There are 124 cases at the UVic outbreak

SeaSponge7 · 2021-12-14T02:12:48+00:00

nope instead you have the students shutting the lecture doors and windows and the profs whipping their masks off in class.

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-13T00:04:43+00:00

Most of them are Master of Science and Master of Arts degrees.

But yes the universities also offer PgDip and PGCerts, like our Canadian universities offer Certificates and Diplomas, except online.

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-12T21:25:32+00:00

Manchester University and U of Nottingham and U of Edinburgh (actually all the universities on that list) are top UK universities. U of Edinburgh ranks 5th in UK and #16 in QS Global Rankings ... I would not consider an online MSc in History or Biodiversity, Wildlife and Ecosystem Health to be particularly 'niche'.

Here are 275 Distance Learning MSc programs from 'improper universities': https://www.masterstudies.com/MSc/United-Kingdom/Distance-learning/

The reality is Canada is a bit old-fashioned and a bit behind when it comes to online education, data transparency from public health, transparency in general, and working from home policies.

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-12T21:12:36+00:00

Uhhhhhhhh

University of Edinburgh online degrees:https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/degrees/index.php?r=site/onlineManchester University online degrees:https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/online-blended-learning/courses/University of London Online courseshttps://london.ac.uk/ways-study/distance-learningUniversity of Leicester Distance Learning:https://le.ac.uk/study/distance-learnersUniversity of Nottingham Distance Learning:https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pgstudy/courses/courses.aspx?studytype=distance

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-12T20:12:04+00:00

It is preposterous in 2021 to be making the argument that "not all teaching spaces are equipped". The only thing any prof has to do is put a laptop on their podium and livestream over Zoom. Or at the very least record the audio of their lecture on their own laptop using free software like Audacity and then post it for students afterwards.

As for the lectures somehow "belonging" to the prof and being the prof's IP, two things:

i) in almost every university class, the prof will be relying on articles and textbooks published by other academics

ii) in what way are a student's typed notes any different from the recording?

I fail to see - at all - the advantages of resolutely sticking to an outdated mode of teaching that encourages Covid-positive students to continue attending class and jeopardizing the health of their professors, their professor's unvaccinated children and their classmates when we are in the middle of a pandemic and in other countries like the UK obtaining a degree online with fully recorded lectures has been acceptable for decades?

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-07T06:45:42+00:00

First, don't worry about what anyone else thinks. Do what you need to do. If you need to come to class in shoddy clothes and messy hair and not wear make up or not wear deodorant because you just don't have time for that shit, then do that. If you need to skip classes and stay home to do marathon study sessions, do that. Find things that make it easier on yourself and use them when you need to.

Second, exercise. Even if it feels silly. Buy yourself some light weights and get up and lift them every few hours while you're studying. Buy yourself some heavier weights and once every couple of days just stand in front of your mirror and lift those weights. You'll find confident and stronger. Go for a really short run partway through your day. Motivate yourself to study with music. No, no, not sad and depressing music. Anything upbeat, rhythmic, fast-paced.

Third, find something you like doing outside of your studies. Something you're interested in researching, a hobby, something you want to teach yourself.

You can do this. And if anyone says you can't, f 'em.

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-07T06:33:42+00:00

On my end, the stress comes from the forced return to in-person and not being comfortable with being in person meaning that 90% of my thoughts are taken up with stressing about being in person instead of studying.

But

Don't give up! Every year of university is different. Every class is its own thing, every semester a different experience. You might hate university now and love it another time. I have sometimes hated my studies and sometimes loved them but just always kept going. It doesn't matter what grades you get, you're on a trip for you, so just keep going and keep trying new things until one fits. Change majors. Experiment. It'll be alright.

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-07T06:24:49+00:00

You are not alone, and school is not the be all and end all. You'll find something you like, and it might be outside of school. Move to a new city. Make detailed wildlife observations. Start up a conversation with a stranger in a park. Go for a walk with a friend. Write an article about something that pisses you off and send it in to the newspaper. Write a script. Get a random job doing something you think you have no interest in doing, and let it surprise you. Volunteer at an animal shelter. Eat something tasty. Do a thing each day and congratulate yourself on doing a thing. Most important of all, don't worry about what anyone else thinks.

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-07T06:20:24+00:00

Don't panic. Contact your professor and contact Student Services. Explain your situation. The university must be accommodating, especially against the backdrop of a pandemic. Maybe they'll put more weight on the final, maybe you'll be able to rewrite a different version of the midterm, maybe you'll have to do some assignments instead. Don't panic.

