It’s a shame that this discussion tends to get fall  into the “what do you have against students ” retort all too quickly. If we bring in to our community thousands of any people, all at the same time, it is going to have an impact on our ablity to handle this Pandemic. And, the City has a responsibility to plan for such an influx. It has nothing to do with students. It has everything to do with a large number of people (which are known by viruses as vectors) from all over the country, landin in our community at the same time. The University will put together a good plan to keep the campus, students and staff as safe as possible. I have no doubt of that. The question I have to ask is what are the cities plans for when these people leave the campus and come into the community ? We can’t and shouldn’t try to keep them out. We should and must have a plan for them to return to our community safely.

First a disclaimer, I work at WWU, but this posting reflects only my personal opinion regarding this topic. On the WWU planning side, I will simply reiterate what Steve says above, that WWU administrators, staff, faculty, and students are all doing our best to plan for the coming academic year with all of the local and community risks and conditions in mind. Many of the fall 2020 courses that are presently listed as face to face may have (current) plans for limited meetings, not full time, and I can assure you that the faculty take this whole situation seriously, and are and will act accordingly. The most important concern I would like to point out is the apparent scape-goating of the college students who are part of our community. Any increase in our personal interactions with others will increase the risk of added spread of this virus. This is one reason why WWU’s actions will be closely tied to how Whatcom County, and the state as a whole, are doing with respect to keeping the virus in check. I will also push back on your notion that our college-aged citizens are incapable of responsible behavior. While anecdotal, I know a couple of students who serve as interesting examples of the recklessness of the young that you are concerned about. One has worked at a local retirement home during high school and college. This large group community employs many of our young citizens. Being at significantly elevated risk, this retirement home, including all the residents and young employees, have worked together to employ social distancing, PPE, added training, and testing. So far, this student and the others she works with have been tested seven times- they are tested every two weeks. The residents and the employees have remained healthy. Importantly, these reckless youngsters realize very well that their actions, and the need to be responsible together, are required to get the whole community past this threat. Another student lives in a multigenerational home, so he has been very diligent, and proactive, in maintaining a larger amount of social distancing and a more cautious approach to his work and his research project than most other students (and, in fact, most of us mature, non-reckless older folks). In many ways, I look to the very considered and responsible actions and disciplines these two students have demonstrated over the past several months as examples to emulate. There are innumerable examples of other college-aged citizens who have taken this epidemic and its risks and consequences very seriously and have acted in only responsible and constructive ways. So, rather than pointing a finger at college students as the irresponsible “other” who you fear will bring pestilence to our doors, please give our younger citizens more credit, realize that they are here among us, and in many ways are working to help us all get though this together in ways that are more responsible and less reckless than actions taken by many older folks.

 Bernie,

What I presented was far from scapegoating but was based upon well-known studies of behaviours of those who are not only college age but are part of a group being infected with COVID-19 at an alarming rate.  I NEVER said that college age students are not capable of responsible behavior.  If you find that in what I said in my article, please quote the passage to me.  This is what I did say:

“The fact is, not only is this age group becoming more susceptible to the virus at an alarming rate, science tells us that during adolescence and until age 25 the capacity for assessing risk and adjusting behavior is still in the developmental stage. Risks associated with non-adherence to behavior necessary to contain COVID-19 are not fully perceived. This is not blaming, it is recognizing the limitations inherent in having thousands of generally unsupervised youth in this category return to the university campuses, dormitory life, and other congregate living arrangements.”

Certainly, the actions of those young students you mentioned are laudable but as anecdotes, as you admitted, they may or may not represent the thousands of students who will return to campus.  I can also speak to many other groups of people in Bellingham whose behavior through this pandemic is irresponsible and should be condemned but they are not the topic here because they are already present and producing their own chaos.  The topic is bringing back to the city in the period of several weeks thousands of individuals from any number of cities throughout the state and the nation.  You can agonzie over opening and clean the living daylights out of each classroom and desk on campus but the mere fact of introducing a large group to what is now at the brink of an explosive outbreak is monumentally irresponsible. 

I stand solidly behind what I wrote and earnestly hope that the governor closes all the universities which will obviate the actions at WWU. 

