March 11th, 2020 at 10:17 AM ^
You have a link, OP? I'm not seeing this.
6.8.0March 11th, 2020 at 10:19 AM ^
It's real. Email sent out from MSU Pres. Stanley about 10 minutes ago.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:27 AM ^
i am used to the 'eat the lemon' bet, but the 'cut off the clown pinkies' takes it to a whole new level.
probably safe for now, but if you lose, there goes your juggling act.
EDIT: link here says U of M is not cancelling classes, at least for now:
faux mo, i release you from your pinkie promise.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:35 AM ^
Yeah, I've been thinking about touching fewer balls lately anyway...
March 11th, 2020 at 11:02 AM ^
You're just a faux boy!
Why not just let them rest on your forehead? You don't need hands for that.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:18 AM ^
And they're cancelled until April 20th which is longer than what most Universities have done so far.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
PSA (for dummies like me): F2F = face to face
March 11th, 2020 at 10:36 AM ^
My initial reaction was 'female to female', and had me wondering just what the hell was going on there. Then I realized that my own moral judgement may be somewhat suspect...
March 11th, 2020 at 11:31 AM ^
Dont search the variations. Just don't.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:51 AM ^
Thanks - I had no idea what F2F was. I thought it might be something unique to staee.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:21 AM ^
Alright.
Buckle up everybody. I would get those canned goods now.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:22 AM ^
I'll start to panic if points start working.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
I'll start to panic if they put Human Element in charge of our response to the virus.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:42 AM ^
Still better than current option.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:43 AM ^
Human Element:
March 11th, 2020 at 11:09 AM ^
"Does your public health response to a pandemic look like it was designed by your brother's wife's cousin's dog?"
March 11th, 2020 at 10:23 AM ^
Won't the students still be together in dorms?
March 11th, 2020 at 10:25 AM ^
Yes but they're trying to minimize as much contact as they can.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:28 AM ^
Class time will be replaced by party/bar time.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:34 AM ^
Harvard is kicking all their students out post Spring break. MSU/UM already had theirs, so I imagine they're not going to be able to.
March 11th, 2020 at 11:01 AM ^
i would assume most students, even MSU students, would be reasonable and understand the current health situation. the school didn't cancel class, they just moved it online.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:54 AM ^
Hmmmm....forcing a bunch of male and female college aged people to stay in close proximity to each other for extended periods of time. Yep, that will limit the physical contact.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
Yes. I imagine some students will return home though. If all coursework is online it doesn’t really matter where you are.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:49 AM ^
MSU specifically has asked students to return home in their email sent out this morning.
Uofm surely will follow suit later today. Hopefully they go through April 20 like MSU has. If they only do 2 weeks then students won’t as easily be able to return home.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:25 AM ^
Chances of NCAA tournament happening as planned are falling rapidly. If a large number of schools cancel in person classes, in addition to restrictions on travel and meetings, it will become impossible to defend keeping sports going. Seems like we are going to have an avalanche of schools doing this over the next few days.
question is if they just call everything off or hold the events with no spectators
March 11th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
I have to say, I think there will be tournament cancellations within a couple of hours. Frankly, I would love to be wrong because I think this is largely panic-induced behavior, but it is unavoidable at this point at least in the short term. I don't think March Madness is happening. If we get in the Rutgers game tomorrow I recommend that everybody watch because I think it will likely be the only game we play.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:31 AM ^
I mean the State of Washington has banned events over 250 people and there are First/Second Round games in Spokane.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:46 AM ^
Yeah, and Ohio doesn't have a ban yet (don't think)...but governor basically strongly recommended same thing. They have Dayton and also Cleveland. If games occur highly doubt fans will be in attendance (though the Blue Jackets last night say they are basically ignoring gov's request).
March 11th, 2020 at 12:34 PM ^
It's not necessarily impossible to keep sports going, but keeping spectator sports going could be. I think it will proceed but in front of empty areas.
March 11th, 2020 at 11:43 AM ^
I was so hoping that was SpartyBallFan
March 11th, 2020 at 10:33 AM ^
My wife works for Oakland CC, and they put everything in place for something already too. There was a big meeting between the presidents and state officials yesterday.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:39 AM ^
U of M will be announcing this today or tomorrow too. It is actually an effective way to limit the spread. A lot more testing needs to be available for the country to have a chance to contain this. South Korea is showing how to stop it, but I think it's too late for that, we just have to try to limit it now.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:50 AM ^
I'm not sure how effective this action actually is - has there been any evidence showing that classroom activity for college students is a high transmission rate medium for this disease? There is always the "possible" argument, but has it actually been demonstrated for this virus. From what has been reported thus far, the prime instances of transmission have been places where older populations congregate (cruises, nursing homes, religious centers, etc.)
March 11th, 2020 at 10:54 AM ^
I may be entirely wrong here, so someone please jump in if so...
I haven't seen anything to show the transmission rate among younger people is lower, just that the mortality rate is substantially lower. The problem is these lectures could have one sick kid that spreads it to 20 kids, who go home and spread it to mom, dad, grandparents, etc...
March 11th, 2020 at 11:06 AM ^
This. Much like any virus it is possible to carry it even though you don't get sick yourself. Which is why South Korea's policy of "Let's just test pretty much everyone" has been so fantastic at slowing the spread. Whereas our policy of "let's only test people once they're sick enough to go to the hospital" has seen the number of US cases skyrocket in the span of just a couple weeks.
We don't even do that. You have to have had known contact with a confirmed case to get tested now, and of course you need testing to have confirmed cases.
Our testing policy has been beyond inadequate.
March 11th, 2020 at 11:08 AM ^
yes, since you mentioned South Korea, there the highest rate of cases are for people in the 20s (28.9%, 2238 out of 7755).
and the 'possibilities' the public health officials are reporting are not purely hypothetical possibilities like how an asteroid can hit earth. it is a scientifically calculated transmission risk assessment that is updated daily. the policies are fluid as the data evolves.
March 11th, 2020 at 11:08 AM ^
In South Korea, the number of cases of people in their 20s is actually much higher than other age groups relative to their share of the population. This is because still something like half of all cases are from one cult, and the members skew young.
March 11th, 2020 at 11:30 AM ^
FWIW, an infectious disease expert on the radio said shutting schools down before the first case appears is what you want to do, not wait to shut down after the first case appears. Horse, barn, you know the rest.
The context was K-12, I think, but the principle applies: make your precautionary actions proactive rather than reactive if you want em to do any good.
March 11th, 2020 at 12:03 PM ^
i may have heard the same expert, mine on NPR.
the expert also said the main reason why that is not happening is the economical impact. working parents also have to stay home with children. children who rely on meals served at school will go hungry. etc etc.
so when a community pulls the trigger to close a large gathering, it isn't doing it based on 'feelings'.
March 11th, 2020 at 12:50 PM ^
The other thing is that if you close schools but keep other workplaces open, who cares for the kids? In many cases it's the grandparents - the most vulnerable cohort. This is a tricky decision to make.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:40 AM ^
I have a bachelor party I originally declined to go to next Thursday because of conferences at my school. Starting to think maybe booking a flight for Thursday night after the parents head out. Probably won't ever get a deal like this for March Madness opening weekend.
Had a friend who just flew out of Charlotte. She said the lines were super short and security was a breeze. If you're going to fly, this would be the time to do it
March 11th, 2020 at 10:42 AM ^
Smart move and UM should follow.
Also, if I'm a university I would encourage students to move home if possible.
March 11th, 2020 at 10:51 AM ^
First thing out of my wife’s mouth, “Do we get some of our money back?”