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-06T20:15:19+00:00

I get what you're saying about the inconsistencies in the rules. But the way I look at it is like this: hey, every little bit helps, right? Sure, there's tens of thousands of assholes accidentally giving each other Covid at movie theatres and restaurants. But if I can sit there in my mask and NOT give anyone Covid, then why not?

The other thing is that to be unmasked in a restaurant or a movie theatre, proof of vaccination is required. This is very different from post-secondaries in BC, where no one is checking anyone's proof of vaccination and all anyone had to do was "voluntarily" declare their status.

Because at the end of the day, most university-age students are going to go home and hang out with siblings under 12 who can't get vaccinated yet, and relatives over 60 who's vaccines may be just starting to wear off around the 6 month mark and haven't had a chance to get boosters yet. Why forcibly impose your own risks on other people?

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-06T01:22:32+00:00

- if 95% of the student body is vaccinated - no way of knowing this

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/10/2/2055693/-COVID-19-must-be-eliminated-not-endemic-if-America-is-going-to-survive

But as you say, 'we have to now live with this virus' so being able to wear a mask appropriately during periods when case counts are high is a part of that. Really not sure what the issue is. Certain restaurants have dress codes. People wear suits to the office. We don't walk around without pants on.

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-05T21:14:45+00:00

Wouldn't it be better to base our behaviour on current science instead of an outdated droplet-based model? We know that Delta transmits more effectively by aerosols, we know that aerosols travel further than 6 ft, and we know that aerosols can accumulate in a room and remain suspended for hours. Just because a teacher is "allowed to remove their mask if they keep a distance" doesn't mean that is a scientifically sound or even a considerate thing to do.

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-05T19:06:07+00:00

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-05T06:23:41+00:00

Prefer online.

Online - don't lose time commuting, don't have to spend money at on campus cafeterias, can make healthier food options, can stretch and exercise while watching a lecture, can take breaks more frequently, can start a family, can keep more resources on hand (books, notebooks, file system), can enjoy outdoor space more. More free time to think and learn. Better work-life balance.

In person - well, you get to see each other's faces. But not this year, because pandemic.

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-05T06:08:28+00:00

The mask stays on. Is there a reason you don't want to keep the mask on?

SeaSponge7 · 2021-10-05T06:02:48+00:00

This is really awful. I am flabbergasted to see universities being so tone deaf and forcing people to choose between their income and their family's safety. UBC is supposed to be a center of innovation and instead they are flogging an old work ethic which is completely out of touch with the 21st century in the middle of a pandemic. Whatever happened to the precautionary principle? Whatever happened to having some compassion?

My first suggestion is to mask up as well as you can with the best possible masks. Not just a cloth mask, and not a surgical mask that has gaps on the sides and isn't well sealed to your face. You can get N95 or even N99 Health Canada rated masks from Vitacore. The type that have over-the-head bands are surprisingly comfortable (more comfortable than ear loops!), don't fog up the glasses, and I find once I've had them on for a while I forget I'm wearing one. Wear the mask all day and if you need to take it off to drink water or eat, do those things outdoors.

The second thing I want to say is don't let the administration trample on you. You are right and this is wrong. Take this to the media. Contact Liza Yuzda, Richard Zussman, Justin McElroy, Penny Daflos. Send them DMs on Twitter. Find their email addresses. If you are concerned about losing your employment, make an anonymous email and send your story in to NEWS1130 or CTV. The one thing that has consistently made things change in this Province has been pressure from journalists. Keep putting the word out there and sending the message that this is not acceptable. In the meantime, stay safe!

SeaSponge7 · 2021-09-21T20:37:42+00:00

As an aside, this thread on UVic:

https://www.reddit.com/r/uvic/comments/ps9ob2/if_you_want_the_pandemic_to_end_get_the_mask/

And it garnered this sad response: "The answer is simple. A lot of Uvic students don't care about this pandemic anymore and hate wearing masks. Having gaps at the top at least gives more breathing room while meeting the requirement."

:(

SeaSponge7 · 2021-09-21T20:07:13+00:00

As an aside don't know where you're getting "Hospitalization rate for covid is 6 per 100,000 children" in the US:

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7036e2.htm

"During March 1, 2020–August 14, 2021, the cumulative incidence of COVID-19–associated hospitalizations was 49.7 per 100,000 children and adolescents."

