—Inside Higher Ed
Colleges rely on guidance from a federal health agency that is operating, as one public health expert put it, "with two hands tied behind its back."
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, college leaders have looked to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for guidance and have pointed to their adherence to CDC recommendations to assure students and employees they are reopening responsibly. But reports of political interference in the public health agency’s scientific processes over the past month are raising discomforting questions of whether and to what degree colleges can trust the CDC.
—Inside Higher Ed
Scott Atlas, White House adviser on coronavirus, threatens to sue colleagues back at Stanford who spoke out against his approach.
In an unusual move for an academic, Dr. Scott Atlas, Robert Wesson Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, is threatening to sue Stanford colleagues who criticized his work. The work in question here is also unusual, as Atlas has since August served as an adviser on the White House coronavirus task force.
Atlas, a neuroradiologist and health-care policy expert, was immediately a controversial pick for the White House post, as he is not an immunologist, epidemiologist or public health expert. And some of his public statements before and after joining the task force have been controversial, as well.
In July, for instance, prior to his appointment, Atlas told Fox News, “These people getting the infection is not really a problem, and in fact, as we said months ago, when you isolate everyone, including all the healthy people, you're prolonging the problem because you’re preventing population immunity.”
—Inside Higher Ed
Not just donors' children, but athletes and the babysitter of a colleague of the director of undergraduate admissions got into the university, although they weren't qualified. Berkeley in particular is criticized.
The state auditor of California on Tuesday released a report harshly critical of the University of California -- and in particular its Berkeley campus -- for "improper influence in admissions decisions." The report says the university system "has not treated applicants fairly or consistently."
The audit is based on a review of the university's campuses at Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Barbara from 2013-14 through 2018-19. In that time those campuses admitted 22 applicants as athletes "even though the students did not have the athletic qualifications to compete at the university," the audit stated. Berkeley was found to have admitted 42 students, "most of whom were referred to the admissions office because of their families’ histories as donors or because they were related or connected to university staff, even though their records did not demonstrate competitive qualifications for admission."
"By admitting 64 noncompetitive applicants, the university undermined the fairness and integrity of its admissions process and deprived more qualified students of the opportunity for admission," the report said. University of California policy puts strict limits on exceptions to admissions rules -- and bars the admission of wealthy students solely on the basis of their wealth.
—Inside Higher Ed
Several more universities pause in-person instruction to stem spread of virus, as such moves spur decreases elsewhere. Study estimates sizable role of in-person instruction in local outbreaks. Most NCAA fall championships will be played in the spring.
The temporary pause in in-person instruction -- or what the University of Utah is calling a "circuit breaker" -- has become the new favored tactic of colleges and universities trying to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. Several more institutions embraced the strategy in the last few days, as a few colleges that had done so previously announced that they were resuming in-person instruction after seeing declines in COVID-19 cases.
—CHE
—OC Reg
The coronavirus has impacted “nearly every aspect of public and private life," the Orange County...
✅A Labor Day-fueled coronavirus surge? ‘Troubling trend,’ but no clear evidence -- When Los Angeles County officials explain the massive coronavirus outbreak that hit this summer, they often point to Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, two long weekends when gatherings with friends and family fueled the spread of the virus. Soumya Karlamangla in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/23/20
✅Orange County could be set for wider reopening amid improved COVID-19 numbers -- The county is in Tier 2 — the second-strictest in California’s four-tier system that assesses COVID-19 transmission. However, officials said this week they think Orange County could soon enter the less-restrictive Tier 3, based on how numbers are trending. Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ Erika I. Ritchie in the Orange County Register -- 9/23/20
✅UC Irvine to test students living on campus weekly for COVID-19 -- A majority of classes at UC Irvine will be taught remotely when the fall term starts Oct. 1, but that doesn’t mean the campus is empty of students. Alicia Robinson in the Orange County Register -- 9/23/20
✅Cindy McCain endorses Biden -- Cindy McCain endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden for president on Tuesday. “My husband John lived by a code: country first,” McCain tweeted. “We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is @JoeBiden.” Matthew Choi Politico -- 9/23/20
✅‘No safety, no learning’: Many Orange County teachers protest reopening schools -- Teachers in two Orange County school districts have banded together with bold public protests and petitions, saying they are unwilling to go back to campus in the days and weeks ahead and signaling an undercurrent of broad concern among educators over the safety of returning to in-person instruction. Howard Blume, Andrew J. Campa, Stephanie Lai in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/22/20
✅OC Covid numbers: continued low number of new cases BUT 2nd straight day of high death number. Today: 26. Yesterday: 22
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