s study also reinforces warnings from bond ratings agencies and regulators that the higher education industry is likely to see a major shakeup as a result of the pandemic.
Federal coronavirus relief has helped colleges and students, but hasn’t been enough to compensate for the losses and costs schools have faced.
Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire received about $780,000 in aid through the US Department of Education, about half of which went directly to students. The college also qualified for a $2.65 million loan under the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses, which helped Colby-Sawyer avoid layoffs of its 312 employees, said its president, Sue Stuebner. “We’re hanging in there,” she said.
Colby-Sawyer is among the colleges that Edmit flagged as being at high financial risk of closing, but Stuebner said the college of 800 undergraduates had been making cuts even before the virus, which should help it remain open, but if students can’t return to campus, the financial cost in the fall could be more severe, Stuebner said.....
Then the 3+ million was a complete waste!
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The truth is not many colleges are really equipped for serious online learning, but at least there won't be an unbearable roommate in the dorm.
Of course, it is a lot easier to cheat online:
"BU investigating whether students cheated on online exams" by Deirdre Fernandes Globe Staff, April 29, 2020
Boston University is investigating whether some students in classes including chemistry and physics have cheated on quizzes and exams now that they are taking them online, far from campus and the watchful gaze of professors and teaching assistants.
The university has launched a probe into whether students used online resources, such as Chegg, a California-based company that provides tutoring services, to get answers to exams while taking them from their homes, according to BU officials.
The potential cheating scandal has sparked a flurry of messages in online chat rooms and has highlighted a potential flaw in this new, remote learning and testing environment that undergraduates and faculty members have been thrust into due to the pandemic.
BU spokesman Colin Riley said the matter is under review and the same behavior standards that were in place on campus, apply to online classes. “The conduct code clearly spells out the university’s expectations and policies, and all aspects of it remain in effect with the shift to remote learning,” Riley said. “The investigation into this particular issue is active and underway."
Cheating has always been a problem for colleges, whether students bought term papers or illicitly shared the answers before a test, but COVID-19, which forced schools to quickly shut down dormitories and shift to online learning, has meant that the tests that professors would have administered in their classrooms and lecture halls are suddenly being taken remotely and with potentially greater access to banned outside help. The new environment may provide students with more opportunities to cheat.
Chegg is a subscription service that offers online tutors to help with homework. For $14.95 a month students can ask the tutors for help by taking a photo of a question and getting the answer and explanation. Subscribers can also search a “database to find similar homework problems,” the company’s website said, but the company has also previously come under fire from university professors for helping students cut corners.
Chegg could not comment on any specific investigation, said spokesman Marc Boxser. “Chegg strongly supports academic integrity and partners with every institution that approaches us as part of their official investigations into these matters,” Boxser said. Chegg has not seen any relative increase in honor code issues since the COVID-19 crisis began, he said.
It is unclear how BU officials were alerted to the potential rule-breakers, but on Saturday night, BU chemistry professor Binyomin Abrams sent an e-mail to one of his classes warning them that he had become aware of potential violations of the code of conduct and that there are consequences to cheating. “We have learned that some of you have used various means, including websites such as Chegg, to get help during the quizzes given remotely,” Abrams wrote. “Doing so is a clear violation of the academic conduct code.”
Professor Binyomin Abrams caught 'em!
Abrams went on to say that BU is working with Chegg to “identify students who have participated in this cheating, either directly or using Chegg to view solutions to our questions on our quizzes.”
Abrams, who has been conducting classes these past weeks via video-conference technology in an empty BU lecture hall wearing blue surgical gloves and with a handy stash of disinfectant wipes, declined to provide details but said this situation was an “aberration.”
“My colleagues and I knew the transition to remote teaching would present new challenges," Abrams said in an e-mail, adding that students are under immense stress and their lives have been upended in recent weeks. The faculty has been trying to be supportive but also provide a rigorous academic experience, he said.
BU is also allowing students to take courses simply for credit or no credit, instead of letter grades, an acknowledgment that this spring semester has been unique and far from ideal for students.
Still, the expectation is that students will behave ethically, Abrams said.
“Online learning presents challenges in conducting assessments that are not the same as in the classroom,” Abrams said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
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That will make for an unusual commencement, so maybe you should attend out-of-state:
"UMaine offers in-state tuition to college students displaced by coronavirus" by Diti Kohli Globe Correspondent, April 29, 2020
Students whose academic careers are disrupted by permanent college closures during the pandemic will have the chance to finish their degrees at the University of Maine for the price of in-state tuition.
Universities nationwide have shuttered temporarily to slow the spread of COVID-19, with most offering online courses, but with millions lost in revenue this semester and the fate of future enrollment uncertain, some small colleges may be forced to close their doors for good. Twenty colleges have already closed or consolidated in 2020, according news site Education Dive.
The “Maine Welcome” program offers an “affordable option” for students displaced by these closures, said UMaine spokesperson Dan Demeritt. Accepted students will pay the in-state sticker price at one of the state’s seven campuses — $8,071 for undergraduate students and $23,190 for law students.
“We know that things were bad before COVID-19 demographically and financially,” said Chancellor Dannel Malloy via phone. “So it is reasonable to expect there will be additional closings. We thought it was appropriate to reach out to folks and offer them a welcoming hand. It’s the Maine thing to do.”
The school is open to partnering with closed institutions looking for places to transfer undergraduate students, but the program will also be open to applicants outside these agreements from all 50 states.
“Maine Welcome” students will land on campus as early as this fall, when face-to-face instruction is expected to resume. The administration plans to adapt the campus’ activities to fit social distancing guidelines but open as normal. As of Wednesday, 1,056 cases have been reported in Maine, as well as 52 deaths.
Though it’s the first program of its kind, UMaine has used reduced tuition to attract out-of-state students before. The state began a similar Flagship Match Program in 2015, which permits students from nine states, including Massachusetts, to attend the Orono campus while paying the tuition price of their home state’s flagship university.
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Also see:
"A Maine company that makes specialized swabs for coronavirus testing is teaming up with construction company Cianbro and Navy shipbuilder Bath Iron Works to double production, officials said Thursday. The Trump administration is providing $75.5 million to Guilford-based Puritan Medical Products through the Defense Production Act to boost production of the swabs, which are needed to ramp up testing. Cianbro is providing a building in Pittsfield and help setting up the production line, and Bath Iron Works is making 30 machines Puritan needs to increase production, company officials said Thursday. Thanks to the partnership, Puritan’s production will double to 40 million of the swabs per month, said Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, who praised the “can do spirit” exhibited by the collaboration. The effort will create as many as 150 jobs in Pittsfield on top of the 300 to 500 workers already employed by Puritan in Guilford, officials said. The swabs that are produced by Puritan for coronavirus testing are longer than most swabs and have a synthetic material on the end. They’re used for nasal swabs for tests for the coronoavirus."
I would rather get a CT scan instead.
Time to wake up, kids.
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
Mr. Holland will be happy to know that baseball is on the way as he steps into a bigger role at home.
