By: OSU sophomore

OSU sophomore
Thu, 04 Jun 2020 13:22:26 +0000

I understand the desire to go back. We can’t be like this forever. However given that we still don’t have a vaccine and there are a lot of people who could be at enhanced risk for COVID (not to mention thousands more who could be carrying it), it’s irresponsible not to design more nuanced plans that allow for flexibility. Also, if they’re really committed to reducing housing density, why are they only giving 2nd year students 1 week to figure out what they want to do?? They’ve provided barely enough info and expect we can just go determine a new living arrangement off campus in a week? No - I think it’s purposeful. They know no one can really do that, and they want the housing and dining funds back. It’s all about the $$, of course. I hate to think that way but it’s likely the motivation. What they should do is give people more time to decide on that, have options offered for those with weakened immune systems, and ffs don’t hold any of these several-hundred people lectures when they are easily able to be online. Labs, design classes, etc., sure. But many standard classes have proved that the whole “in person” thing is kind of overstated in value. I get that we all want to have a normal college experience and I do too but unfortunately we live in an unbelievable time and OSU is not a small university. This may be able to work if they were half the size or less, but they’re not. There’s no way to “social distance” at a place this big so unless they’re planning to make college life unbearably aggravating for all of us, how is this going to be “successfully/safely accomplished??”