Hi Bernie,

As a preview of what students can accomplish off-campus, the recent outbreak at several UW fraternities is a sobering example. The same thing could happen at any one or more of the many student housing facilities not on the WWU campus, which like the UW’s residential  Greek Letter Organizations, are not under the control of campus administrators. The Seattle Times story on this outbreak does not bode well for any of state’s higher education institutions, private or public (https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/a-covid-19-outbreak-on-uws-greek-row-hints-at-how-hard-it-may-be-to-open-colleges-this-fall/). It especially does not bode well for those following the WSU path, which is to reduce the number of students residing on campus when Fall Semester starts. Where these reductions take place, students will then be thrown into the off-campus housing market  and subject to virtually zero oversight from campus administrators. Even where this reduction does not take place, there are a lot of students who already live off-campus in this state and will be doing so again when classes start..

Consistent with the UW outbreak, I find it hard to believe that even the Covid-19 pandemic would change much of the socializing that takes place at off-campus housing in Belliingham. I did not witness any noticeable slowdown in these activites during the 1968-69 influenza(s) epidemic while I was an undergraduate student at WWU (then, WWSC). While not as bad as the Covid-19 pandemic, the 1968-69 pandemic produced deaths and at the end of Fall Quarter 1969, the strain I caught made me the sickest I have ever been in my life. The Washinton State 1968-69 Vital Statistics Summary shows 28 influenza-related deaths in Whatcom County, of which 16 were in Bellingham during this period (see Table 23: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/5400/1968-1969AnnualSummary.pdf). I remain grateful I was not one of them. I hope I can say the same thing at the end of the 2020-21 academic year and thank in advance you, other administrators, staff, faculty, and WWU students, as well as the City, County, and State, for what you all can do do in assisting me and others to see another summer. In leaving it out of my “thanks in advance” list,  you can tell that I do not expect any help from the current rendition of the US government’s executive branch. 

David,

Thank heavens I was safely far away in Vietnam in 1968/69.  There, if I walked out on the street I could have been shot.  Now if I leave the house, I can catch COVID-19 and might die.  Which is the combat zone?  Think about it.

Dick

Dick,

Besides the risk of being shot, there were booby traps, mortars, and rpgs. To this list you can add Hepatitis C, exposure to widespread pesticide and herbicide spraying, malaria (40,000 cases to US troops), fungal and parasitic infections, a wide range of diarrheal diseases, animal, insect and snake bites and - keeping the best for last - meliodosis and leptospirosis, both of which hit a lot of troops. Thank your lucky stars for the immunizations you received before going. No cases of either cholera or smallpox were reported among US troops and very few, if any, cases of Dengue Fever, Typhoid Fever, Typhus, Yellow Fever, and Bubonic Plague,  In addition, your immunizations as a kid preserved you against polio, tetanus, diptheria, and whooping cough.

As a result of two reviews, the VA now recognizes eight conditions which are presumed to be related to service in Vietnam for the purposes of establishing service-connection disability: soft tissue sarcoma, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, respiratory cancers, multiple myeloma, prostate cancer, acute periperal neuropathy, and spina bifida in offspring (see: https://www.va.gov/oaa/pocketcard/vietnam.asp#:~:text=As%20a%20result%20of%20the,chloracne%2C%20porphyria%20cutanea%20tarda%2C%20respiratory).

I guess you avoided your “tongue in cheek” immunizations. You have one of the worst cases I have ever seen. A good Medic would recommend a strong dose of wine asap.

David,

Yes, the armed forces cannot afford to be involved with fake or voodoo science about the efficacy of vaccines or medications. Their readiness depends on reality in the realm of preventive medical care.  In Vietnam we took Cloraquine and Primaquine which are early ancestors of today’s hydro-chloraquine which I have also taken before, during and afer recent trips to certain tropical or sub-tropical locations.  As you mentioned we were subject to a dozen or more vaccinations prior to going to Vietnam. 

Until there is a vaccine for COVID-19, our present situation will continue unabated with a very likely possibility of a second wave that will make people yearn for the good old days of the openings we have now. 

In Bellingham you worry about the return of students, but here in the San Juan Islands we worry about the flood of summer tourists, already here, many of them young and unable to assess risk. So far, I’ve seen license plates from as far away as ME, VT, NY, PA, MD, SC, FL, IL, MN, IA, AR and TX — and from essentially all states in or west of the Rockies.

And on Saturday I witnessed a guy smoking while kayaking, first time I’ve seen that in 27 years of paddling! 

Michael,

I guess we all have our crosses to bear.  😊

It may not have been tobacco the kayaker was smoking.

Actually, it was. I could smell it five yards away.

Which tells us something about airborne transmission of tiny particulates, even outdoors.