Keep calm and wash your hands: Campus reacts to COVID-19

Emerald News Staff

March 16, 2020

The University of Oregon campus stands empty after all finals become online due to the spread of the coronavirus. (Maddie Knight/Emerald)

Editor’s Note: The Emerald will be halting print publication until at least Monday, April 20, and will be following the UO’s guidance if additional changes are made to the spring term schedule. Keep up to date with campus news on the Daily Emerald website and sign up for our e-newsletter.

As COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, federal, state and local officials are taking steps to “flatten the curve” — slowing the rate of infection to avoid overburdening the healthcare system.

There are no known cases in Lane County as of the afternoon of Sunday, March 15.
In-person classes have been canceled until April 20. Classes will be held online. The UO will provide more guidance for spring term plans by April 10.
Events over 250 people have been suspended statewide, while on-campus events of over 50 people have been canceled.
UO has suspended all nonessential travel — including spring term study abroad programs — and has encouraged students not to travel for spring break.
EWEB has suspended service disconnections and late fees for people who are unable to pay their water and electric bills, according to its website.
Comcast Xfinity and Centurylink, the two main internet providers in Eugene, have suspended data usage caps so people can work from home.

There are no known cases in Lane County or at the University of Oregon as of March 15, but there are 39 known cases of COVID-19 in Oregon. A 70-year-old veteran who died in Multnomah County on March 14 marked Oregon’s first COVID-19 death. In response to the spread of COVID-19, UO canceled in-class finals on March 11 and announced that the first three weeks of spring term classes will be held online.

COVID-19 has impacted almost every aspect of life in the United States. Markets ended an 11-year rally. Sports seasons were cut short and tournaments were canceled. Commonplace items that once could be easily found — like toilet paper and hand sanitizer — are now scarce. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency March 13, allocating up to $50 billion to fight the virus, joining Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, who declared a state of emergency March 8 and announced the closure of all K-12 schools in the state through the end of the month on March 12.

What students and staff are saying:

The Emerald spoke to UO students and staff about how they’re going to handle the university’s responses to COVID-19.

Related: “On The Record: The UO community responds to COVID-19”
Jordan Luo, a second-year student from Shenzhen, China, said when he read the statement from UO President Michael Schill on Wednesday, his reaction was, “finally.”

Luo expressed concerns about what could happen after the first three weeks of remote classes spring term, saying, “It’s going to be dangerous because after spring break, people are going to travel because as I know, you know, a lot of people don’t really care about this.”

Luo said he opts to wear a mask while in crowded areas but said, “if I’m going to, like Walmart, someplace like that, I don’t, because, you know, there are some racial problems popping out recently.”

Although he said he personally has not experienced discrimination, a friend of his has. While wearing a mask, a stranger told him, “Take your ass back to China.”

Residence halls will remain open on campus, despite the move to online classes. The university will also waive room and board fees for students who move out of the dorms, according to Flock Talk, the UO Student Orientation Programs podcast. However, students who live and work in these facilities have an uncertain future.

Gota Koyama, a first-year student living in Global Scholars Hall, said he was concerned about living in a dorm because everyone is in such close proximity to each other.

“With the heightened alert of corona recently, to be living in a space where there’s hundreds of students congregating together, it’s a little bit concerning,” Koyama said.

Bridget Snider, a residence hall worker, said she was concerned about the status of her job going forward.

“As more and more universities are closing their dorms, I’m afraid that the university will also follow that path and close the dorm so that I’m out of a job,” Snider said. “And then I would be living in Eugene, at a higher rate, higher cost of living than home without income to pay my rent, which I am nervous about. So as of now, it’s just a waiting game to see if the dorms remain open, which is not fun.”

With in-person classes canceled for the first three weeks of spring term, many students are left feeling uncertain about how the change in setting will impact both their learning experience and their social experience on campus.
Patrick Riley, a fourth-year cinema studies student, said he’s worried that classes will be moved online for the rest of the year.

“I was sitting in class yesterday, and we were talking about the possibility of online classes, and I realized that this might be the last class I am in. Next term could be all moved online,” he said. “So yesterday might’ve been my last in-person class ever. And I was like, ‘Damn. That’s a bummer.’ In a way, this is the end of my college experience.”

The move to remote classes doesn’t translate well for several departments, including students majoring in theatre, STEM fields and art, among others.

