Editorial: This pandemic is killing people and derailing lives but by all means party on, Aztecs
Students and administration have a dual responsibility to safeguard public health. Both have failed in recent days, but together we can turn things around.
There are a lot expletives we could use to describe the current situation the San Diego State community now finds itself in, but we think you can figure them out for yourselves.
64 new cases in 10 days.
The Editorial Board at The Daily Aztec is disappointed but not at all surprised.
Before the semester started, we’d already seen what a college campus could look like amidst a raging pandemic. Soaring case counts, ill-prepared administrations, irresponsible students alongside others sounding the alarm were just some of the things we saw coming out of schools like the University of Alabama, Notre Dame and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
This didn’t give us much hope for fall 2020, yet from the start, it was clear that the situation at SDSU could be different.
Measured in its approach to repopulating campus and in-person classes, SDSU Flex, in general, is a pretty good plan. It calls for free accessible testing, mandates masks on campus, and outlines clear communication protocols. All things other schools failed to accomplish.
What’s more, the Interfraternity Council implemented a social moratorium banning all in-person fraternity events. IFC leaders met the current moment, coming up with robust enforcement mechanisms and accountability measures.
The Editorial Board recognizes university decision-makers and IFC student leaders for working hard to come up with plans of action that take into consideration almost all university stakeholders.
On paper, it seemed like SDSU maybe had a chance of showing what a smart reopening looked like.
If only that were true.
The start of the semester has made it abundantly clear that besides bringing 2,600 socially-starved 18 to 20-year-olds back to campus, the administration’s biggest failure was assuming students could handle that much responsibility.
In real-time, we see the consequences of this miscalculation playing out: large groups of students partying, not wearing masks and cases on the rise.
And all that the students who continue to disregard public health orders will have to show for it are hangovers and a couple of drunken memories.
Our question for them— when the dorms are closed, and classes go online— is the same question we pose to university leaders who must answer to the students whose health they put at risk: Was it worth it?
To say that SDSU is at a crossroads is a gross understatement. While we can’t turn back time at least we know how this story ends. It is not too late to turn this around.
Stay home and for fuck’s sake, wear a mask.
Note from the editor: This article was updated on Sep. 2 to reflect the increase in cases reported at SDSU. Originally the article stated there were 20 cases reported, there are now 64.
Sebastian Mendoza • Oct 8, 2020 at 11:28 am
Dear Editorial Board,
I could not agree more with the posture taken on the administration’s handling of the COVID-19 situation. It takes about one working brain cell to realize that the quick reopening of the campus was not the brightest idea. Aside from the coverage of the faults of administration and the student body, it would be interesting to get an article more focused on the actual mechanisms which SDSU uses to report cases, as the ambiguity of the school’s case reports has been as an issue of controversy.
-Sebastian Mendoza
Sam Anderson • Sep 4, 2020 at 3:45 pm
Remember when the SDSU President shut down all the frats because a freshman with .06 BAH fell out of bed? She was so concerned about safety and yet here we are. Many other Cal State Schools went 100% online and closed their campus. Students resigned themselves to staying at home and being responsible. Then along came the hybrid model, which means 100% online learning while still collecting money for the dorms. All hail the almighty dollar. Did we make SDSU great again?
Terry J Brown • Sep 2, 2020 at 11:26 am
“And all that the students who continue to disregard public health orders will have to show for it are hangovers and a couple of drunken memories.”
Yes, and the SDSU students today have no more or less maturity than my 1971 fellow-students and we paid for our immature actions then, too. The difference is that 2020 students have a higher price to pay for their immature conduct. So, yes, unfortunately, that fact is we still need “adult supervision” until either we grow up or die.
Mark • Sep 1, 2020 at 10:07 pm
SDSU Administration has failed the IQ test by planning to spend $500M or more on the MV brick and mortar campus, in a world that is forever changed. SDSU needed to spend its money, effort and focus on getting most, if not all, non-lab courses online. The only students that should ever touch a campus again for undergrad would be in health or engineering or science labs. Otherwise, save a BUNCH of money and debt and use both community colleges and SDSU online to get degrees. That’s the future, not brick and mortar. Are you shopping at Amazon or Sears? SDSU is choosing to be Sears. ASU, Purdue and a host of others are following the Amazon success story because their administration isn’t asleep at the wheel.
Oh, did you REALLY expect 18-20 YOs to change based on some existential threat to oldsters?