11-20: Fear of hospital overload in OC; Amazing Russian Ph.D. plagiarism; Undoing DeVos

✅ As Orange County’s Second Coronavirus Wave Worsens, Fears of Hospital Overload Surface 

—Voice of OC 

     Public health experts are increasingly worried the coronavirus case spikes are going to strain hospitals, while also exhausting medical staff, as hospitalizations continue to rise ahead of Thanksgiving. 

     “Parts of the country are already completely inundated with patients in ICUs and hospitals. They’re beyond the capacity to handle the number of patients. I think the fear is that we’re kind of heading toward that direction in Orange County and California, as well,” said UC Irvine epidemiologist Sanghyuk Shin. 

     Shin, who’s also director of the university’s infectious disease science initiative, said if the trends over the past couple weeks continue, then OC could end up looking like North and South Dakota, where the hospitals are quickly being overloaded with virus patients. 

     “If nothing is done, then we are likely to get to a place where people who get sick are not going to be able to be taken care of because our hospitals are beyond capacity,” he said…. 

     But an overwhelmed hospital situation is a possibility, said UC Irvine epidemiologist Daniel Parker. 

     “The new cases are high now. It’s not good. So, weeks from now, we’re still going to see these cases and hospitalizations climbing — maybe even faster. And at the same time we don’t have any extra interventions to put in place (masks, physical distancing, etc.), so we have to rely on people’s behavior,” Parker said in a Thursday phone interview. 

      He said, at that point, that’s when more people die. 

     “That’s highly related to the hospitals being stressed and running out of necessary beds and that’s when you see people having to make difficult decisions. To make these triage decisions: Who to put on the bed, who to pull off. That’s when things get really bad,” Parker said…. 

✅ Gov. Newsom announces COVID curfew that includes Orange County 

The order, intended to deal with a worrying surge in coronavirus cases, requires most non-essential work, movement and gatherings to stop between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. 

—OC Reg 

✅ Evaluating Exit Plans 

Thanksgiving is fast approaching. Many colleges still have no plans to test students before they leave. 

—Inside Higher Ed 

✅ Report: Rich Colleges Keep Getting Richer 

It's known that some policies help the rich get richer, while the poor get poorer. A new report shows the same pattern is affecting institutions of higher education. 

—Inside Higher Ed 

✅ Russian Politics and Ph.D. Plagiarism 

Study finds that half of the regional governors with Ph.D.s plagiarized them. 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     Researchers have exposed widespread Ph.D. plagiarism among Russian regional governors, which they say is part of a broader culture of academic corruption in a country where ghostwriters are routinely hired to win the rich and powerful the prestige boost of a doctorate…. 

✅ CDC Urges Precautions for College Students Over Thanksgiving 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended against travel for the Thanksgiving holiday and said college students returning home, and their hosts, should abide by extra precautions, including wearing masks, social distancing and improving ventilation…. 

✅ Colleges Want Biden to Undo Much of What DeVos Did 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     …In particular, the administration should undo the new requirement under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 that requires cross-examinations in a live hearing in cases involving sexual assault on campuses. That “could have a chilling effect on the willingness of survivors to come forward and raises serious concerns about retraumatization,” wrote Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, in a letter signed by 44 other higher education groups…. 

     The groups also applauded President-elect Joe Biden’s plans to reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and urged the incoming administration to drop Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s position barring DACA and other students who do not qualify for federal student aid from receiving emergency grants under the CARES Act.