For biology instructor Alan Kelly, whose microbiology lab requires in-person attendance for experiments and projects such as diagnostic stainings and other biochemical tests, making the transition from in-person finals to online wasn’t easy.
“For our 200-level labs, I think we can get around this. I think we can convert a lot of stuff to online,” Kelly said. “But the more research-experience, lab-experience courses just really don’t have a substitute.”

He added: “I appreciate the gravity of the decisions that administration must make, and the efforts being made to provide faculty with resources for remote teaching. We all know that the quality will necessarily suffer given the short turn-around we must make, but I’ll do my best for what I’ll be asked to do.”
But Thomas Greenbowe, a senior chemistry instructor, said that he plans to continue using an online chemistry project simulation website, Chemdemos, to teach his students — but with a few modifications.

For one, because his students won’t be attending labs for the first three weeks of spring term, they’ll need to collect data, write lab reports and submit their assignments remotely. Greenbowe worries that it could be a problem if students don’t take the time to perform the online experiments on their own.
“I would say that’s our number one concern, is to make sure the students are engaged and actually doing it,” said Greenbowe, adding that the department’s second top concern is making sure that students can still have access to the one-on-one coaching and feedback that in-person contact with professors and teaching assistants offer.

Greenbowe also plans to move the lab projects that are best suited to an online format up to the first few weeks, when classes are online, among other strategies.

“We’re in limbo,” Kelly said.

Travel plans suspended

UO canceled all spring quarter study abroad programs to slow the spread of COVID-19, according to an email sent to study abroad participants March 12.
Those registered will have application, program and airline cancelation fees refunded, according to the announcement. Some scholarships received for study abroad programs can be deferred or transferred to other programs.

All other nonessential university travel has already been suspended.

Karenna Carrie, a second-year student studying psychology and art, was supposed to study in London spring term, but her trip was canceled.

“I have a job set up there and a place,” Carrie said. “It sucks because I am not registered for classes here and I have to stay. And I don’t know what I am going to do.”

What you can do:

Feeling sick?

Most people who get COVID-19 will have no or mild symptoms, but the coronavirus can be spread even when people aren’t showing symptoms. Older adults and people with serious chronic medical conditions have a higher risk of becoming seriously ill, according to the CDC.

Symptoms of COVID-19 include:

a fever of at least 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit
coughing
shortness of breath

The health center recommends that any students who are experiencing symptoms call first, before coming in. “Our clinical team members will assess the student’s illness, provide care instructions and inform students what to expect once they arrive, if a visit to the University Health Center is deemed necessary,” the UHC said.

Due to the current concerns surrounding the illness, the UHC created a pre-visit risk evaluation station. “Every patient with complaints of fever or cough will be diverted to a clinician in an exam room to take temperature and a brief history,” the health center website states.

Feeling healthy?

There are still steps to take for health and safety, even if students aren’t sick. The health center advises students to wash their hands, avoid touching noses and mouths, and cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue.
Social distancing, or reducing close contact with other people to help slow down the transmission of COVID-19, is also recommended.

Some students have worn medical face masks for the purpose of protection from the virus, but wearing face masks will not necessarily prevent sickness. “You do not need to wear a facemask unless you are caring for someone who is sick,” the CDC says.

If a person becomes sick, the CDC recommends wearing a face mask when around other people. The health center says that wearing a mask can help deter people from touching their face and mouth until being able to wash their hands. If a student is feeling sick, the health center recommends wearing a mask until 24 hours without symptoms.

Feeling anxious?

Although there are no known cases in Lane County, including at UO, there is still anxiety and stress around COVID-19. The UHC said that students needing help managing anxiety should reach out to the counseling center or the Duck Nest. The center also provides links to interviews with experts providing tips on managing anxiety.
“The major difference between seasonal flu and coronavirus, or other pandemics is that we understand seasonal flu very well,” said Baruch Fischhoff, a public policy professor and researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, in an interview with the American Psychological Association.

With the coronavirus, he said, “We don’t know where it’s going.”

Fischhoff said that finding trusted sources of information is helpful to managing anxiety and uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, like the CDC and the World Health Organization.

This story is rapidly changing. Keep up with the latest news on the coronavirus on the Daily Emerald website for updates and new information.