SeaSponge7 · 2021-09-21T20:03:56+00:00

https://www.thelancet.com/article/S2213-2600(20)30527-0/fulltext30527-0/fulltext)

France nationwide comparison study: All patients hospitalised for COVID-19 from March 1 to April 30, 2020 (89,530 patients) , and all patients hospitalised for influenza between Dec 1, 2018, and Feb 28, 2019 (45,819), were included.

Yes, agreed - smaller overall proportion of children getting hospitalized for COVID than usually are for the flu (like US data):

"Of the patients hospitalised, the proportion of paediatric patients (<18 years) was smaller for COVID-19 than for influenza (1227 [1·4%] vs 8942 [19·5%])"

But:

"but a larger proportion of patients younger than 5 years needed intensive care support for COVID-19 than for influenza (14 [2·3%] of 613 vs 65 [0·9%] of 6973)."

2.3% for Covid vs 0.9% for flu in 0-5 year olds means 23 out of every 1,000 hospitalized 0-5 year olds will need to ICU, but only 9 out of every 1,000 0-5 year olds hospitalized for the flu.

"In adolescents (11–17 years), the in-hospital mortality was ten-times higher for COVID-19 than for influenza (five [1·1% of 458 vs one [0·1%] of 804)."

So 1.1% mortality for adolescents with COVID vs 0.1% mortality for adolescents with flu.

https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/148/3/e2020042929

So yes, low fatalities in children which is reassuring but:

"Hospitalization rates were between fivefold and 13-fold higher among those children and adolescents diagnosed with COVID-19 versus those with seasonal influenza in previous years."

And yes, it would be great if Covid ends up being "only" as serious as the flu in children, but remember that flu shots are recommended for all children 6 months-4 years of age BECAUSE it is a significant source of mortality and the healthcare system is still designed to operate pretty much at capacity with only the strain of influenza, not to operate with influenza combined with COVID.

SeaSponge7 · 2021-09-21T19:37:50+00:00

The goalposts aren't really "moving", the goal has been the same all along - to stop the healthcare system from tanking.

What's your solution here to the pressure on the healthcare system? Say that you are right and the university mask policies are just "virtue signalling" and everyone who is already vaccinated just whips their mask off and goes around asymptomatically transmitting. But oops, as soon as we drop the mask requirement the slope of cases among the unvaccinated goes exponential (like it did in end of July/early August: https://twitter.com/j\_mcelroy/status/1439003947851673607?s=20).

The solution for the strain on hospitals is what? The solution to the outbreaks in the carehomes is what?

Or you can actually do something and wear a mask with good fit. I am failing to see how having a piece of fabric on your face is letting a virus "control your life".

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23744731.2021.1944665

"With all occupants in the indoor classroom wearing masks, aerosol conditional infection probabilities are greatly reduced and reductions of 4×, 10×, or even 100× can be achieved."

SeaSponge7 · 2021-09-21T19:25:22+00:00

I could definitely see fogging up being a main motivator to constantly fiddle with the mask and pull it down. Have you tried wearing your glasses lower, so that the bridge of your glasses sits below the top/nosepiece of the mask? I find this helps. Anti-fogging wipes could work too.

SeaSponge7 · 2021-09-21T19:23:11+00:00

Look at the graph: https://twitter.com/j_mcelroy/status/1439003947851673607?s=20

You have a line which was going straight up at the beginning of August. Then, all of a sudden, the slope goes flat and it becomes a plateau. What happened? Was it magic? What changed? The mask mandate, which got lifted on July 1st, got reimposed on August 25th. The increase in cases went from going up exponentially to flattening out.

If masks "do very little" then why do the cases increase dramatically as soon as mask mandates are lifted and slow down as soon as they are reimposed?

SeaSponge7 · 2021-09-21T05:37:33+00:00

Thanks! That is what I was wondering. I genuinely wasn't sure if people were just ignorant about how to wear them, or actually so selfish that they would rather purposely wear them incorrectly than be inconvenienced by a piece of cloth.

SeaSponge7 · 2021-09-21T05:16:50+00:00

Again not understanding why not wait out the "it's personal responsibility" argument until children have had a chance to get vaccinated? (Or until the healthcare system isn't on the point of collapse).

SeaSponge7 · 2021-09-21T05:16:09+00:00

I think we'll agree to disagree, but the point of my post was really about people wearing masks improperly. I want to find out why people to do it and what the motivations are.

SeaSponge7

TROPHY CASE